By Brook S. Mason

On June 17th, a stunning 1,500 journalists descended on the Swiss border town of Basel for an event of surprisingly apolitical significance. They came to cover this year’s Art Basel, the 34th annual presentation of the contemporary art fair that is a firmly established economic phenomenon. It has spawned literally hundreds of such events across the globe.

Yes, Art Basel ranks as Europe's top art event in terms of trading in major modern and contemporary paintings, sculpture, photography and video with sales topping an estimated $300 million and its hefty 50,000 plus attendance. But it wasn't so long ago that art and antiques fairs were merely small-localized operations without a speck of international flair.

Now art and antiques fairs have suddenly hit the big time, drawing in hundreds of thousands of attendees, reaping multi million dollar sales of art and antiques at the drop of a hat all with glittering vernissages. Such sparkling events have changed the business practices of dealers as well as the shopping habits of collectors on virtually every continent.

Why such a dramatic impact? Not a single gallery or even a group of galleries showing jointly can match the breadth and depth of fine art and antiques shown at a major international fair. The concentration of dealers, the profusion of rarities as well as modestly priced examples, combined with free spending collectors is a recipe for dazzling results.

"Participating in the top fairs is essential for dealers today," says London art dealer Leslie Waddington, who serves on the executive board of The European Fine Art Fair (TEFAF) held in Maastricht, Holland. He cites winning new clients as the critical reason. "Fairs also allow dealers to compete with auction houses."

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