Galleries that exhibited at Art Basel Paris are pressing the fair for compensation after it closed two days early, arguing that the sudden shutdown and the way it was handled left them out of pocket. The industry body representing 57 of the fair's 211 exhibitors wrote to the fair's director, Karim Crippa, on 28 October, saying the decision had caused deep bewilderment among dealers and that the absence of consultation felt dismissive.

Art Basel Paris brought its run to an end on Friday 23 October rather than Sunday 25 October, pointing to security worries ahead of a demonstration planned for the following day. Unrest the previous weekend had been followed by looting and vandalism, and the dealers' association accepts that shutting on the Saturday was the sensible course. Its objection is to how the closure was decided and communicated, with the letter stating that the choice was taken by the fair alone.

The dealers also note that other events went ahead that Saturday. Design Miami Paris, Offscreen and AKAA all opened their doors, and the Cézanne exhibition inside the Grand Palais itself received visitors, a contrast the signatories clearly regard as undermining the fair's position. The letter was signed by the association's president, Philippe Charpentier, co-founder of the gallery Mor Charpentier, along with fourteen other dealers including Nathalie Obadia, Michel Rein, Magda Danysz, Jocelyn Wolff and Christophe Gaillard.

The French government now appears to be stepping into the dispute. Christopher Miles, the director-general for artistic creation at the Ministry of Culture, has agreed to bring the parties together, including the galleries' association, Art Basel Paris and GrandPalaisRmn, which runs the Grand Palais. The dealers' association says it expects the fair to come forward with specific proposals for compensating exhibitors, setting up a negotiation over who bears the cost of a weekend cut short.