Kobel's
Art Weekly

Kobel's Art Weekly 14 2026

The Munich-based auction house Neumeister closes. According to a press release, the long-established company will cease operations at the end of October: “This decision was taken by Katrin Stoll, managing partner at NEUMEISTER, for personal reasons. It relates to her life plans and coincides with the dissolution of the private ownership and heirs’ association within her family. This also included the auction house’s premises at Barer Straße 37. These, along with other properties, have been sold. The decision to cease business operations was preceded by various exploratory talks, which proved unsuccessful. Katrin Stoll’s children have also embarked on different career paths.”

In the NZZ, Philip Meier sings the praises of Art Basel in general and the Hong Kong edition in particular: “The galleries exhibiting at Art Basel Hong Kong – around 240 this year, including the world’s finest – carefully tailor their offerings to the Far Eastern clientele. This clientele now makes up by far the largest proportion of the audience at the Convention Centre on Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbour. And for this affluent clientele – collectors from Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, Korea and Japan – it is by no means only works by artists from the Far East that are being promoted. Above all, major names in Western art are in demand. […] Such works are coveted objects of art investment, as they are becoming increasingly rare on the market. Art Basel is one of the few fairs where one can still encounter major works of classical modern art.” However, Art Basel has always been one of the few fairs where one can encounter major works of classical modern art. For many, it never was.

Beyond the usual success stories from the blue-chip galleries, which Tessa Solomon reports on from Art Basel Hong Kong for Artnews, the atmosphere seemed relatively subdued: “Elsewhere on the floor, Charmaine Chan, a director at Hong Kong’s Pearl Lam, struck a more measured note. Whilst reporting several five-figure deals by 5 p.m., she observed that the “decisive” buying typical of local collectors was noticeably absent. “It’s obvious that sales are slower than usual,” she said, speaking as a veteran of the Art Basel Hong Kong branch. “Usually, Hong Kong buyers are quite decisive. Three years ago, we had Mr. Doodle in the booth, and we sold out on the first day.” Vivienne Chow and Cathy Fan also noted a subdued atmosphere for Artnet (possibly paywall): “Despite packed aisles and some million-dollar deals, buyers are taking their time amid a cautious market and geopolitical unrest.”

The city has just extended the fair’s contract for a further five years, reports Harrison Jacobs at Artnews: “As such, it is no surprise that the city has signed a new agreement with Art Basel to ensure it remains the region’s sole host for another five years. Rosanna Law, the special administrative region’s culture secretary, announced the deal on Wednesday, which calls for Art Basel to expand the fair in both scale and impact. Whilst Law confirmed that the fair will continue to be held at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, she said satellite events or large-scale installations could be staged at Kai Tak Sports Park, a new sports and entertainment venue with a capacity of more than 50,000 that officially opened in 2025 with a series of performances by Coldplay.”

Emil J. Sennewald visited an attractive Salon du Dessin in Paris for the Handelsblatt on 27 March: “The established ‘Salon du Dessin’, which had recently seemed somewhat lacklustre, presents itself in its 34th edition at the Palais Brongniart with 39 exhibitors, not only with its usual high quality but also with a new freshness – evident, for example, in new additions such as Demisch Danant from New York or Lowet de Wotrenge from Antwerp.”

In the run-up to Art Basel Hong Kong, Elisa Carollo examines, based on the Mishcon de Reya x ArtTactic - China Art Market Report for the Observer, whether the art market in mainland China and Hong Kong is recovering sustainably: “Throughout 2025, one of the strongest drivers of the million-dollar segment was surging demand for traditional Asian works of art. As the market—particularly on the mainland—has been shifting away from reliance on a narrow international ultra-high-end segment to embrace a more diversified, culturally grounded regional demand, sales of traditional Asian art increased 32.4 per cent year-on-year, making it one of the best-performing categories. In 2025, traditional Asian works accounted for 37.2 per cent of total auction sales in Hong Kong by value, surpassing luxury collectibles and overtaking Fine Art, which declined to 26.7 per cent of the market from 38.7 per cent the previous year.“

