Art Basel has launched its first edition in Doha, Qatar, with a deliberately small and tightly controlled format. The fair features only 87 galleries, all required to mount solo presentations, with strict limits on booth size, power sources, and rehanging of works. This creates a slower, calmer atmosphere distinct from its larger, more chaotic sister fairs in Miami and Paris.
The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum in Ridgefield, Connecticut, has announced a new recurring exhibition series called the Aldrich Decennial, which will take place every ten years. The inaugural edition, titled “I am what is around me,” runs from June 7, 2026, to January 10, 2027, and features 40 artists living and working in Connecticut who have not previously exhibited in the state. Organized by chief curator Amy Smith-Stewart and curatorial and publications manager Caitlin Monachino, the survey spans the museum’s entire campus and includes high-profile names such as Dominic Chambers, Tammy Nguyen, Em Rooney, Aki Sasamoto, and Julia Wachtel, with artists ranging in age from Lucy Sallick (born 1937) to Remy Sosa (born 1995).
The Columbia Museum of Art in Columbia, South Carolina, is unveiling newly reconfigured collection galleries to cap its 75th anniversary and culminate a yearlong renovation. The museum will reopen its collection galleries following a gala on January 16, presenting a newly conceived display across 20 galleries. The reinstalled galleries draw from the museum’s American, Asian, European, and modern and contemporary holdings, including Italian Renaissance works from the Kress Collection, an Asian gallery anchored by Chinese art from the Tang dynasty, and thematic galleries focused on landscape, still life, and art and architecture. The renovation, which began in January 2025, included new lighting and ceilings, reinforced walls, and conservation work on pieces by Sam Gilliam, Teiji Takai, and Benjamin Wilson.
Abu Dhabi Art (ADA) held its final edition at Manarat Al Saadiyat before transitioning into a Frieze franchise in November 2025. The fair featured 53 new galleries, a Focus sector highlighting art scenes from Nigeria, Turkey, and South Asia, and a new Emerge section offering discounted booth prices for works under $3,000 to attract emerging collectors. The shift comes as Abu Dhabi’s cultural landscape moves beyond its iconic Saadiyat Island museums—Louvre Abu Dhabi, Zayed National Museum, and Guggenheim Abu Dhabi—toward more grassroots ventures like the MiZa warehouse district, which hosts experimental spaces such as MamarLab and Iris Projects. Mega-gallery Pace returned after a 14-year absence, citing renewed energy in the Gulf market.
Art Basel Hong Kong has announced its exhibitor list for the 2026 edition, featuring 240 galleries from 42 countries and territories, roughly the same size as last year's 242 galleries. The fair runs March 27–29 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, with preview days on March 25–26. New additions include 32 first-time exhibitors from Australia, Japan, Turkey, France, Germany, and the US, while 33 galleries from the previous edition are absent—some due to closures (Blum, Clearing, Kasmin) or acquisitions (Millan bought by Almeida & Dale). A new sector called Echoes will showcase works created in the last five years, and the Encounters sector will be curated by a team led by Mami Kataoka. Media artist Ellen Pau will oversee the film program for the first time, and Shahzia Sikander has been commissioned to create a public artwork for the M+ Museum facade.
The article reports on the inaugural Bukhara Biennial in Uzbekistan, titled "Recipes for Broken Hearts," which opened in the historic 16th-century Khoja Gavkushon complex. Curated by Diana Campbell, the biennial features over 70 projects spanning 500 meters of public space, including works by artists Subodh Gupta, Laila Gohar, and Carsten Höller. The exhibition embraces the local environment—sun, wind, and dust—as collaborators, rejecting the sterile white cube model. Food is a central theme, with communal plov parties, performative cooking sessions, and installations like Gohar's edible rock sugar pavilion. The biennial runs through November 20.
Sotheby's will offer Jean-Michel Basquiat's 1981 painting *Crowns (Peso Neto)* in its fall contemporary evening sale in New York with a high estimate of $45 million, the highest estimate ever for a Basquiat work from that pivotal year. The painting, never before auctioned, is described by the house as marking the artist's transition from street artist to international art star. Separately, Art Basel has released the exhibitor list for its inaugural fair in Qatar, featuring 87 galleries including heavyweights like Hauser & Wirth, Gagosian, and Pace, with all booths dedicated to solo presentations curated by artistic director Wael Shawky.
