Kobel's Art Weekly Archive

Incredible relief for the art trade

Kobel's Art Weekly 31 2025

According to its website, the Taipei Dangdai art fair is taking a break after this year's edition, which took place in early May. Karen K. Ho writes in Artnews: "The event [...] is among three regional art fairs in Asia overseen by the international fair conglomerate The Art Assembly. The other two are Art SG ... read more

Art market methods

Kobel's Art Weekly 30 2025

Handbags save the auction giant! George Nelson analyses Christie's half-year results for Artnews: "Christie's announced on Tuesday that its projected sales total for the first half of 2025 (H1-2025). The $2.1 billion figure, including fees, equals the sum it generated during the first half of 2024 (H1-2024). While last year's total marked a 22 percent year-on-year decline compared to the ... read more

Venus over Manhattan - not anymore

Kobel's Art Weekly 29 2025

Coincidence or correlation? Following Tim Blum, collector Adam Lindemann is also closing his New York gallery Venus over Manhattan. On Artnet (probably paywall), he recalls an exciting time: "We had several good fairs in Hong Kong, Miami, San Francisco, Los Angeles and London, but do you want to know the truth about fair committees? They expect you to get down ... read more

She's back, but with a new pronoun

Kobel's Art Weekly 28 2025

Sommer.Frische.Kunst in Bad Gastein is celebrating its 15th anniversary, this time with a miniature offshoot of the Positions art fair. Laura Ewert was there for Monopol and was impressed by the somewhat quirky event: "You have to imagine Sommer.Frische.Kunst as a school trip. It's full of fun people who initially divide themselves into artists, sellers and consumers. You go for ... read more

Art Basel afterparty; symbol image

Kobel's Art Weekly 27 2025

Jonathan Guggenberger attended the unofficial Art Basel after party on Hydra for the FAZ newspaper on 29 June: "What attracts sales managers from the Swiss art fair to the Greek island? “We are finalising sales projects that we started last week in Basel,” says gallery owner Julia Gardener. And why Hydra in particular? Because the atmosphere is particularly relaxed, the buyers more generous – and ... read more

Art Basel 2025; photo Stefan Kobel

Kobel's Art Weekly 26 2025

Art Basel in Basel reported 88,000 visitors for this difficult year, 3,000 fewer than in 2024. It was not only Americans who skipped the most important event in the art fair calendar.Almost everything was as usual at Art Basel, reports Ursula Scheer in the FAZ on 21 June: "Even though the world's leading company also has events in Hong Kong, Miami Beach, Paris and soon ... read more