Kobel's Art Weekly

Kobel's Art Weekly 7 2025

At the Zona Maco in Mexico City, Harrison Jacobs of Artnews noted fewer international visitors, but strong local interest: ‘For the smaller and midsize galleries, sales seemed more sporadic, though multiple dealers told ARTnews they remained optimistic due to the level of foot traffic and the apparent interest from collectors, both local and international.’

The India Art Fair in New Delhi is benefiting from the strengthening of the Indian market, observes Anindo Sen at Artnews: ‘’For emerging or mid-career artists, buyers still have more leverage because the market remains in a phase of growth and exploration,' said Ameya Dias, an art adviser to some of India's most prominent collectors. ‘Prices have been steadily going up for successful artists due to growing interest not just within India but from international museums as well.’ Another recent development is that many of these collectors are also looking to expand their holdings to include international art, likely a major reason that Zwirner and Lisson have returned to India. Their presence, she said, ‘is enabling easier access and acting as a catalyst.’’

A large dose of Korea awaits visitors to Expo Chicago, in which, with the exception of René Schmitt, no German exhibitors are taking part, reports Elaine Yj Zheng at Ocula: ‘The fair, which was acquired by Frieze in 2023, will for the first time partner with the Galleries Association of Korea in an initiative supported by Korea's Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and Korea Arts Management Service. The 2025 edition will feature 20 Korean galleries in the main sector, including Gallery Baton, BHAK, Keumsan Gallery, and The Columns Gallery.’ Letting 20 galleries from the other end of the world loose on a regional market from which most international players have withdrawn is not likely to pay off for everyone. For the organiser, on the other hand, it is.

In the Tagesspiegel, Eva Karcher discusses the importance for the region of the Moroccan edition of the 1-54 art fair, which takes place at the end of January: ‘The 1-54 fair has the effect of an energy amplifier in the city, encouraging more and more private collectors to get involved with art from the African continent. The largest initiative is the Museum of African Contemporary Art Al Maaden, a contemporary private museum with a collection of over 2,000 works of 20th and 21st century art from Africa and now also Asia and Latin America. Alami Lazraq, founder and CEO of the real estate company Groupe Alliance, began collecting 40 years ago; his son Othman now manages the museum and the group as president.’

Stephanie Dieckvoss reports from Jeddah for the Handelsblatt on how Saudi Arabia's strategy differs from that of other Gulf states: ‘In this way, Saudi Arabia is consciously setting itself apart from the strategies of other Gulf states, which are mainly making a name for themselves in the cultural sector with large-scale projects such as the Louvre and Guggenheim Abu Dhabi or art fairs such as “Art Dubai”. Two events are currently demonstrating how fruitful the Saudi approach is: the second Islamic Art Biennale in the port city of Jeddah, which runs until 25 May, and the art festival in the desert region of Al-ʿUla, which ends on 22 February. Both events excitingly demonstrate the connections between art, commerce and tourism. They also reveal the balancing act the country is performing to open up to the world – and thus, in particular, to investments.’ Rebecca Anne Proctor introduces the country's key figures in a refreshingly neutral way on Artnet.

How Christie's and Sotheby's are trying to revive the Old Master market is explained by Gina Thomas in her preview of the New York auctions in the FAZ: ‘In the field of Old Masters, it is once again noticeable at the upcoming New York auctions that the trade avoids the adjective “old” when referring to old art – as if it meant antiquated. At Christie's, the Old Master Week in London and New York has been called ‘Classic Week’ for years, while Sotheby's simply refers to it as ‘Masters Week’. This has to do with image-boosting, but it also reflects the fact that new collectors tend to buy less specialised works and that auctions are also more broadly diversified due to the scarcity of material.’ However, the auctions did not go particularly well, notes Judd Tully in The Art Newspaper: ‘While this winter's premier auctions for Old Master works at Christie's and Sotheby's in New York yielded better results year-over-year, overall sales totals failed to live up to the pre-sale estimates set by the auction houses. Christie's New York staged a bumpy and uneven Old Master sale on Wednesday (6 January), making $19.5m ($24.4m with fees), just shy of its revised pre-sale estimate of $22.2m to 33.2m after four withdrawals. Still, the sale far exceeded last January's anemic result of $10.9m ($13.7m with fees).’

Christie's first auction dedicated exclusively to AI art is reported by Min Chen at Artnet.

Ursula Scheer reports in the FAZ, the auction house's involvement in a larger context: ‘Human rights violations under the absolute monarchy or the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi are quickly forgotten. However, an auction house is not a political enterprise for the purpose of exporting democracy, but rather wants to do business. In Saudi Arabia, the company of Israeli-French businessman Patrick Drahi certainly encounters a desire for cosmopolitanism – and a dynamically developing society with a hunger for luxury. That is the business area that has been doing best at Sotheby's lately, along with real estate trading.’

A first fruit of the outsourcing of the art market editorial team of the Handelsblatt to the colleagues at Kunst und Auktionen is Frank Kurzhals' preliminary report on the benefit auction in aid of the Deichtorhallen in Hamburg, which appeared in parallel in KuA: ‘Wherever art is, celebrities are never far away. They like to bask in its light and use its radiance to attract sponsors – in order to promote art and artists. A classic win-win situation. Highlights of such symbioses are the usually glamorous benefit events for the benefit of art. In Hamburg, it will be that time again on 12 February.’

