Kobel's
Art Weekly

Kobel's Art Weekly 7 2026

Daniel Cassady describes the launch of Art Basel Qatar in Artnews as an attempt to establish an art market in a region using a top-down approach: "The main question is whether Art Basel and the Qataris can ‘reverse engineer’ an art market by introducing a major international fair before a dense commercial gallery infrastructure exists locally. Whether that strategy succeeds will depend less on first-week sales than on whether galleries return and whether collectors come back with greater confidence next year. But for now, at least, Art Basel Doha appears to be doing what it set out to do."

Ursula Scheer outlines the framework of the fair in the FAZ (paywall): "Art and cultural policy, driven by Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani at the head of Qatar's museum organization, plays another key role. It is no coincidence that the emir's sister has been one of the most powerful players in the globalized art world for years: Under her aegis, institutions, collections, and networks are being created. This cultural ‘ecosystem’, as it is often referred to in official statements, is neither uncontrolled growth nor the result of a grassroots movement, but rather planned and designed like a baroque palace garden. Now the country's art trade is entering the premier league: with Art Basel. [...] How critical can art be at a fair in Qatar, how free? It would be naive to believe that one could accommodate nude nudes or LGBTQ art, attacks on religious sensibilities, or similarly controversial material there. But within the limits of what is possible, alongside all kinds of ornamental, innocuous works, there are certainly provocative ones as well."

Philipp Meier describes ABQ's target audience in the NZZ: "But who is supposed to buy all this art? In addition to collectors who have traveled there from all over the world, Qatar itself is a major buyer. More specifically, Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani. The sister of the ruling emir and chairwoman of Qatar Museums is said to have an enormous art budget at her disposal. Art Basel Qatar now serves as a shopping mall on her doorstep, so to speak. Because the museums planned under her aegis need to be filled.“

Scott Reyburn describes the clientele in more detail in the New York Times: ”For now, the most important collectors in Qatar come from the extended Al Thani family, whose wealth is valued at about $200 billion. Yet, while a Hollywood royal like Angelina Jolie was spotted at the Tuesday preview, there was no sign of Qatar's rulers during the VIP days. “They were here yesterday,” Philip Hoffman, an art adviser, said on Tuesday, referring to a pre-preview that the Qatar royals had enjoyed and recorded on Instagram. “It's a big family,” Hoffman said. “There are about 20 who buy the very top of the top, then another 50 younger-generation collectors who buy at a lower level.”

In her detailed description of the fair for the Observer, Elisa Carollo mentions many names: "On site were prominent industry figures, from Christie's global president Alex Rotter and its former rainmaker Loïc Gouzer to Fine Art Group founder and New Perspectives Art Partners partner Philip Hoffmann, advisor Maria Brito, insatiably curious international collectors like Alain Servais and Uli Sigg, and influential curators such as Hans Ulrich Obrist, Cecilia Alemani, Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev, and Klaus Biesenbach. Further fueling the hype, Art Basel’s opening party drew plenty of celebrities, including rapper Swizz Beatz and David Beckham, in one of his very rare—and perhaps only—appearances at art world events." However, both of the latter are on the emirate's payroll.

I was in Doha for Monopol, Artmagazine, and Deutschlandfunk (audio).

Only 23 galleries are exhibiting at the fourth edition of 1-54 in Marrakesh, which Anne Reimers visited for the FAZ (paywall): "The number of galleries on site is steadily increasing, as is the number of artists living here. Galleries are increasingly interested in promoting North African artists who have not studied in Europe and do not live there. What is also striking, however, is how few female artists there are, even though female gallery owners and collectors are helping to build up the scene [...] Touria El Glaoui is not bothered by the fact that the new Art Basel Qatar is taking place at the same time: 'Of course it's a shame, but the audience in Doha is different. Many collectors decided to come to Marrakesh at fairly short notice, once Doha had already been confirmed.'“