The Almaty Museum of Arts (ALMA) opened on September 12 in Kazakhstan's largest city, becoming the country's first private museum dedicated to modern and contemporary art. Founded by auto and real estate tycoon Nurlan Smagulov, the museum houses his collection of over 700 artworks by Kazakh, Central Asian, and international artists. Led by artistic director Meruyert Kaliyeva and chief curator Inga Lāce, the museum's opening features a retrospective of Almaty-born artist Almagul Menlibayeva and a group show titled "Qonaqtar" that explores Kazakh art history and hospitality.
The fourth edition of Frieze Seoul opened with strong collector turnout and solid first-day sales, despite a turbulent global art market. High-profile attendees included MoMA PS1 director Connie Butler, Hawai‘i Triennial 2025 cocurator Wassan Al-Khudhairi, and Top 200 Collectors Lonti Ebers, Yassmin Ghandehari, and Qiao Zhibing, alongside K-pop stars Lisa (BLACKPINK), RM (BTS), and The8 and Vernon (Seventeen). Major sales included Hauser & Wirth’s $4.5 million sale of Mark Bradford’s triptych "Okay, then I apologize" (2025) and a George Condo painting for $1.2 million, while White Cube, Thaddaeus Ropac, Pace Gallery, and others reported significant transactions. International blue-chip galleries with Seoul spaces are doubling down, presenting top-tier shows of star artists like James Turrell, Antony Gormley, and Lee Bul, with Korea’s private museums also mounting blockbuster exhibitions.
The article reports on a generational shift in the art world, with younger gallerists (millennials and Gen Z) redefining success away from the traditional empire-building model. It highlights the recent closures of Venus Over Manhattan and Tim Blum's gallery, but notes that emerging dealers like Bridget Donahue and Matthew Brown are prioritizing collaboration, transparency, and a sustainable pace—attending fewer art fairs and building tight-knit communities rather than large client bases. Separately, the article covers Hauser & Wirth's announcement of a new gallery in Palo Alto, California, set to open in spring 2026, marking the mega-gallery's first Bay Area location and its third in California.
Art Basel has announced a surprise deal to launch a new art fair in Qatar next year, partnering with Qatar Sports Investments (QSI) and QC+, a subsidiary of Qatar's sovereign wealth fund and commercial arm of Qatar Museums. The fair will debut with around 50 galleries in Doha, intentionally smaller than Basel's other fairs, with a distinct character aimed at building a long-term, sustainable event. The deal comes after rumors that Basel might take over Abu Dhabi Art, and as the region's art scene intensifies, with Art Dubai recently poaching Basel's global head of gallery relations Dunja Gottwies as its new director.
Christie's is auctioning Vincent van Gogh's early painting 'A Girl in a Wood' in Hong Kong on March 27, with an estimate of $1.3m-$2.6m. The work, recently redated to August 1883, is being offered directly in Asia, bypassing major Western previews, to target Chinese collectors.
A rare, inscribed lithograph by Vincent van Gogh, 'At Eternity's Gate,' resides in the collection of the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art. The work, one of only seven surviving examples, was acquired in 1975 by Farah Pahlavi, the wife of the Shah of Iran, for the museum. It passed through notable hands, including those of US Vice President Nelson Rockefeller, before arriving in Tehran just before the 1979 Iranian Revolution.
Art Basel Qatar has launched its inaugural edition in Doha, marking a significant expansion of the Swiss fair brand into the Middle East. The event features 87 exhibitors in a unique, booth-less format spread across the M7 and Doha Design District, departing from traditional trade fair aesthetics in favor of a curated, biennial-style presentation. While the opening VIP day saw strong attendance from regional collectors and major international galleries like Hauser & Wirth, the atmosphere was tempered by light initial sales and significant regional geopolitical tensions.
Christie's will offer three major paintings by Gerhard Richter in its March evening sales in London and Hong Kong. The London sale on March 5 features the 1984 photo-painting 'Schober (Haybarn)', estimated at £6 million, and a 1991 'Abstraktes Bild' abstract work, estimated at £4.5-6.5 million. The Hong Kong sale on March 27 will offer a larger 1991 'Abstraktes Bild', estimated at HK$78-98 million ($10-13 million), coinciding with Art Basel Hong Kong.
The Asia-Pacific art scene saw significant activity across multiple sectors. Art SG reported increased attendance and sales, while the SAM Art SG Fund acquired works for the Singapore Art Museum. JD.com announced plans for a major new museum in Shenzhen, and several appointments and award winners were named across the region. Auction houses Bonhams Hong Kong and Sotheby's Singapore posted strong sales results, with the latter setting new artist records.