Christie's does not seem to have cut a good figure when it comes to exporting and selling a bronze sculpture from Austria, as Olga Kronsteiner has discovered for the Austrian newspaper Der Standard: ‘Consulted by the consignor Caritas via email, she congratulated her on this ‘very beautiful piece’,’ says Kryza-Gersch. Dating from the late 16th or early 17th century, she emphasises, and no, not a later copy. But when Christie's applied to the Austrian Federal Monuments Office (BDA) for export permission on 14 May 2024, it referred to it as an ‘18th-century replica of a Giambologna’. The value was estimated at 50,000 euros and several images were attached to the application, as Petra Weiß, the responsible director at the BDA, confirmed. Why this downgrading occurred is not known at Christie's.’

Restitution claims on the Guelph treasure are to be reviewed again, but the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation is putting obstacles in the way, reports Mathilde Harenberg at Legal Tribune Online: ‘The Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation emphasised in a press release that it unequivocally supports the 1998 Washington Principles and would agree to a renewed referral to the Commission. However, questions regarding the eligibility of the individual claimants, among other things, would have to be clarified beforehand. The foundation is facing competing claims from multiple claimants and refers to the commission's rules of procedure. According to these, the foundation itself is to clarify the eligibility of the claimants before an examination by the commission, which it has not yet been able to do sufficiently, according to the SPK in a press release.’

Ursula Scheer reports in the FAZ on the confirmation by the Modigliani archive of a flea market find. Daniel Cassady gives a somewhat more detailed account for Artnews, who also links to the original source.

Ursula Scheer also reports on the rejection of an alleged early work by the Van Gogh Museum in the FAZ. Van Gogh specialist Martin Bailey explains the case in great detail in The Art Newspaper.

The British Council and its art collection are at risk of being sold off, warns guest author Jenny Waldman in the Guardian: ‘Recent reports that the British Council has been contemplating selling its art collection have shocked us all. The British Council holds works from artists including Henry Moore, Tracey Emin, Lucian Freud and David Hockney, and shows them globally. It is our public face to the world. Yet chief executive Scott McDonald has said that due to a £250m pandemic-era emergency loan from the Foreign Office, with interest charged at £14m annually, the Council faces the ‘threat of insolvency’. Unless there is a major intervention, the Council will have to axe hundreds of staff, withdraw its presence in up to 40 countries and sell off its art collection.’

In the Tagesspiegel, Frederik Hanssen asks whether the Berlin senator for culture is naive or clueless, in view of the original proposals put forward by Joe Chialo for financing culture: ‘Chialo once again praises the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra for its cooperation with Deutsche Bank. Just as he recently presented the collaboration between the Staatsoper Unter den Linden and BMW as exemplary in the ZDF programme ‘Aspekte’ for the efforts of cultural institutions to acquire funds in the private sector. What the senator obviously does not know is that in neither case does the sponsorship help to create art. The sums are merely the icing on the large state subsidy cake.’

The insolvency of the Munich gallery also affects artists who have little hope of actually getting the money owed to them, but who are reluctant to talk about it publicly, reports Susanne Hermanski in the Süddeutsche Zeitung (paywall): ‘But hardly any of the artists concerned speak as openly about this fact as Bernd Zimmer. An American painter, for example, immediately replies to an inquiry from the Süddeutsche Zeitung that he first has to consult with his lawyer to see if he is allowed to provide information on the matter. And then doesn't get back to us for days.’

Justin Sun, the crypto-bro with the banana, is suing music and film producer David Geffen (DreamWorks) for the return of a Giacometti sculpture. Graham Bowley describes the unusual case in detail in the New York Times: ‘In the court papers filed Tuesday in federal court in Manhattan, Justin Sun, a Hong Kong-based cryptocurrency entrepreneur and art collector, said the Giacometti sculpture, titled “Le Nez,” for which he had paid $78.4 million, was stolen from him and sold by the former adviser, named in the court filing as Xiong Zihan Sydney. [...] But lawyers for Mr Sun said in court papers that he remained the owner of the work and that Ms Xiong had forged his signature on documents related to the deal.’

Art Basel has had to cope with the loss of a key figure, reports Mélanie Honegger in the Basler Zeitung: ‘Art Basel has lost another member of its management team. As the global VIP boss Irene Kim announced on LinkedIn, she has accepted a new job at Chanel. Kim was part of the Art Basel management and worked for the company for more than eight years [...] Kim is no longer listed on the Art Basel website. The art fair also confirms the departure. A successor has not yet been appointed, says spokeswoman Sarah Degen. But Art Basel has a ‘large and experienced’ VIP team.’

In the free section of his newsletter, Marion Manneker reports on the dismissal of the entire secondary market team at Artsy.

Joanne Kaufman reports in the New York Times that Amy Lau, co-founder of the Design Miami trade fair, has died at the age of 56.

Bernhard Schulz traces the life of gallerist Helga de Alvear, who died at the age of 88, for Monopol: ‘Born Helga Müller Schätzel, the daughter of an industrialist in Kirn in the Palatinate, in 1936, she attended school in Salem on Lake Constance, then schools in Switzerland, went to Spain to learn languages – and married the architect Jaime de Alvear in 1959. The turning point in her life came eight years later, when she met Juana Mordo, a gallerist in Madrid, and soon joined her gallery full-time and with full commitment. After Mordo's death in 1984, she took over the management of the gallery, and another decade later, she opened a residence under her own name just around the corner from the new art centre Reina Sofia. From then on, those who wanted to go to the Reina Sofia came to her gallery almost automatically, and vice versa.’ Uta M. Reindl remembers in the Tagesspiegel: ‘Above all, the warm, almost down-to-earth way in which the gallery owner moved in the often cool art world was impressive. She could rave passionately – in German with an unmistakable Hessian accent. ‘The works should be worked with’ was her credo for the future of her collection, which now comprises around 3,000 works.'’