Kobel's
Art Weekly

Kobel's Art Weekly 1 2026

Normal fair business was overshadowed in the second half of the year by the dominant corporations, which made headlines primarily with their expansion into the Arab world. The current art fair model does not seem sustainable to many market participants, according to a survey of gallery owners summarised by Karen K. Ho in mid-Augustfor Artnews: "First Thursday, a London-based sales intelligence company, spoke with 56 commercial galleries across Europe, Asia, Africa, and North America for its inaugural Art Fair Report. Some of the interviews took place directly on the floors of Frieze, Art Basel, Independent, TEFAF, and Art SG. The report found that nearly half of the galleries (46 per cent) surveyed spent over £30,000 ($40,000) to attend a single fair, and nearly one in five galleries (24 per cent) spent between £50,000 and £100,000. This correlates with the 83 per cent of respondents who cited high participation costs as the biggest challenge to exhibiting at fairs, followed by 77 per cent of respondents who said the uncertainty of sales was the next biggest challenge. ‘The model feels unsustainable at present,’ one gallerist said. Captain Obvious was apparently commissioned to conduct the study.

Art Basel's involvement in Qatar is also attracting attention outside the art world. For Politico, Carlo Martuscelli examines the role of the fair in the emirate's strategy: "[Artist and academic Gregory] Sholette said that the Basel organisers had to account for how hosting the fair would boost Qatar's soft power. “It shouldn’t be done willy-nilly, to become part of, in this case, the Qatar political sphere, because that’s what’s going to basically assist Qatar and other countries in that region in their PR promotion." In an interview with POLITICO, Art Basel CEO Noah Horowitz answered questions about Qatar’s human rights record, and the role that Art Basel might play in helping the country exert its influence internationally. ‘That's not a concern of ours,’ said Horowitz. ‘They've been stepping forward in a very direct and meaningful way for some time now in the role of culture. I mean, their cultural commitments are well noted and deep and quite visionary.’ FIFA's argument at the time was similar.

Relief in New York in early September: According to consistent reports, including those from reputable press outlets, the Armory seems to have gone well. Elisa Carollo reports in the Observer: "American collectors seem to have taken the back-to-school spirit seriously this year, with several dealers reporting a brisk and buoyant first day at the Armory Show. The New York fair—one of the city’s most established and historic—opened yesterday, 4 September, at the Javits Centre and quickly surpassed expectations across price ranges, leaving dealers cautiously hopeful that this season might mark the start of a healthier moment, at least for the US market.”

Sarah Moroz visited the small Art-o-Rama fair in Marseille for the Observer: ‘DS Galerie, a Parisian space in the Marais, was participating in its fourth edition. Gallery representative Ulysse Feuvrier said that Marseille is ’an ecosystem that's growing more and more,‘ yet the size of the fair was manageable. ’It doesn't bring an overdose in its format, which means there's more time to see everything and to exchange... It's a different way to start the year than Frieze Seoul."‘

For Monopol, Boris Pofalla strolls through Viennacontemporary: "Something is different, but what? Viennacontemporary feels airier and more pleasant than last year, demonstrating an eye for detail. The typical trade fair grid of white partition walls has been replaced by a less predictable arrangement, which is said to be reminiscent of the maze of alleys in the first district of the Austrian capital (stand design: Claudia Cavallar, winner of the Hans Hollein Art Prize for Architecture). Local restaurants, coffee roasters and ice cream makers are mixed in with the art to ensure that visitors don't forget they are in Vienna. And why should they? The city is a tourist magnet, so it can and wants to capitalise on that." Katharina Rustler summarises the state of the fair and the plans of the new director in Der Standard: "Last year, it returned to its original location in Hall D of Messe Wien, where it was last held as Viennafair in 2015. It will remain there for the time being. As reported, the VC is not in the best financial shape. Its future seems uncertain, especially in times of a troubled art market.“ Olga Kronsteiner reports bad news in Der Standard (as of mid-December).

