Kobel's
Art Weekly

Kobel's Art Weekly 33 2026

The Aspen Art Fair, held in a hotel and featuring 38 high-calibre exhibitors, was a success as the centrepiece of the local Art Week, according to Min Chen at Artnet: “The pace at the fair was typical of Aspen. Dealers described an intimate, almost leisurely atmosphere in which buyers lingered for a long time in front of the works and engaged in in-depth conversations. Collectors such as Barbara and Bruce Berger and Sharon and John Hoffman were in attendance, as were the artists Hank Willis Thomas, Cheryl Pope, Dustin Yellin and Jewel. At the fair’s VIP opening on Wednesday, Thomas Kelly of the Sean Kelly Gallery said he had been able to chat with the collector Jorge Pérez at his stand for a good 20 minutes without ‘being pulled in ten different directions’.”

Alongside Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beijing, Hangzhou is emerging as a fourth art metropolis, explains Xintian Wang in the Observer: “Supported by the China Academy of Art (CAA) and fuelled by private wealth from technology, manufacturing and trade, Hangzhou is quietly developing into one of the most dynamic centres for contemporary art in China. Since the launch of Hangzhou Art Week in 2024 and a threefold increase in the number of independent art spaces following the pandemic, the city has fostered an ecosystem of artist-run initiatives, discreet collectors and experimental institutions that is firmly woven into everyday life.”

The sharp rise in turnover at the major auction houses in the first half of the year, compared with previous years, is primarily attributable to outstanding estates. In the recent past, it was often said that the auction trade suffered not from a lack of interest, but from a shortage of high-quality lots. This is currently changing, according to an analysis by Daniel Cassady of Artnews: “Death has begun to solve this problem, and it is hardly a one-off coincidence. We are in the early stages of the so-called ‘Great Wealth Transfer’, in which assets worth tens of trillions of dollars will pass from the Silent Generation and the baby boomers to their heirs in Generation X, the millennials and Generation Z. [...] Ten years ago, according to Lissner, buyers under 40 accounted for less than 10 per cent of Sotheby’s buyers. Today, the figure stands at around 20 per cent. So the interesting question is not whether the current generation of major collectors will pass away. Zuckerman, who has been in the auction business since the 1970s, gave the least sentimental answer to this: ‘There is an inexhaustible supply of estates containing art.’ The question is whether the next generation is interested in buying what is on offer.’ And how many of the artworks amassed over decades can a market absorb, a market that has in the meantime already produced new stars and continues to do so? At some point, there may well come a time when a Rothko that is not quite of AAA museum quality can no longer be sold for an eight-figure sum. Then a downward spiral could set in very quickly.

Sabien B. Vogel explains Gustave Courbet’s recipe for economic success in WeLT on the occasion of his exhibition at the Folkwang Museum in Essen: “Courbet acted like an entrepreneur. He sought direct contact with collectors, insisted on setting his own prices when selling his paintings, organised his own exhibitions and carried out targeted public relations work. [...] Courbet’s socialist ideas in no way prevented him from also catering to the capitalist art market. This required ingenuity. For at that time, there were no galleries in the modern sense and only a few art dealers. Commissions and sales were channelled through the state and the strict salons of the art academy. At a time when museums did not yet host temporary exhibitions and art galleries did not yet exist, these salons were the most important venues for both exhibiting and selling art – regulated by powerful academy professors who, as jury members, kept watch over the state of the art.”

“From Behind Through the Chest into the Eye” is the title of an article by literary editor Andreas Platthaus in the FAZ of 8 August, reporting on a Californian antiquarian bookshop’s catalogue featuring exquisite Goethiana: “And yet this Römische Carneval is not even the most expensive book in the first catalogue of an American antiquarian bookshop that has given itself the name ‘Atelier Zweig’ (spelled in the German manner, as this is intended to honour Stefan Zweig, who was, after all, a great bibliophile). [...] The copy now on offer in Los Angeles is the last in private hands; like almost the entire catalogue, it comes from the collection of Heribert Tenschert, who for many decades has been the most important antiquarian in the German-speaking world and who, through the new ‘Atelier Zweig’, aims to reach the American market directly.” Rather than describing in detail the well-known catalogue offering, it might have been more interesting to speak to Tenschert about his decision to develop an (online) offering specifically for the American market. Roughly half of the items offered in the online catalogue are listed as coming from the ‘Heribert Tenschert Collection’. A large proportion of the books not included in this collection are priced in the three-figure range. The owners of Atelier Zweig, Oda Victoria Reitan and Elian Pres-Gurwits, have CVs that are highly unusual for antiquarian booksellers. The story behind this might well be the real story.

