Basel, we have a problem. The Art Basel UBS Art Market Report 2025, among other things, for the market leader, summarises Sigmund Skalar at Finanzen und Wirtschaft FuW: ‘Art fairs like Art Basel no longer have the importance as a sales channel for high-priced art that they once had. While in 2019 more than ... read more
Tariffs or no tariff on art? If so, how much? The question of why doesn't really arise when considering the mafia-like methods of the Trump regime, which rules without parliament. (No, I don't plan on travelling to the US in the next few years.) Given the chaotic situation, most of the trade media are capitulating in the face of the possible repercussions. Only Katya Kazakina ... read more
If you know how to decode the language of the art market, you will notice that the usually rosy fair reports in the relevant media are unusually restrained when it comes to this year's Art Basel Hong Kong. Harrison Jacobs observes for Artnews: ‘At the blue-chip and mega-galleries, sales were swift, with many works pre-sold or already on hold by ... read more
Christiane Meixner from the Tagesspiegel newspaper sees room for improvement at the Spark Art Fair in Vienna: ‘Not everything is consistently at this level and some absences of important galleries from Austria are due to the parallel event Stage in Bregenz. [...] The new team at Spark since last year, Walter Seidl and Jan Gustav Fiedler, have made the cut, ... read more
Ursula Scheer describes in the FAZ (Paywall): ‘The aim of the new managing director Dominique Savelkoul is to maintain and expand the position that has been established over decades. As the first Belgian to hold the position, which has seen a lot of change in recent times, she comes from the Mu.ZEE in Ostend and has a few cautious innovations ... read more
Paul Ingendaay sees Arco in Madrid as being well positioned in his fair report for the FAZ. However, VAT is also an issue here: ‘The dispute over Spanish VAT on the purchase of works of art remains unresolved. López complains that the 21 per cent in Spain – compared to seven per cent in Germany and 5.5 per cent in ... read more