Most of the stories from Basel–Pharrell Williams and Brad Pitt–have been out for a day or two leaving the New York Times‘s Carol Vogel with this item to report as news:
Mr. Ségalot has been a big buyer here before, but this year seemed not to be having quite as much fun as he used to. Though he has never confirmed — or denied — it, he has been widely rumored to have hired a professional makeup artist each of the last three years to fly to Basel and turn him into someone else, enabling Mr. Ségalot to sneak into the fair unnoticed before it opened. Once inside, the story goes, he would then reserve the best pieces for his clients before anyone else could even get a peek at them.
One year he was said to have been bald and wearing a pair of thick glasses; another time he was reported to have had spiky platinum blond hair and bright blue eyes. Last year he was supposed to be dressed in grunge, head to toe, wearing long, greasy locks.
This year Mr. Ségalot, dressed as himself, came to the opening along with everyone else.
“In this market,” he said, “there is no need to hurry.”
Inside Art: A Thriftier Lot Comes to Basel this Year (New York Times)