Mood at Art Basel is upbeat as VIPs spend

By the close of play on Wednesday, dealers were tired but happy, reporting that the first wave of VIP collectorsmany of them fresh off the Venice-Kassel-Mnster circuithad arrived engaged and prepared to spend handsomely. Hauser & Wirth declared Tuesday its most successful first day ever at Art Basel, having placed a 1970 oil by Philip Guston for $15m and an untitled painting by Eva Hesse with a Chinese museum for $2.5m, among a dozen early sales. Acquavella Galleries speedily unloaded a lar