It's happening again: Art Cologne is making a second attempt in Mallorca. Following my initial report in Monopol and later in Artmagazine, Eileen Kinsella also reports for Artnet: "News of the expansion comes as something of a surprise, but a bright spot nonetheless, as numerous other major art fairs have been consolidating ownership and, in some cases, cutting back on planned events. The new event, officially titled Art Cologne Palma Mallorca, will be held at the Palau de Congresses hotel and convention centre in Palma Bay.‘

Payal Uttam paints a positive picture of Contemporary Istanbul in The Art Newspaper (paywall may apply): "Collectors from across Europe, the US and Turkey converged at the opulent Tersane Istanbul complex—a restored Ottoman shipyard overlooking the Golden Horn—for the opening of Contemporary Istanbul (CI, until 28 September) on Tuesday. Celebrating its 20th anniversary, the fair brought together 51 galleries from 16 countries. This year's edition coincided with the Istanbul Biennial, which drew a larger crowd of collectors and museum groups compared to the previous year. The fair showed stronger quality than its early iterations, with works by leading Turkish artists such as Nil Yalter, Güneş Terkol and Azade Köker on view." The fair owner holds the licence for the Turkish edition of the publication. This is also mentioned in the article. Rachel Kubrick points out the conditions under which CI takes place at Ocula.

Cut-throat competition has broken out among art fairs in the Persian Gulf. After Art Dubai initially positioned itself more internationally with a new management team, Art Basel announced the launch of a new fair in Qatar in May. The initial plan was to have around 50 galleries. In fact, almost 90 exhibitors are taking part in the premiere of Art Basel Qatar. Now Frieze has surprised everyone by taking over Abu Dhabi Art, as I report in mid-October in Artmagazine. What makes the Gulf rally interesting is the fact that the state-owned Qatar Investment is itself involved in Frieze, as Maximilíano Durón reports in Artnews. This means that the Gulf state is indirectly competing with its own event. In addition to Qatar, Dubai and Abu Dhabi, Saudi Arabia is also trying to attract international galleries to the Arabian Peninsula with Art Week Riyadh. This cannot end well for everyone. The winner will probably be whoever throws around the most money.

At Frieze Masters, Vivienne Chow identified a trend for Artnet (possibly paywall): "A fresh wave of young dealers and collectors is breathing new life into old art, defying market trends and generational expectations. Against the backdrop of a cooling contemporary market, pre-war and historical works are finding eager new audiences. Many of them are under 40 thanks to accessible price points, innovative presentations, and crossover programming that places historical objects alongside modern ones." Participating in Frieze London is particularly challenging for young galleries, as Kate Brown learned for Artnet (paywall possible): "Five dealers said that the subsidies were smaller this year. Frieze said that it lowered prices for Focus from £313 ($419) per square metre in 2024 to £276 ($370) this year, but one dealer told a different story. According to an email I saw, the prices actually went up, from £276 per square metre to £310 per square metre. (Frieze did not immediately respond to a request for comment.) Regardless, because of the decrease in subsidies, galleries had to pay more—around £2,000 ($2,677) more, in some cases.“

Meanwhile, the empire of Frieze acquirer Ari Emanuel continues to grow. A report by Alex Werpin for the Hollywood Reporter gives an idea of the size and direction of the group: "Ari Emanuel has officially launched his new holding company, which will house many of the assets that used to be a part of Endeavor Group Holdings. The new company is called MARI, and will house a number of significant tennis tournaments, including the Miami Open presented by Itaú and Mutua Madrid Open, as well as the Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open, Mubadala Citi DC Open, SP Open, and a number of other exhibition tennis events. It also includes Frieze, the arts organisation that Emanuel agreed to buy earlier this year, as well as a majority stake in Barrett-Jackson, the automotive auction house and lifestyle brand. The deals closed on Wednesday in conjunction with MARI's launch."