India is one of the few sub-markets experiencing an upswing, explains Melanie Gerlis in the Financial Times (paywall): “‘While much of the global art market is correcting, India is in a phase of structural growth and there is a real shift,’ says Jaya Asokan, director of the India Art Fair. She distinguishes the current boom from the short-lived “spike” in values in the early 2000s, ‘which was more about [speculation from] the diaspora and international demand’, and which quickly collapsed with the global economic downturn. [...] The future, however, lies at home, says Asokan, and will be driven by cities beyond New Delhi and Mumbai. “There is activity in other places, such as Hyderabad, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Chennai and Jodhpur. The next phase of growth will come from decentralisation in the country.”“ Is India developing as rapidly as China did over 20 years ago, or is it following the more leisurely traditional paths of Indian society?

Katya Kazakina takes a look behind the closed doors of secret auctions for Artnet, whose latest Intelligence Report is available for download (PDF): “I first learnt about secret auctions in 2024, in the Canvas newsletter, when its author, Jeremy Hodkin, revealed the sale at Christie’s of Dmitry Rybolovlev’s Rothko for $195 million, just as the Russian billionaire was testifying in his fraud case against Sotheby’s in a New York court. (The court ruled in favour of the auction house.) Since then, market chatter has intensified as more of these sales have come to light, and more people have tried their hand at conducting them. The off-grid, off-season auctions signal a change in the trade, driven by a desire for secrecy— and for masterpieces. The art market’s contraction since 2022 is another factor, as is the outflow of auction veterans into the private sector.”

George Nelson summarises the findings of the A.I. in Galleries Report 2026 (PDF) for Artnews: “A new report suggests artificial intelligence is already widely used in commercial galleries, but largely without oversight. According to the AI in Galleries report by the art industry network First Thursday, 84 per cent of galleries surveyed say they are using AI tools in their daily work. Yet only 8 per cent have a formal policy governing how those tools should be used. The findings are based on interviews with 103 gallery professionals around the world, including owners, directors, and staff working primarily in the UK, Europe, and the US. The report paints a picture of an industry quietly adopting new technology whilst failing to implement thorough governance and strategy.”

Visitors to the UK must prepare to pay admission fees for the country’s major museums in the near future, report Jim Pickard and George Parker in the Financial Times (paywall): “Millions of foreign tourists visiting England’s best-known museums will have to pay fees under proposals set out on Thursday by Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy. [...] Nandy said that the government wanted to explore “the potential opportunities that charging international visitors at museums could bring”.“

I spoke with Berlin gallerist Johann König on his podcast Was mit Kunst about the art market, media coverage of it and my career.

After just over a year, former Christie’s boss Guillaume Cerutti has already lost his job as president of the Pinault Collection, reports Vincent Noce in The Art Newspaper: "Cerutti and Pinault declined to comment on the reason for the move when approached by The Art Newspaper. Cerutti, however, departs a crowded hierarchy within the relatively slim structure of the Pinault Collection. At the top of the pyramid, François Pinault is “président d’honneur”, or honorary president, however, even at the age of 89, he is still quite active in the life of the collection and the museums, with the assistance of his long-time advisor Jean-Jacques Aillagon.

Christopher Canizares, a partner at Hauser & Wirth, is leaving the gallery to set up his own artist agency, reports Daniel Cassady at Artnews: “The new venture is designed to sit alongside the gallery system rather than compete with it. Canizares will work directly for artists, advising across their relationships with galleries, institutions, and collectors. “I am hired by the artist, I am paid by the artist, I work for the artist,” he said, describing a structure that allows him to operate across multiple galleries on a client’s behalf.“

Uschi Niggemann, who opened Sotheby’s first office in Cologne in 1982 and ended her career as President of Germany, passed away in early March. Rose-Maria Gropp pays tribute to her in the FAZ (paywall): “With her passing, as Tobias Meyer also notes, we lose a figure of a calibre rarely seen in today’s increasingly cut-throat auction business.”