Kobel's Art Weekly

Kobel's Art Weekly 24 2026

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 50 employees – a sign that even a renowned, established gallery must cut staff in this difficult economic climate. “The entire art gallery system has become too big, too commercial, too impersonal and too corporate,” said Marc Glimcher, the managing director, in an interview this week. “We all know that’s true. But you actually have to do something to adapt to it. You have to make some fundamental changes.” In the report by Devorah Lauter and Daniel Cassady for Artnews, Marc Glimcher elaborates on his argument: “Glimcher argued that the changes should not be seen as a rejection of the gallery’s long history of expansion and experimentation. “Our constant searching should not be confused with this phenomenon of becoming too big and too corporate,” he said, describing this search as “100 per cent my father’s legacy”. The problem, he said, was not the ambition, but the effort required to sustain the mega-gallery model.” However, it is unlikely that what speaks from Glimcher’s words is the ennui of an aesthete turning away in disgust from filthy lucre, but rather simply the economic realisation that his own business model is no longer viable in its current form. In other words: the turnover is simply no longer there. Working with living artists is probably just too costly. Shortly before the gallery group laid off over a third of its artists and around 20 per cent of its staff, it fortunately managed to secure representation of the Brancusi estate. Does this now mean that smaller galleries no longer need to fear that, after years of building up their portfolios, artists will be poached by the industry giants as soon as their investment begins to bear fruit? Probably not. For the downsizing of the gallery does not mean that Pace will no longer take on new artists or estates, even if it will proceed with great caution, as Marc Glimcher hints in the New York Times. That is the advantage of a chain business: when things aren’t going so well, you simply scale the whole operation down a bit, adjust the distribution and focus on the new collection. The long-established business in the pedestrian zone is holding a clearance sale and closing down.

According to Daniel Cassady of Artnews, Sotheby’s failed attempt to sell a Jackson Pollock from Arne Glimcher’s collection for $50 million in a private auction may not be entirely unrelated to this development: “According to a source familiar with the matter, Sotheby’s was unable to find enough bidders to get the auction off the ground. The auction was ultimately cancelled, though it remains unclear whether the painting was returned to Glimcher, sold privately or remains with Sotheby’s. Both Sotheby’s and Pace declined to comment. The attempted sale is remarkable not only because of the painting in question, but also because, according to a former source at the auction house, it was apparently Sotheby’s first serious attempt at a private auction.”

Monaco, Formula 1, superyachts... and art. For some people, it all fits together, as Brian Boucher of Artnews explains: “That’s because there is now a hyper-exclusive ‘museum-level’ art exhibition aboard a 236-foot ‘superyacht’, and you might even be able to book a suite there. On its maiden voyage, the Floating Art Hotel headed for the Bay of Monaco, where it is currently moored off the famous Monte-Carlo Casino (frequented by the likes of James Bond) – for the duration (until 8 June) of the Formula 1 Grand Prix, the most prestigious race of its kind in the world. There are only 14 private suites, so there is a guest list of “collectors, founders and cultural figures” which – as you might expect – is “strictly curated”. The ambience is, of course, “designed for depth and discretion”. On the preview day on Thursday, the suites were fully booked; the organisers did not wish to disclose prices and expect them to be fully booked by the weekend, although they are currently 80 per cent full.”

Stephanie Dieckvoss highlights the difficulties facing London as an art hub in her report “London Gallery Weekend” in the Handelsblatt of 5 June: “However great the organisers’ enthusiasm may be for celebrating the world’s second-largest art market, the strained economic situation, particularly in the gallery sector, cannot be overlooked. Whilst London’s auction houses have stabilised again in recent months with good results, in the gallery sector new openings are offset by countless closures, often for financial reasons.” Margaret Carrigan at Artnet (possibly behind a paywall) takes a slightly different view: “As fixed costs rise and geopolitical uncertainty increases, collectors and dealers are becoming increasingly selective about which fairs and events justify the trip (a topic I have often covered in this column). Chasing after the same circle of art enthusiasts seems to be the wrong strategy. What London actually needs lies closer to home: closer collaboration with the philanthropists, policymakers and the public who are already here. A good gallery weekend isn’t about rallying the art world around itself – it’s about justifying why the art world should matter to everyone else. In this respect, London has more to prove than its market position would suggest. The city’s gallery scene remains truly strong, with a new generation of excellent galleries such as Rose Easton, Ginny on Frederick, Xxijra Hii and Pale Horse flourishing alongside established institutions and art schools.”

