A foreboding air greets the 23rd edition of the Art Basel Miami Beach fair opening this week, capping a year of sluggish sales that were financially devastating for many galleries. As collectors, curators and dealers swoop into South Florida for Wednesday’s V.I.P. preview, some analysts have pointed to the $2.2 billion results at the marquee November art auctions in New York as evidence that the market has found its footing. But that is little comfort to the spate of pre-eminent galleries across the country that have already closed, including many thought to be blue chip and resilient to even a steep downturn.

The Basel fair itself has seen an unprecedented 14 of its originally announced 285 galleries withdraw from participating. Some shuttered their doors permanently, while others decided the often six-figure outlay to exhibit was now too risky a gamble. Another 12 galleries were subsequently tapped to fill those vacated slots.

One of the originally accepted dealers who pulled out, New York’s Miguel Abreu, told ArtNews, which reported eight gallery withdrawals in October, that after exhibiting at both Frieze and Art Basel Paris earlier that month, “Three fairs in the fall would be too much,” and “frankly, last year in Miami for us was less than stellar.”

Addressing that sentiment, which is one quietly echoed by employees at several other withdrawing galleries, Bridget Finn, the director of Art Basel Miami Beach, acknowledged that such reassessments were “exactly what we expect in a cycle like this.” She said the slump was already in the rearview mirror, pointing to “tremendous momentum” at Art Basel Paris and November’s auction results as proof of “renewed confidence at the top end of the market.” She added that this uplift was “very much carrying into Miami Beach.”

Art Basel, at the Miami Beach Convention Center, along with its surrounding sea of satellite fairs and special events referred to as Miami Art Week, has long served as a barometer for the health of the art market. That has been especially true for Miami’s local talent who have grown up in Basel’s backyard and basked in its cultural afterglow. Seven of the city’s galleries have been selected to exhibit at this year’s Basel — only 2 percent of the total, but still more than those representing any city in the United States besides New York and Los Angeles.

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