At the opening of San Francisco's FOG Design and Art fair, prominent collector Komal Shah navigated the crowded aisles, stopping to chat with a who's who of the Bay Area art scene, including FOG founder Stanlee Gatti, ICA San Francisco director Ali Gass, and SFMOMA director Christopher Bedford. Shah, known for her collection focused on women artists, was scouting works with a handwritten list, considering pieces by Ruth Asawa and Joan Brown, though she passed on a $425,000 Asawa sculpture. The fair's gala serves as a fundraiser for SFMOMA, and Shah's collection is currently on view at the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive in the exhibition "Making Their Mark: Works from the Shah Garg Collection."
Artnet Pro's 'The Asia Pivot' newsletter previews the 2026 Asian art market, highlighting a hopeful recovery after signs of improvement in late 2025. Key events include Art SG in Singapore (hosting S.E.A. Focus for the first time), the inaugural Art Basel Qatar in February, and Art Basel Hong Kong in March. Auction houses will align spring sales with these fairs. The article also notes regional shifts: South Korea's Art Asia partners with KINTEX for a new fair in India, Hong Kong's Kwai Fung Hin opens in Singapore, and Shanghai's Antenna Space expands to Hong Kong. Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi meets with artist Takashi Murakami to promote culture abroad, while geopolitical tensions with China threaten cultural exchanges.
Massimiliano Gioni reveals that for nearly a decade, from 1997 to 2006, he acted as Maurizio Cattelan's ghostwriter and public impersonator, writing all of Cattelan's texts, press releases, and interviews, and even giving lectures and television appearances in his place. Gioni describes how he fabricated lies and half-truths, speaking as Cattelan at universities like Yale and NYU, on Vatican Radio, and during the media storm over Cattelan's sculpture of hanged children in Milan, all for a monthly fee of $500.
Artnet News's 'The Asia Pivot' reflects on its 2025 coverage, highlighting the expansion of Asia's art scene beyond traditional East Asian markets into emerging regions such as the Gulf, South Asia, and Central Asia. Key developments include the debut of the Bukhara Biennial in Uzbekistan, the opening of the Almaty Museum of Arts in Kazakhstan, and the flourishing art scene in Thailand with new private museums like Dib Bangkok. The report also covers major markets like China, Japan, and South Korea, noting the impact of geopolitical dynamics and market shifts.
Artnet Pro has published a roundup of nine artists whose markets it appraised in depth during 2025, including Dorothea Tanning, Gertrude Abercrombie, Emily Kam Kngwarray, Jack Whitten, and Olga de Amaral. The article highlights key market developments for each artist, such as record auction prices, growing international recognition, and shifts in collector interest, drawing on data and expert commentary from dealers, auction-house specialists, and advisors.
Abu Dhabi Art (ADA) opens its largest edition to VIPs on November 18 at Manarat Al Saadiyat, featuring 142 exhibitors—up from just over 100 last year. This is the final edition under the ADA name before it relaunches as Frieze Abu Dhabi in 2025, marking a major transition for the Gulf's art market. Key international dealers like Pace are returning after a long absence, and the fair includes works by Robert Indiana, Arlene Shechet, and a teamLab installation. The event comes as Art Basel also plans its 2026 debut in Qatar, signaling a broader regional shift.
Sotheby's Asia faces another leadership shake-up as Elaine Holt departs her role as chairman of modern and contemporary art in Asia after just one year. Jasmine Prasetio, Sotheby's managing director for Southeast Asia, will relocate to Hong Kong to serve as interim chair. Meanwhile, European galleries Meyer Riegger and Galerie Jocelyn Wolff are partnering to open a new space in Seoul called Meyer Riegger Wolff, led by Gala Musi, with an inaugural show during Frieze Seoul. Design Miami will make its Asian debut in Seoul, and London-based artist Firenze Lai has joined White Cube's roster. In Taiwan, the Taichung Green Museumbrary, designed by SANAA, is set to open in December, and the Gwangju Biennale Foundation has appointed Youn Bummo as its new president.
