So the handbook for the perfect art traveller now should include a stop of in somewhere warm. Starting in January with the Arte Fiera in Bologna, following on with Arco in Madrid, The Armory Show in New York then back to Europe with Zurich, Milan, Brussels and if you fancy it also Chicago and Frankfurt.

Then comes the date in Basle, the most “established” moment, followed by a summer break. During this time there are a number of Biennales and huge international events, then continuing with Berlin, Paris, Cologne, Turin and now, with Miami. There are also a number of other less sophisticated sisters.

Container at Collins Park. Courtesy Art Basel Miami Beach

Miami is a hot spot even before you get there, not just because whilst in Europe it is the middle of winter and in New York it’s snowing (causing many to miss the opening party) here its 25 degrees, but also because it intends to become The American Fair, to the great irritation of the Armory Show.

Art Deco architecture, Miami Beach. Courtesy Art Basel Miami Beach

The sequence of the appointments, the opening parties which invade Miami Beach and the famous Art Deco district, hold a faithful sample of the art star system, as well as a making a valuable contribution in transforming the event into a partying city.

The Convention Center houses the 150 most important galleries in the world, selected by a strict jury and made exclusive by the prohibitively expensive costs of participation, divided between Art Galleries – the best of the official artistic offerings from the twentieth and twenty first century – and Art Statements – which instead allow twenty up and coming artists to be present at the Fair with their own exhibition.