Kobel's Art Weekly

Kobel's Art Weekly 24 2025

At Arco Lisboa, discussions seemed to revolve mainly around value added tax, according to Christof Habres at Parnass: "In an “absolutely destructive move” (Ilan Karpio, sales director at the Pedro Cera gallery), the Portuguese government has increased the tax rate on works of art to 23 per cent. This is a move that could well nip in the bud the delicate but steadily growing trend of relevant art purchases and the sustainable development of private collections. On the other hand, wealthy migrants and companies will enjoy preferential (tax) treatment for at least ten years. A relatively large proportion of them would have the opportunity to purchase art at Arco at more favourable tax rates in Germany or France through companies and second homes in Europe. Most Portuguese collectors clearly do not have this option. Galleries and art dealers therefore rightly see the emerging danger that not much can be invested in art purchases from this quarter this year."

Kabir Jhala has put together a list of which galleries are returning to the Frieze fairs in London and which are staying away for The Art Newspaper: “Galleries that took part in last year's Frieze London but will not return this year include Tanja Wagner, Magician Space, Tanya Leighton, Project Native Informant, Sultana, 47 Canal, Lia Rumma, Croy Nielsen, and Blindspot. Newcomers to the main section of the fair include Carbon 12, Anat Ebgi and Simões de Assis. [...] Across the park, Frieze Masters will be held for the first time under its new director Emanuela Tarizzo, who took over from Nathan Clements-Gillespie earlier this year. The fair for pre-21st century art will welcome around 120 galleries this year, including first-time exhibitors Champ Lacombe, Galerie Mueller, Joost van den Bergh, Luisa Strina and Vito Schnabel Gallery."

Daniel Cassady attempts to map the art market in the Gulf region following the arrival of Art Basel for Artnews: “The Qatar-Basel deal is the latest signal that the Middle East’s art scene has reached a new level of development—or, perhaps, that the powers that be are ready to push it there. The question in the interim remains: Which of the region’s capitals will become a new art world centre on par with Hong Kong? And are there enough collectors to support all this new infrastructure?”

Kabir Jhala presents a new hybrid business model developed by two Frenchmen in The Art Newspaper (paywall may apply): "The Paris-based NG, which comprises a traditional advisory service with a roving exhibition programme, as well as collection and foundation management services, was founded by Samy Ghiyati and Nicolas Nahab, both of whom previously worked as senior directors at major commercial galleries. Nahab was most recently the head of Mendes Wood DM's Paris gallery, which he helped establish in 2022; he previously worked at Marian Goodman and Yvon Lambert. From 2020, Ghiyati was a director at David Zwirner's Paris gallery, following a five-year stint at Kamel Mennour."

Finding ‘hidden champions’ and helping them achieve posthumous fame is the dream of many gallery owners and art dealers – and, not least, it gives them access to the most prestigious fairs, to which they would otherwise not be admitted. Julia Halperin investigates the ‘rediscovery industrial complex’ for the New York Times: “[Marcia] Marcus is among a growing group of artists who have benefited from what could be called ‘the rediscovery industrial complex’: a cottage industry within the art market that looks to the past to find figures — often women and artists of colour — neglected by the establishment. By repackaging them for a contemporary audience, savvy dealers hope to enrich the art-historical canon even as they make a healthy profit.”

Founder Hans Neuendorf recounts his version of the history of the art market and Artnet's role in it in an interview with Gesine Borcherdt for die WeLT: "I used to go to Max's Kansas City bar in New York a lot, where artists would sit together with gallery owners. What did they talk about? About the development of art. Everyone was interested, and there were heated debates. Today, it's mostly about money. That leads artists down the wrong path. If a career is all about money and fame, then that's a misuse of resources." I tried to talk to everyone involved about the sale of and plans for Artnet and Artsy for the Handelsblatt.

French dealers are struggling with the new EU regulations on the trade in antiquities, reports Le Figaro with agency material: "This European regulation, which comes into force on 28 June, requires French art dealers to provide documents on the origin of works of art from non-EU countries. They criticise this as a “bureaucratic monster”. French antiques dealers are protesting against a European regulation that requires provenance research for cultural goods imported from non-EU countries in order to combat illegal trade. [...] “We will end up buying nothing from outside the European Union,” fears Antonia Eberwein, vice-president of the National Association of Antique Dealers (SNA). “We risk impoverishing the market for archaeological pieces, but also for icons, pre-Columbian, Native American and Chinese art, without putting an end to illegal trade, which is by its very nature invisible and undeclared.”" Karen K. Ho offers a paraphrase of the article in English at Artnews. Margaret Carrigan takes a particularly British perspective on the upcoming tightening of regulations at Artnet (paywall may apply): "Still, this new regulation could accelerate a trend toward regionalism that is already taking root in the art trade. By imposing stricter import requirements and burdensome paperwork, it creates barriers to the free flow of cultural goods, undermining the very notion of a global art market. After decades of globalisation, we may be entering a new era—if not a brave one, then a bureaucratic one."

