Kobel's Art Weekly

Kobel's Art Weekly 21 2026

The gushing reports on art fairs are often hard to take, especially when the coverage comes almost exclusively from US media. You really have to read between the lines to get a sense of what is actually going on. The New York fair week demonstrates this once again.

“It’s a celebration,” reads the headline of the report on Frieze written by Brian Boucher and Daniel Cassady for Artnews: “A high level of energy was palpable at the preview day of the Frieze New York art fair on Wednesday. Many attendees at the Shed, on Manhattan’s West Side, were fresh off a return trip from Italy, where the Venice Biennale opened to the public on Saturday, and many were still comparing notes on the best national pavilions and the most heated protests. But the order of the day was art sales, and for some of the 65 or so international galleries exhibiting, they were in full swing before the paintings were even hung on the walls and the doors opened to VIPs at 11 a.m.“ Now, advance sales are hardly a novelty. And Elisa Carollo puts it somewhat more cautiously in the Observer: “Returning to the Shed in the heart of Chelsea, Frieze is hosting 67 exhibiting galleries from 26 countries, with a strong presence from South America, particularly Brazil, alongside international blue-chip names and both returning and debuting New York galleries. The floor was crowded from the early hours, with most VIPs appearing to be American, with some visitors from South America and Asia but almost none from Europe. Dealers reported first-day sales across lower, middle and seven-digit price points, though the pace this year is far from frenetic.”

Tessa Solomon of Artnews found Independent to be the most enjoyable fair: “Far from the hubbub of Frieze’s massive midtown event sits Independent, newly relocated to Pier 36, a 70,000-square-foot venue on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. It remains the most refined offering in New York Art Week’s array of fairs, though the term ‘boutique’ may soon feel a stretch: the new location is more than double the size of the fair’s former home at Spring Studios, accommodating an expanded roster of exhibitors and ambitions.”

Elisa Carollo reports on NADA for the Observer: “But as a group consisting primarily of New Yorkers and American collectors roamed the aisles, there was not the clear sense of urgency that once animated NADA’s fast-selling previews. Perhaps it was simply because there are more than six fairs taking place at the same time, though it might also be due to the fact that, despite NADA’s international profile and a strong presence from the Americas, there were only a few gems from Asia and very few exhibitors from Europe. Still, amongst the 110 exhibitors presenting this year—more than half of whom were participating for the first time—there were plenty of opportunities to discover emerging talent and rising galleries. By the evening of the preview day, some of the most interesting presentations had led to sales and several holds, particularly among dealers who’d brought curated solo or duo presentations and set prices strategically under $10,000 or even in the $2,000–5,000 range.” So half of last year’s exhibitors did not return, and sales were mainly in the New York pocket-money range.

Frauke Steffens documents TEFAF’s final departure from its core expertise in her report on the current New York edition for the FAZ: “Ten years after its expansion from Maastricht to Manhattan, the focus of New York TEFAF has shifted significantly: at the fair, which this time features 88 exhibitors, modern art and post-war design dominate rather than antiques and Old Masters. Also striking is the strong presence of ‘Collectible Design’ and material-oriented contemporary art.” In the New York Times (paywall), Walker Mimms also takes delight in the small details: “In 2021, TEFAF shed the old master and pre-modern half of their New York programme. This year, with 88 dealers from abroad and at home, it leans towards the modern and contemporary. It also leans towards big names: with Basquiat, Hockney, Lucio Fontana, Ed Ruscha, Cy Twombly, Yayoi Kusama and Warhol, a casual stroll through the fair might feel overly market-safe, but a closer look will reveal TEFAF’s old-world wisdom and esoteric delights. Find the craftsmanship. Among the jewellery and furniture stands, you can still be surprised by a vase of dried flowers encased in resin by the Polish designer Marcin Rusak“.

Valentina di Liscia has researched the participation costs for the New York art fairs for Hyperallergic. Surprisingly, Frieze is more expensive than TEFAF for the large stands.

Dubai-based Rebecca Anne Proctor visited Art Dubai for Artnet (possibly paywall): “Dubai is weathering a significant economic shock due to the conflict, shifting from rapid growth to a phase of vulnerability and risk management. But the mood was upbeat on the opening day of the fair, with many guests complimenting its more intimate feel, noting it felt like a pre-Covid version of the event, before visitors started arriving en masse to the Gulf megapolis. [...] Even as an uneasy ceasefire hangs in the air, there was little talk of the conflict on the fair floor. Instead, gallerists, collectors, curators and art lovers in attendance expressed optimism for the future.” Commenting on the decision to hold the fair – which came as a surprise to many given the botched war in Iran – Werner Bloch writes in the Tagesspiegel: “So the fair’s 20th anniversary is not turning out to be the magnificent gala originally planned. This is a scaled-down version. Paradoxically, however, no art fair has ever been as important as this one, both as a political signal to the world and as an international beacon demonstrating continuity in the Gulf. The ‘now more than ever’ attitude has astonishingly united artists, fair organisers and gallery owners who actually sent their works to a crisis zone.”

