Kobel's
Art Weekly

Kobel's Art Weekly 17 2026

The tenth edition of Art Düsseldorf has impressed the critics. Georg Imdahl writes in the FAZ (paywall): “Large stand, small formats is the principle adopted by Frankfurt-based gallery Bärbel Grässlin, which, like Esther Schipper from Berlin, is taking part in Art Düsseldorf for the first time. ‘We’ve been watching this for two years, and we like the line-up,’ says Schipper director Jonas Kriszeleit. Düsseldorf can certainly score points with these new additions, even if the atmosphere has been ‘more feverish’ in the past, as Grässlin notes, though Düsseldorf is ‘of course not Art Basel’. No objection, but the comparison is inevitable given the proximity in time; the programme is denser and more substantial than at the recently concluded Art Cologne Palma Mallorca.” Regine Müller also draws the comparison with the Rhineland competition, both implicitly and explicitly, in the Handelsblatt of 17 April: “The airy halls, blessed with natural light and possessing a post-industrial, slightly rough-hewn charm, are far superior to the stifling artificiality of conventional exhibition architecture. It cannot be a coincidence that the Cologne organisers, in response to the growing importance of the Düsseldorf fair, have placed their new format, ‘Art Cologne Palma Mallorca’, right under Düsseldorf’s nose, of all places, as its first edition only just came to an end last Sunday.” Jens Bülskämper addresses the market situation evident in the offerings in Artmagazine: “The fact that the format is so conspicuously small and manageable does indeed have to do with the crisis-ridden global situation, admits Düsseldorf gallery owner Pfab. They want to get through this phase well, and this is simply one of the measures. Certainly a statement many galleries at the fair would agree with – obviously. After all, quite a lot could be carried home in a shopping bag on the spot; sometimes even a jute bag would suffice. That ‘art-to-go’ spirit also applies to the prices, by the way: in exchange for a smart Swiss watch, large parts of the range could easily be acquired.”

Miart in Milan, founded 30 years ago, has a significantly longer tradition, which Karen Krüger describes for the FAZ (paywall): “Miart dispenses with the classic concept of linear organisation. It spans three floors with 160 galleries from 24 countries, many of which are presenting solo exhibitions. ‘The reduction from last year’s 179 galleries was a conscious decision to improve quality,’ says fair director Nicola Ricciardi.” Arun Kakar provides an assessment of the fair and its location for Artsy: “Much has been made of Milan’s rise as an art capital in recent years, fuelled by a fresh cohort of international galleries opening in the city and talk of international collectors drawn in by Italy’s newly favourable tax regime. Yet Miart is not the country’s only major art fair—Artissima in Turin and Arte Fiera in Bologna remain formidable Northern Italian counterparts—so its strength comes from the city’s pull. It turns out that collectors from across Europe hardly need persuading to spend time moving between the city’s world-class museums, foundations, and growing cluster of trend-setting galleries, all of which drew large crowds during a packed Milan Art Week. Underscoring that promise is the arrival this year of the trendy alternative fair Paris Internationale, which will host its first edition outside the French capital at Milan’s Palazzo Galbani over the weekend.”

I attended all three fairs in Milan for the 17 April edition of the Handelsblatt and Artmagazine.

Carlie Porterfield offers some mixed praise for the Dallas Art Fair in the Art Newspaper (possibly behind a paywall): “After the disruptions of the pandemic years, the Dallas Art Fair appears to be settling into a steadier rhythm and consistently drawing a distinct roster of dealers and collectors. This year’s edition saw fewer departures from its exhibitor roster, with around 31 galleries not returning from 2025, compared with more than 40 in previous cycles. The overall number of exhibitors has held roughly constant at around 90.” If a third of the exhibitors are not returning, that is not a sign of success.

Art Dubai is now set to go ahead after all, reports Margaret Carrigan, along with details on Artnet: “The revised fair reflects both logistical challenges and shifting priorities in the wake of the US-Israel war on Iran. Featuring just 50 exhibitors, two-thirds of which are based in or have outposts in the region, the fair has been reduced in size by roughly 57 per cent. Around 120 exhibitors from 35 countries were originally scheduled to participate before the US-Israel attack on Iran on 28 February. Organisers said in an email that, in times of uncertainty, “some things must go on, and Art Dubai is one of them.” The fair has also introduced a “risk-sharing” model for booth fees, which will involve participating galleries paying only a percentage of their total sales, capped at the equivalent of their booth fee.“

Daniel Cassady of Artnews detects slight signs of recovery at Sotheby’s: “Sotheby’s has returned to profit after several loss-making years, though the underlying financial picture remains complicated. The auction house posted a $53 million pre-tax profit in 2025, according to financial documents reviewed by the Financial Times, a turnaround from a $190 million loss the year prior. Sales rose nearly 20 per cent to $7.1 billion, lifting revenue from its core auction business by 26 per cent to about $1 billion. Full-year figures released by Sotheby’s show a broader improvement across the business. The company reported total revenue of $1.4 billion in 2025, up 21 per cent year-on-year, alongside an adjusted EBITDA of $363 million, one of the highest levels in its history.”