Christiane Fricke summarises the Cologne auctions, which opened this season's auction week, for Handelsblatt: "According to Henrik Hanstein, Lempertz sold a total of almost ten million euros worth of modern, contemporary art and photography. The trade, which had already been complaining about poor sales at the fairs, played no role in this. Two weeks earlier, eleven million euros had been raised with old masters, 19th-century art and decorative arts. Jan Davidsz. de Heem's still life was the top lot, fetching around four million euros including buyer's premium. Van Ham achieved 5.7 million euros with so-called old art. The house then played to its strengths again with modern and contemporary art. With Bayer, the result for two evening sales totalled just over eleven million euros."

Details of the agreement between the German state and the Hohenzollern family are explained by Berlin lawyer Pascal Decker, who was involved in the negotiations, in an interview with Marcus Woeller in the WeLT newspaper on 4 June: "In particular, all outstanding property issues have been clarified. All disputed cultural objects, and there are tens of thousands of them, have been transferred to a jointly established foundation. Everything that does not end up in this foundation and is owned by the public sector without a loan agreement is the property of the public sector. At the same time, public access to the objects in the newly established foundation is permanently guaranteed and all related restitution claims have been permanently clarified in law. At the same time, the federal government had to accept that part of the collection would remain in the family's possession. This includes seven snuff boxes, five of which will be returned to the Hohenzollern family, and the objects on the so-called C list."

Christiane Fricke recounts the turbulent history of looting and restitution of the Schloss collection, from which Christie's is currently auctioning seven works, in the Handelsblatt: "The disaster began with the German occupation of France in June 1940: initially with the heirs' attempt to protect the collection, which was particularly well known in German museum circles, from seizure. They acted quickly. When the collector's Paris residence was searched on 24 July 1940, nothing was found but empty frames. On 11 April 1943, however, the Germans, who were well connected with French art dealers and agents, seized the collection. However, the collection, which Hermann Göring had also had his eye on several times in 1941, was outside the occupied zone at the time. Negotiations therefore had to be held with the Vichy regime, which cooperated with Germany and implemented its anti-Semitic persecution measures. The deal with the Vichy government split the collection into three parts."

Chris Dolmetsch and Tom Maloney report at Bloomberg on the start of the trial in the $410 million dispute between collector Ron Perelman and his art insurers: "Perelman's lawyer C. Bryan Wilson said in his opening argument on Monday that the policies let his client claim the full value the insurers agreed to pay for the works — many times their market value — even if there was nominal damage to them. He said the insurance companies were “more than happy” to accept Perelman's premium payments." How high must have the premiums paid that Lloyd's, Chubb and others took such a risky gamble? And how many more skeletons do they have in their closets? If Perelman gets his way, other trophy collectors could be inspired to cash in during difficult economic times.

With its departure from its headquarters in Lucerne, an era is coming to an end for the Urs Meile Gallery, according to an interview Laura Ewert conducted with the gallery owners for Monopol: "We are handing over the keys to our gallery in Lucerne. Opened in 1992, a chapter is now coming to an end. Lucerne is our home, but Lucerne is a city of music with a world-famous concert hall and less focus on contemporary art. We have made the following arrangements for the future: René Meile will run the gallery in Beijing and represent us in Asia. Urs, as the founder, will still be involved, but no longer heavily involved in day-to-day business. And I will run the galleries in the West."

Hannes Hintermeier laments the closure of the Das Maximum museum in Traunreut, Bavaria, run by the foundation of former gallery owner Heiner Friedrich, in the FAZ, without mentioning the profession of the founder.

Brita Sachs uses the closure of the Munich gallery Klüser on the 80th birthday of its founder as an opportunity for a tribute in the FAZ: ‘Klüser will not be bored in the future. The remaining holdings are to find new homes and customers, and rooms and staff will continue to be needed for the time being. In addition, there is the private collection of master drawings, which Verena and Bernd Klüser are intensively engaged in.’

Karen K. Ho pays tribute to gallery owner Daniel Lelong, who died at the age of 92, in a detailed obituary in Artnews.