Kobel's
Art Weekly

Kobel's Art Weekly 39 2026

Following the overwhelmingly positive response to the Astoria Art Show in Vienna from visitors, exhibitors and artists, a debate has arisen regarding public funding. Christain Mayr investigated the matter for the Kurier (paywall): “Perhaps the answer lies in the fact that, given the huge shortfalls in the culture budget […] they wanted to keep the whole thing under wraps. Because the chosen funding channels create a rather skewed impression. And perhaps that was also the reason why Mayor Michael Ludwig was unable to attend at the last minute and why there is no photo of him at the Astoria Art Show in the former garage on Trautsongasse. Why not from the outset? The answer is likely provided by the internal contract known as the ‘Astoria Art Show Sponsorship Agreement’, which was leaked to the KURIER from confidential sources. In it, the holding company’s subsidiary WH-Media pools funds for the Astoria fair from no fewer than six departments within the group, totalling a further hefty 140,000 euros: Wien Holding itself contributes 15,000 euros; the Stadthalle, the Port of Vienna and Vereinigte Bühnen each contribute 10,000; and the WSE chips in a further 20,000. That leaves a shortfall of 75,000 euros. This is where things get dicey”. I’m outlining the developments in Vienna’s gallery scene for Artmagazine. I spoke to the Viennese gallery owner Emanuel Layr for Monopol about how he is dealing with the structural changes.

Insiders are approaching the New York autumn season, with its art fairs and gallery openings, with subdued expectations, as Brian Boucher discovered for Artnews: “The consensus might be summed up by New York adviser Aileen Agopian, who conveyed a mixed message whilst speaking to ARTnews by phone. “Collectors are energised,” she said. “But they’re disciplined. The galleries are full, the openings are packed. But no one is buying as if it were 2021 anymore.” New York adviser Alex Glauber struck a similarly ambivalent note: “As we enter the autumn season, I think there is a lot of enthusiasm among collectors and a desire to acquire and grow collections thoughtfully.” “Thoughtful” sounds considerably more subdued than, say, “bold”.

I’ve taken a look at the half-yearly figures for Art Basel’s parent company, MCH, for Monopol.

Susanne Schreiber summarises the results of the Kornfeld auction in Bern – which were mixed in detail but impressive overall – in the Handelsblatt of 18 September: “The four-hour ‘150 Selected Works’ auction on 11 September saw numerous popular works fetch five- and low six-figure sums, as well as 14 lots selling for over the million mark. The total of around 69.5 million Swiss francs is on course to set a record for the German-speaking region this year. Added to this is 1.7 million Swiss francs from the online auction.”

Gisèle Croës, one of the leading dealers in Chinese antiques, is having her finest pieces auctioned at Bonhams in Paris, according to a press release: “The sale will include an exceptional selection of over 70 masterpieces curated by Gisèle Croës over decades.” In an email, she writes: “I am sincerely delighted to share some of my most prized objects with you.” This raises a number of questions: Is this stock from her gallery, which opened in Brussels in 1975? Is the dealer retiring? Why is she selling what are said to be her most valuable objects at all, and why via an auction?

A new giant is emerging in the print publishing business. Pace Prints is acquiring Brand X, reports Min Chen on Artnet: “Whilst the move integrates Brand X into Pace Prints, both companies will continue to operate their existing workshops.” Brand X’s facilities in Long Island City will bolster Pace Prints’ presence in New York. Pace Prints is also gearing up to open a gallery and workshop in Los Angeles this autumn. The new organisation will be overseen by Pace’s president and CEO, Jacob Lewis, for whom the acquisition makes ‘tremendous sense’, he told me, noting that Pace Prints and Brand X have already been collaborating for decades.”

The Christoph Müller Foundation is donating the collection – comprising some 1,500 works of art – of the journalist and collector, who passed away in 2024. Florian Illies presents this unique project in ZEIT (paywall). Museums “are now free to choose what they are missing and what moves them – and what they can no longer afford in these times, when even public museums are facing a multitude of problems, because even in major German cities such as Dresden or Düsseldorf, official acquisition budgets have been completely scrapped. This initiative therefore seems like a glimmer of hope that will, hopefully, set a precedent. After all, isn’t it more sensible to give one’s own art collection to those who could never afford it themselves, but who are passionate about it? Rather than passing it on to one’s own heirs, who often accept the whole thing half-heartedly as the artistic taste of a bygone generation and see it as a gold-framed burden. Isn’t that a wonderful message in a society that is asking itself just how fair an inheritance actually is?”

The Berlin Modern barn continues to attract negative press. Nicola Kuhn summarises the state of affairs in the Tagesspiegel: “Anyone reading the half-yearly report to the Bundestag’s Budget Committee on progress regarding the future Museum of 20th-Century Art can’t help but feel disheartened once again. […] The extension to the Neue Nationalgalerie is not under a lucky star, however much the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation might wish to spin the story. A project that began with an estimated cost of 200 million euros and now stands at 489 million euros cannot be glossed over, especially when the building – often disparagingly referred to as the ‘barn’ – remains unpopular.”

It is not only in Germany; even in Switzerland, which is regarded as financially sound, new museum buildings or extensions can prove to be money pits, as Helene Obrist demonstrates in the Tagesanzeiger (paywall): “The Kunsthaus has been in the red for years – despite record visitor numbers. These are not enough to cover the rising operating costs. The Chipperfield extension opened in 2021; since then, the museum has been operating out of two buildings and an exhibition space of 11,500 square metres. This comes at a cost: since the reopening, the Kunsthaus has accumulated debts of around 7.4 million Swiss francs. ‘The costs for the expanded Kunsthaus were underestimated,’ writes the city council. The 2011 business plan was drawn up ‘too optimistically’. The additional space required far more staff for security, technical support and administration. In total, the Kunsthaus has created 60 more full-time posts than planned.” A ‘no’ vote in the upcoming referendum on a budget increase would have drastic consequences for the institution: “If the city were not to increase its funding, certain buildings would have to be closed and the exhibition space reduced, according to the city council and the Kunsthaus.” Andreas Tobler and Yann Cherix highlight the close intertwining of politics and business in Zurich in a fascinating report, also in the Tagesanzeiger (paywall): “Politics, the media and the public are all grappling with the Bührle Collection. The left-wing weekly WOZ describes the power dynamics within the Kunsthaus and writes of ‘a red-green-governed Zurich where old and new money meet’. This sentence aptly captures what the commotion surrounding the collection is actually based on. The dispute is also a trench war between two social circles that meet under one roof and are interdependent there.”

Annegret Laabs, director of the Magdeburg Art Museum, explains in an interview with Saskia Trebing for Monopol what it would mean if the AfD were to join the government in Saxony-Anhalt: “It is about a fundamental restructuring of society, about the elimination of artistic freedom. This is a paradigm shift towards a state-directed cultural policy. It is nothing less than the misuse of culture for ideological purposes. We’ve seen this in many other authoritarian states. When the AfD’s leading ideologues say: ‘Everyone can do as they please, but not with our taxpayers’ money’, in a federal system this ultimately amounts to nothing less than the abolition of any culture that does not serve the state’s objectives. This is a culture war, and I think it is something that, unfortunately, most people outside Saxony-Anhalt have not yet grasped.”

On Artnet, there is a conversation between the collector/dealer/writer Adam Lindemann and the fraudster Inigo Philbrick, in which one is not sure which of the two is more repulsive.

Monopol is launching an English-language online edition. To this end, the magazine has recruited former Artnet editor Kate Brown.

Lena Holzer has been awarded the prize for young art criticism by the Austrian section of the art critics’ association AICA, reports Artmagazine. Congratulations!