At the start of the year, auction coverage typically focuses on retrospectives and outlooks, which kick off the third and final part of our season review. Melanie Gerlis highlights the extent to which large fortunes influence the art market in her report on single owner sales for the Financial Times (paywall): ‘What is new is the scale, in volume and value,’ says ... read more
For art fairs the year is off to a rough start, as becomes clear right at the beginning of the first part of our three-part season review. The art market in Austria has suffered two heavy blows. The leading art fair Viennacontemporary will no longer take place, as I report in Artmagazine. The financial background and the position of the gallery ... read more
The art market began 2026 with a faint hope that things would now start to pick up again. However, the differences compared with previous economic cycles cannot be ignored, as the first part of our three-part review of the spring season makes clear.In WeLT, Marcus Woeller in the first days of January searches for an explanation for the trend towards the ... read more
In his report in WeLT on Art Basel, which he says “got off to a flying start”, Marcus Woeller peppers his piece with art market anecdotes: “Above all, however, it is the selling prices at Art Basel that are truly exclusive. The asking price of 35 million dollars, for instance, with which the Hauser & Wirth gallery announced the sale ... read more
The June Art Fair in Basel was cancelled on Sunday, one day before it was due to begin, without any explanationJo Lawson-Tancred has combed through the list of participants at Frieze London for Artnet, looking for galleries that are not taking part this year: “Several galleries, including Almine Rech, James Cohan, Sean Kelly, Gathering, Kurimanzutto, ... read more
The narrative of the ever-expanding top tier of the art market is beginning to show cracks, reports Robin Pogrebin in the New York Times (paywall): “In perhaps the clearest sign yet of a profound shift in the art market, Pace Gallery plans to announce on Thursday that it is reducing its artist portfolio by 50 artists and its staff by ... read more