Daniela Gregori identifies a welcome trend amid the confusion at Art Karlsruhe for Artmagazine: ”Art has been under new management for three years now, and this has had a very positive effect. Admittedly, there is still a sometimes motley excess, but the direction is being corrected toward less spectacle, and promoted formats such as re:discover for positions in ‘mature creative phases’ are good for the overall picture. They allow for discoveries that no longer need to prove themselves today because they have long since done so." Christiane Meixner from the Tagesspiegel (possibly paywall) is also impressed: “In addition, there are also stands at Art Karlsruhe where loud, sometimes simply (or poorly) decorative art is on display. But there are fewer of them than before, and with their decline, the quality of the fair is increasing, making it definitely worth a visit.” Julia Stellmann describes the fair's efforts to attract young collectors in the FAZ (paywall): “The management duo's interest is primarily focused on young and new collectors. The concentric ‘paper:square’ and the curated ‘academy:square’ section are designed with them in mind.”

At least in the competition for international attention, Zona Maco is (not entirely through its own fault) losing out. Benjamin Sutton from The Art Newspaper, apparently the only international press representative to have made the trip, nevertheless finds a relaxed atmosphere: "Mexico City's hulking Centro Banamex convention center is once again hosting the Zona Maco fair (until February 8), and though the geopolitical turbulence in the Western Hemisphere is felt—in conversations in the aisles and on some stands' walls—the atmosphere during Wednesday's preview and Thursday's opening day was buoyant. The addition of the concurrent Art Basel Qatar fair to the increasingly congested international art market calendar has done little to detract from the turnout of collectors, curators, and museum groups from the Americas, as well as from Europe."

The Artefiera fair, which is also taking place at the same time in Bologna, does not seem to have attracted any foreign journalists at all.

Alex Greenberger and Claire Selvin have compiled an extensive dossier on Jeffrey Epstein's connections to the art world for Artnews, featuring Ronald Lauder, Jack Lang, and Leon Black, among others. Olga Kronsteiner provides an overview in Der Standard. Hrag Vartinian calls for a fight against the mechanisms that led to the Epstein system in his online magazine Hyperallergic: "All of this begs the question: How do we empower arts leaders to reject funding from corrupt individuals in favor of donors who have proven themselves to be civic leaders we can be proud of? And no, I don't believe the hogwash that ‘the system has always been this way,’ since that invites the type of pessimism that is fertile ground for exploitation. Since the 1980s, there’s been a slow decline in the arts as academia, arts organizations, artists, and every other aspect of our field cozy up to an increasingly wealthy cadre of donors who are not only divorced from everyday people but face no consequences for their nefarious actions. It is ironic that the public’s increased appetite for art in the United States has meant a deterioration of ethics to feed the beast.”

Felix von Boehm asks Monopol what lessons can be learned from this: "What insights does a study of the Epstein Files provide from the perspective of the art world? On the one hand, it shows that anyone who masters the rules is welcome at this gaming table. On the other hand, the correspondence cited here also reveals a rather cynical grimace to posterity, for whom works of art are nothing more than ‘items’ and ‘friendships’ are primarily LLCs."

In Vienna's Der Standard, Olga Kronsteiner reports on an exhibition "that aims to trace the history of the European art market and its professionalization. As Stefan Koja, director of the Liechtenstein Collections since 2023, emphasizes: ‘The art market played a decisive role in the writing of art history,’ meaning that well-known artists' names were shaped not only by art historians, 'but also, and very significantly, by art dealers. In addition, many of the ‘scientific tools’ still in use today, such as catalogues raisonnés, illustrated catalogues, and monographic exhibitions, have their origins in the art trade."

Eileen Kinsella tells the story of a drawing by Michelangelo that was just auctioned for $27 million at Artnet. There is a report on this in the FAZ by Ursula Scheer with agency material.

Brian Boucher reports on the bankruptcy of the London gallery Stephen Friedman in Artnews.