Art Basel Paris threatens to outshine not only Frieze London, but even the parent fair itself, Alexandra Wach speculates in the Tagesspiegel (paywall): "According to gallery owner Thaddaeus Ropac, all the major American collectors were there. This could be because the Paris edition of Art Basel follows directly on from Frieze in London and has long since developed into the most international fair in the world. Miami, Basel and Hong Kong are increasingly focusing on their respective regions. If this trend continues, the parent fair is likely to cannibalise itself. This could mean that galleries will no longer save their best works for Switzerland."

While the fair was still running, Art Basel announced the successor to outgoing ABP director Clément Delépine. Karim Crippa is a veteran of the fair company, having previously headed Art Basel's communications department.

Georg Imdahl from the FAZ clearly enjoyed Artissima in Turin in early November: "With around 170 exhibitors, Artissima presents a serious, reliable selection of paintings, sculptures and installations. Fassi would like to reduce this number somewhat in the future. As can be heard in conversations with them, some exhibitors appreciate the fair as a welcome opportunity to ‘try something out’ – meaning that participation does not cost as much as it does with the industry leaders. Artissima also scores points with its drastically reduced VAT on works of art. Previously the most expensive country in Europe at 22 per cent, Italy has been attracting visitors since this summer with a rate of five per cent, the lowest in Europe.

Sarah Douglas and Daniel Cassady have compiled a list of galleries that are no longer participating in Art Basel Miami Beach for Artnews. How fortunate that not all English-language art publications are media partners of Art Basel!

Georg Imdahl describes the atmosphere of optimism during his visit to Art Cologne for the FAZ: "Suddenly, there is talk of a “Cologne effect”, which, surprisingly, is not depressing, but rather seen as a mood booster for Art Cologne. Cologne has not experienced such a shift towards positive energy in a long time. It is fuelled by all kinds of off-spaces and newer galleries in the city.‘

Michael Kohler assesses the location in the Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger on 7 November: ’Perhaps Art Basel Paris, which ended two weeks ago, is boosting business for its Cologne competitors, as some observers speculate. Perhaps collectors are simply tired of the endless stream of bad news from the international art market. Unlike the various Art Basel fairs, Art Cologne is an art fair for the poor rich – for the tenacious middle class among collectors. Nevertheless, it is psychologically important for the former market leader that dealers also bring millions worth of art to Cologne. In this respect, Thaddaeus Ropac can always be relied upon.

Art Basel Miami Beach in early December cultivates its circus image, and the press that travels there largely plays along. Instagram and other media were full of the eye-catcher of this edition, a robot performance that Daniel Cassady describes for Artnews: "It seems Art Basel Miami Beach has perfected the art of the scroll-by spectacle. This year, the collective gasp was at the new Zero10 digital art section, and it happened every time one of about half a dozen robot dogs “went”. The installation, Regular Animals by Beeple (a.k.a. Mike Winkelmann), is part satire, part dystopia, part slapstick theatre. In it, a pen of robot dogs (or is it pigs?) have been fitted with grotesquely lifelike heads of Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Pablo Picasso, Andy Warhol, Jeff Bezos, and Beeple himself. They wander, they twitch, they clash—and then, at intervals likely engineered for maximum dramatic tension, they tip backward and eject a printed image from their backsides. [...] If the future is arriving faster than anyone would like, this was the rare artwork that let people greet it with a laugh. Sometimes, to understand the machines reshaping the world, you really do have to watch one poop."

According to Julia Stellmann's comments in the FAZ (paywall), Art Antwerp is becoming both more regional and more international: "In 2021, international exhibitors were eager to participate in the few events that were held due to the empty exhibition calendar caused by the pandemic. However, sales remained poor for many galleries, including those from Germany, so that the fair lost its international character with each subsequent edition. Art Antwerp has now become a truly regional fair, primarily showcasing figurative painting from Belgium – and apparently with great success. [...] With 79 galleries from eleven countries, the number of exhibitors at Art Antwerp has increased slightly compared to last year. Forty-three per cent come from Belgium, and around a quarter from the Netherlands. Support from France has grown significantly stronger.” Last year, the proportion of Belgian exhibitors was above 50 per cent. I was in Antwerp for the Handelsblatt and Artmagazine.