Brian Boucher and Alex Greenberger analyse the start of the New York auction season for Artnews: “At its Madison Avenue headquarters, Sotheby’s kicked off the May auction season early, smack in the middle of the opening of art fairs all around Manhattan, with a solid if unexciting $433.1 million sale of modern and contemporary art, led by an $85.8 million canvas by Mark Rothko. Major auctions at Christie’s and Phillips will follow next week. The equivalent sale last year totalled just $186.1 million.”

Can three auction houses sell $2.6 billion worth of art in a single week? Tim Schneider, Julia Halperin and Zachary Small ask this question in the New York Times (paywall): “After years of retrenchment in the art market, the industry is preparing for what could be a blockbuster spring auction season starting this Thursday and ending a week later. The signs are there: The stock market has been rising, the families of deceased billionaires are selling their art, and plenty of living billionaires want a piece of history. Yes, there are wars in the Middle East and Ukraine; inflation continues to climb. But the mood in the luxury art industry feels bullish again, for the first time in years. Christie’s, Sotheby’s and Phillips aim to sell more than $2.6 billion of art over the next week. That is still well below the $3.2 billion they sold at comparable auctions in November 2022, the market’s recent peak, but more than 60 per cent higher than the $1.6 billion high estimate of last May’s sales.”

As the art market section is not appearing in the print edition of the Handelsblatt this week, it is available online again as a one-off. In it, Sabine Spindler looks ahead to the Munich gallery festival Various Others: “The Various Others initiative, founded in 2017, is also seen by [Amedeo] Kraupa-Tuskany as an alternative to the ever-growing number of contemporary art fairs, which consume vast resources and push galleries and off-spaces—as places for working with artists—out of the spotlight. Munich’s art and gallery scene is more vibrant than many realise, says Christian Ganzenberg. ‘Over the past nine years, we have managed to give it a new image – fresher, more international, but not without reference to key positions in recent art history,’ the VO director told the Handelsblatt.” In WELTKUNST, Dirk Boll of Christie’s writes: “After an experimental phase, the Various Others event seems to have found its identity. The website already highlights the collaborations as the central concept. Finally, the grand dinner on Saturday evening is in true Gallery Weekend style – just like in Berlin, held at an exciting and, for most of the guests, unfamiliar venue – you’d want to be on that guest list!”

The luxury industry is refocusing on the US and Europe, as Business of Fashion (via Instagram) has discovered in an analysis of new store locations: “New luxury store openings last year fell to their lowest level since 2020, according to property adviser Savills. More than half of all openings were concentrated in a group of roughly 30 so-called alpha cities — including London, New York, Paris, Dubai, Milan and Los Angeles. Whilst luxury store openings increased slightly in Europe and the US, Asia’s share of new stores has slipped. The pullback has been most pronounced in tier-two and tier-three cities in China, which for years drove the bulk of global expansion. In 2025, China accounted for just 22 per cent of new luxury store openings, down from 40 per cent two years earlier.”

Audemars Piquet and Swatch have made a rather dubious attempt to restore the fading lustre of the luxury sector by launching the Royal Pop, a plastic version (‘Bioceramic’) of the Royal Oak, for just $400. In Manager Magazin, Maren Jensen reports on the chaotic launch using agency material: “Crowds, scuffles, damaged doors and shops closing early: the launch of a special collection of Swatch watches in collaboration with the Swiss luxury watch brand Audemars Piguet caused chaotic scenes on Saturday in New York and several European cities. […] In a shopping centre in the Paris area, around 300 people flocked to a Swatch shop in the morning where the ‘Royal Pop’ watches were due to go on sale. The crowd was reportedly dispersed using tear gas. A metal roller shutter and two security doors were damaged there, and police officers and security staff were attacked, it was further reported. “Allegra Catelli provides some context at Bloomberg (via msn): “The frenzy underscores how playful, gimmicky products have become a key strategy for luxury companies battling for visibility and growth in a challenging environment for the sector. “We are making a move that is clearly bold and brings attention and conversation about mechanical watches,” said Ilaria Resta, chief executive officer at Audemars Piguet, in an interview on Thursday. “We need to go beyond the constraints of a category that can become irrelevant and disrupted by teaching, explaining and fostering love and passion.” “However, the manager should be aware that a large proportion of the watches sold likely end up directly on eBay and other platforms, which is more to do with a love of quick profit.”

With a painting from the former Goudstikker collection having resurfaced, the Netherlands now has the opportunity to hold a public discussion about its own entanglement with the Nazi regime. For the rift opened up by the case runs right through the owner’s family, as Ursula Scheer writes in the FAZ: “For decades, a painting formerly owned by the Jewish art dealer Jacques Goudstikker hung in the hallway of a woman’s home in the Netherlands – the granddaughter of a high-ranking Dutch collaborator with the Nazis – clearly visible to visitors, yet hidden from public view. A tip-off from within the family That is how the owner wanted it to remain, as Arthur Brand, a detective specialising in stolen artworks, has now told media representatives. He discovered the painting, ‘Portrait of a Young Girl’ by Toon Kelder. “It was stolen from Goudstikker, it is not for sale, don’t tell anyone about it,” the granddaughter is said to have confessed to a man from her family, who approached the detective as an anonymous informant, according to Brand. The man told the “Telegraaf” that he was ashamed. The painting should be returned.” T-online reports without a paywall.