Just under a year after the takeover of Artnet and, previously, Artsy by investor Andrew E. Wolff, Daniel Cassady at Artnews was the first to report the merger of the two companies, and two days later Alex Greenberger reported in the same publication on widespread redundancies, particularly within Artnet’s editorial team: “Sources told ARTnews that the redundancies particularly affected Artnet’s editorial arm, Artnet News, one of the most widely read art publications in the US and Europe. Among the senior reporters who are no longer at Artnet News are Sarah Cascone and Eileen Kinsella, both of whom had been on the publication’s staff for more than a decade. Andrew Russeth, who previously served as executive editor of ARTnews, will reportedly now serve as the interim editor of Artnet News, which has historically operated out of New York, London, and Berlin. Also severely impacted, according to those sources, was the Berlin team that helps facilitate Artnet’s efforts to sell art online.”

Marion Maneker voices doubts about the strategy in Puck (paywall): “The combination of Artsy and Artnet has placed Jeff Yin in charge of a combined art-market platform with new potential—an AI-powered auction database, merged gallery networks, and a slimmed-down newsroom. Can his vision survive contact with reality?”

Valentina Di Liscia of Hyperallergic falls into the same trap as the CEO: “Despite making millions each year from its core product, its price database, and sales from its online auctions, Artnet recorded a 12% revenue decline in the first half of 2025 that it attributed primarily to ‘lower-than-expected performance in the Media segment.’ To put it in plain English, journalism doesn’t sell.” Yet practically since their launch, it has been the auctions that have been the company’s money-losers, not the magazine. In fact, the Media division generated around €100,000 more in revenue than the price database during the period in question. Annual reports should be accessible to read.

Elisa Carollo is selling old wine in new bottles in the Observer, reusing her interview from last year for her current piece without adding anything substantially new.

I spoke to Andrew Wolff for Monopol about the merger of the two companies and their future.

The art sector’s pandering to the luxury industry could indeed prove to be a poor strategy. After all, collectibles from the fashion sector too can be caught up in the maelstrom of structural change. Fashion blogger Amy Odell (Backrow login/paywall) has compared on Instagram the prices actually achieved for Birkin bags at auction with the expectations of sellers, which are drifting further and further apart: “Average prices of sold bags have fallen roughly $2,500 on the resale market since January 2025, whilst listed prices have fallen just $1,000 (or around 4 per cent). Sellers are asking an average of $2,000 more than what buyers are actually paying. “People are very scared to accept a depreciation in that asset,” said Truss founder Woody Lello. “There’s a kind of shared collective unconscious that if we just keep listing them for these same values, then people will come.” We may be at a turning point for something that has long been talked about as an asset. It carries your keys and wallet, sure, but it’s not just a bag — it’s supposed to hold its value better than almost anything else in someone’s wardrobe. But Truss’s data shows that, whilst Birkins still outsell the average luxury resale item by a wide margin, it’s getting harder and harder to view them as sound investments.“

With Foundation, another NFT marketplace is closing down, reports Harrison Jacobs in Artnews: “Add one more casualty of the collapsed NFT market to the list: Foundation, a curated Ethereum-based marketplace that rose to prominence during the 2021 digital art boom. On Wednesday, co-founder and CEO Kayvon Tehranian announced in an open letter on X that the platform’s sale to digital art company Blackdove had collapsed, leaving no viable way to keep operating. “Our goal in pursuing a sale was always to see Foundation live on—to find someone who would keep the platform running and serve this community going forward,” Tehranian wrote. “That’s no longer possible.”

Illustrator Molly Crabapple described AI in the Guardian as the greatest art theft in history: “AI image generators had collected my entire body of work from the internet, fed it to their bots, and sold it as a product. And it wasn’t just my work, but everyone’s. Billions of images were plundered from the internet without attribution, without compensation, without consent. For me, that was and is the greatest art theft in history. The tech giants knew exactly what they were doing. As early as 2023, venture capitalist Marc Andreessen claimed that enforcing copyright would ‘destroy’ the entire industry. Technology companies would proceed as always – act quickly and break things. And those they would break would be us.”

The Kunstfonds Foundation laments the federal government’s interference in its work, reports Ulrike Knöfel in Der Spiegel: Independent committees are responsible for the selection process. This is intended to prevent political interference in matters of content and thus guarantee the freedom of art. Yet it is precisely this fundamental principle that Weimer’s critics see as being under threat. Jurors from the Kunstfonds Foundation have now spoken out with a strongly worded statement. The foundation, too, had been asked to ‘submit the names of the current jury members for all funding programmes’. The signatories comment as follows: ‘We, current and former jury members of the Kunstfonds Foundation, wish to express our horror at the political interference by the Commissioner for Culture and Media.’ They have no confidence in the intention and handling of the requested lists, particularly against the backdrop of current events.” In the US, Tessa Solomon takes up the topic for Artnews.

In a long, must-read profile of the minister by Jana Simon in ZEIT (paywall), this topic is also addressed: “Weimer says: ‘Generally speaking, one must look closely at who receives a state prize financed by taxpayers’ money. That must be legitimate. Otherwise, they cannot explain it to the public.’ But do we want to live in a country where the secret service checks political affiliations before any state funding is granted? And thereby overrules decisions made by independent juries? On the other hand, one might also ask: why do institutions or projects that clearly hold this state in low regard actually apply for its money?”

Meanwhile, according to dpa, around 30 cultural institutions in Saxony-Anhalt are warning against the AfD: “The cultural institutions continue to emphasise that the AfD expects even associations applying for state funding to make a ‘credible commitment’ to a ‘patriotic attitude’ in future. ‘The AfD’s cultural concept overlooks how important diverse influences are for a vibrant culture. These form the cornerstone of social developments and processes of renewal.’”