The sixth edition of New York's Upstate Art Weekend, founded by Helen Toomer in 2020, runs July 17–21 across the Catskills and Hudson Valley, featuring 158 participating art organizations—a dramatic increase from 23 in its first year. Highlights include a Kishio Suga solo show at Dia Beacon, Sonia Gomes's first U.S. outdoor installation at Storm King Art Center, a group exhibition of seven women artists at Toomer's new project space Upbringing, Tomokazu Matsuyama's homage to Edward Hopper at the Edward Hopper House Museum, and a comparative show of Georgia O'Keeffe and Thomas Cole at the Thomas Cole National Historic Site.
This roundup covers multiple developments across the Asian art world. Notable events include the death of Korean artist Suki Seokyeong Kang at age 47; Robin Peckham leaving his role as co-director of Taipei Dangdai; Lucy Liu becoming a partner at Rachel Uffner Gallery, which will rebrand as Uffner and Liu; STPI Creative Workshop and Gallery presenting the first Southeast Asian solo show for Cuban artist Wifredo Lam; Art Week Tokyo returning with Adam Szymczyk curating its AWT Focus platform; Japanese painter Yu Nishimura joining David Zwirner; and the Rijksmuseum inviting Fiona Tan to curate a major exhibition. Other highlights include the 13th Seoul Mediacity Biennale, Tate Liverpool's planned 2027 reopening with a Chila Kumari Singh Burman retrospective, a Louvre-Doraemon collaboration, Boo Ji-hyun's permanent installation in Japan, Christie's Hong Kong Spring Asian Art Week sales totaling HK$567.6 million, and Sotheby's postponing a controversial Hong Kong auction of Buddhist relic-linked jewels. Hyundai Artlab named Jiaying Sim and Elvia Wilk as its 2025 Artlab Editorial Fellows.
A new group exhibition titled "Merci! John Giorno" has opened at Almine Rech Paris, celebrating the life and career of the late American artist John Giorno (1936–2019). Presented in collaboration with Giorno Poetry Systems, the show features Giorno's own works alongside pieces made for or inspired by him, including his iconic interactive work "Dial-A-Poem" (1968–ongoing) and his "Poem Paintings" begun in 1989. The exhibition also marks the tenth anniversary of the seminal show "Ugo Rondinone: I ♥ John Giorno" at the Palais de Tokyo in 2015. Running through June 7, 2025, it is complemented by other collaborations set in Parisian museums and regional venues throughout the year, including a revival of "Dial-A-Poem" in French at the Centre Georges Pompidou.
Morgan Stanley and Artnet have released an Intelligence Report analyzing the explosive growth of the ultra-contemporary art market—defined as work by artists born after 1974. Auction sales in this category surged 305% from 2019 to 2021, reaching $742.2 million last year, driven by strong demand in the U.S. and China. The report breaks down sales by region, price band, and leading artists, highlighting how galleries, fairs, museums, and collectors are capitalizing on this trend.
The fifth annual High Desert Art Fair (HDAF) took place at the Pioneertown Motel in California's High Desert, featuring 20 galleries, nonprofits, studios, and publishers. Founded by Nicholas Fahey of Fahey/Klein Gallery and artist manager Candice Lawler, the fair leverages the area's existing artistic community and natural beauty to attract visitors from Los Angeles and beyond.
The Turner Prize shortlist for 2026 has been announced, featuring four artists: Simeon Barclay, nominated for his spoken-word performance 'The Ruin'; Tanoa Sasraku, recognized for her solo exhibition 'Morale Patch' exploring the political history of oil; Kira Freije, shortlisted for her first major solo show 'Unspeak the Chorus'; and Marguerite Humeau, nominated for her exhibition 'Torches'. The shortlist was selected by a jury chaired by Alex Farquharson, director of Tate Britain, who praised the diverse range of work spanning installation, performance, and sculpture. An exhibition of the shortlisted artists will be held at Teesside University's Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art (Mima) from September 2026 to March 2027, with the winner announced on December 10, 2026, receiving £25,000.
Art Brussels, now in its 42nd edition (April 23–26), has downsized from 164 to 138 participating galleries, a 15% reduction that allows the fair to fit entirely within one hall of Brussels Expo. Director Nele Verhaeren openly acknowledged the shift, framing it as a deliberate move toward a 'quality-first' approach that prioritizes visitor experience over sheer scale. The fair introduces a new section called Horizons, curated by Devrim Bayar of the upcoming Kanal-Pompidou museum, featuring seven large-scale works in the freed-up space. Dealers like Xavier Hufkens and Nadja Vilenne support the strategy, noting that galleries must now carefully choose which fairs to attend amid rising costs and geopolitical tensions.