The renovation of the Uffizi in Florence is expected to cost 50 million euros, reports Chiara Dino in the Merkur: “Director Simone Verde’s project to realise his vision for the Uffizi Gallery in Florence is taking shape. The package of measures comprises numerous major projects. The aim is to be finished in around two years’ time, when the construction work on the ‘New Uffizi’ – which began in 1989 – is due to be finally completed in 2028.” Around 2.4 million euros are to be invested in introductory galleries: “These are intended to teach the basics of art history to an audience which, as the project manager Simona Pasquinucci said, is ‘increasingly unprepared’.”

Daniel Grant describes the business of private guided tours of museums and similar exclusive cultural experiences in the Observer: “Wendy Perrin, a former editor at Condé Nast Traveler who now runs a travel website offering information on specialised tours, has compiled a region-by-region list of vetted local ‘fixers’ who can tailor private itineraries. Visits to the most sought-after attractions last between two hours and half a day or an evening, and prices depend on many factors, including ‘how much and what sort of special access you want’, she told the Observer. Some travellers prefer an à la carte experience – a bit of this, a bit of that – whilst others are looking for “a more comprehensive, multi-day trip with all-round support”, which can cost $10,000 or more, depending on whether the museum stays open for them at night or the chief curator leads the tour.”

Scandal or summer lull? The Hessian media have picked up on the allegedly questionable circumstances surrounding the commissioning of the installation “A Sky Full of Hope” by the US artist Janet Echelman as part of the World Design Capital above the Konstablerwache in Frankfurt. Hessischer Rundfunk appears to be tackling the issue in a neutral manner with reports on the Hessenschau programme: “Frankfurt’s Head of Cultural Affairs, Ina Hartwig (SPD), argues in an interview on Hessenschau that it is money ‘that was, so to speak, left over from city marketing for the illumination of our city’. She says this does not mean savings are being made elsewhere. Who is right? The money was earmarked for the purpose of the illumination, for which it was originally intended. In that respect, the Head of Cultural Affairs is right. However: if surplus funds are not used, they do not simply disappear – they are neither burnt in the fireplace nor repaid to taxpayers, as a spokesperson for Frankfurt’s Finance Department clarified in response to an enquiry from hr. They remain at the city’s disposal and must be reallocated.” The author quotes Tobias Lübben, a leading local artist, as a witness: “This is precisely what bothers the Frankfurt-based installation artist Tobias Rehberger, who is also a professor at the Städelschule for Fine Arts. Frankfurt is the umpteenth city in which one of Echelman’s nets now hangs, ‘which, in my view, is just as kitsch as the illuminated strips now found in a Mercedes, where you can even change the colour’.” Things sounded quite different back in February, when the Hessenschau reported on the matter in a much friendlier tone: “With this sculpture, Frankfurt is banking on atmosphere as a catalyst – and on the idea that a brightly coloured work of art will have a positive effect on one of the most contradictory corners of the city centre. ‘That’s a lofty ambition,’ says historian [Christian] Setzepfandt. For lasting change, urban planning and regulatory measures are needed. He advises viewing the project as an experiment – and, in the end, honestly assessing what it has actually changed. And Echelman herself also sees it as an experiment. Her installation ‘A Sky Full of Hope’ is coming. And, as we all know, hope dies last.” The Frankfurter Neue Presse and Alexander Jürgs in the FAZ (paywall) give free rein to public opinion in their articles without comment, although their focus is mostly on the cost (2.3 million euros) or the artistic nature of the work (“pigeon poo trap”, “completely pointless, a joke”). However, the facts of the matter have not changed since February. There would therefore have been ample time to familiarise oneself with the law and practice surrounding funding, procurement and budgetary matters, rather than leaving the issue to lie dormant for half a year and then spicing up the ‘silly season’ with sensationalist journalism. Which party is likely to benefit from this kind of reporting?

Russia has destroyed the last 18th-century Cossack wooden church in the Kherson region using a drone, report Yevhen Fomin on the Ukrainian news site MOCT and Sophia Kishkovsky in the Art Newspaper.

Simon Bainbridge discusses the prospects for Steidl Verlag following its successful conclusion of the preliminary insolvency proceedings in the Art Journal: “Negotiations with potential investors had in fact been underway long before the court proceedings in July, and according to Steidl, they have accelerated recently. Twelve serious investors have now expressed an interest in securing the publishing house’s future. ‘The publishing industry in Germany is currently under enormous pressure, and we have been hit by a number of different problems,’ says Steidl in his interview with Deutschlandfunk Kultur. ‘The biggest problem for us is that … 95 per cent of our books are exported.’“

With Courtney Willis Blair, Sukanya Rajaratnam and Jessie Washburne-Harris, three senior figures are leaving White Cube New York, reports Katya Kazakina on Artnet (possibly behind a paywall): “A spokesperson for White Cube dismissed the suggestion that the three departures were a sign of cost-cutting or staff reductions, pointing to the more than 30 remaining staff members at the gallery on the Upper East Side, as well as the upcoming programme, which includes major solo exhibitions.” However, solo exhibitions should be part of a gallery’s day-to-day business; in this context, the statement comes across as a flippant smokescreen.