Daniel Cassidy explores just how complex the primary market has become for Artnews: “The best galleries don’t simply sell art; they help explain why it matters to collectors and museums. This may also explain why, in recent years, many artists have turned to the growing field of consultants and agents. Firms such as Andrea Glimcher’s Hyphen, the 291 Agency, founded by Gagosian veteran Max Teicher, and the Artist Legacy Bureau, founded by former Hauser & Wirth partner Christopher Canizares, emerged in response to an art world that has become larger, more international and more complicated. Their argument is not that galleries have failed, but that artists need help to navigate a rapidly expanding system that now spans fairs, institutions, collectors, publications and several continents.”

Werner Remm reports on the difficult conditions for the art market in Austria in Artmagazine: “Katrin Auer, cultural spokesperson for the SPÖ, who had already advocated for tax measures to benefit the art trade back in 2025, had to admit, however, that the chances of implementation had fallen to zero in recent weeks. Both Culture Minister and Vice-Chancellor Andreas Babler and Finance Minister Markus Marterbauer, both party colleagues of Auer, currently see no way of supporting the art trade, galleries and artists. ‘The door is closed,’ says Auer.”

The German spring auctions have already got off to a good start. Grisebach in Berlin achieved a remarkable record price of 4.98 million euros, including the buyer’s premium, for Georg Kolbe’s “Tänzerinnen-Brunnen” (Dancers’ Fountain), which previously stood in front of the Georg Kolbe Museum and is now heading to the USA. The estimate had been just one to 1.5 million euros. The Tagesspiegel (with agency material) recounts the history of the artwork.

Lawyer Zacharias Mawick explains in the Weltkunst-Insider (ten weeks free after registration) how German bureaucracy turns well-intentioned EU legislation into a bureaucratic nightmare for institutions: “Let’s imagine a European museum is planning an exhibition featuring loans from an Egyptian museum. Every single exhibit – be it a statue, a papyrus or a coin – must be individually recorded in the EKG system. A mountain of paperwork ensues: for each object, detailed descriptions, photos from multiple angles, proof of provenance and customs values must be provided. Even if the loan remains in the EU for only a few months and there is no commercial motive, the effort involved is immense. And this despite the fact that the regulation was actually intended to exempt precisely such cases from the strict requirements.”

And once again, the banana is making the rounds. Many mainstream and art media outlets are reporting on the theft of a yellow tropical fruit from the Centre Pompidou in Metz, as if it were a work of art. In fact, Maurizio Cattelan has a banana attached to a wall with adhesive tape. The owner of the work “Comedian” is authorised to do so. It consists of written instructions on how to attach these objects at a height of 1.60 metres, as well as a certificate of authenticity. This is what is known as conceptual art. The banana itself is no more art than the adhesive tape or the wall. The fact that grown adults invariably get worked up every time a piece of fruit is eaten or stolen is an eloquent testimony to the state of the media and/or society.

Miss Lieser cannot find peace. According to research by Tom Mashberg and Graham Bowley for the New York Times (paywall), Patricia J. Leahy, a granddaughter of Adolf Lieser, has filed a lawsuit in New York seeking the return of the painting by Gustav Klimt, as she claims to be the sole legitimate heir. Brian Boucher reports for Artnews. Olga Kronsteiner points out in the Standard (possibly paywall): “According to information available to the STANDARD, however, Hans Lieser had bequeathed to Leahy’s father only the statutory share to which he was already entitled during his lifetime. Under inheritance law, his daughter Patricia Leahy would therefore only be entitled to a supplement to the statutory share in the form of a cash payment, which she would, at most, have to sue for from Hans Lieser’s universal heirs.”

The Vienna-based Dorotheum is likely to be pleased, whilst Sotheby’s continues to downsize in Germany: according to a press release, Serei Serafin is moving to the Viennese auction house with immediate effect: “By strengthening the team, the Dorotheum is underlining its long-term commitment in Germany and its ambition to consolidate the brand as the premier destination for exceptional art, luxury and collectibles. ” The Frankfurt-based communications expert was practically part of the furniture at Sotheby’s in Germany for decades.

Hilde Lynn Helphenstein, creator of the fictional character Jerry Gogosian, well-known in the art world, has died. This was first reported by the Brazilian television channel Globo and shortly afterwards by numerous art publications, including Artnews, Artnet, Monopol and Artmagazine. Shortly afterwards, a mud-slinging contest erupted on social media over who was allegedly responsible for her death. The Instagram account Jerry Gogosian has gained 3,000 followers, rising from 145,000 to 158,000, in the week since its creator’s death.