art world insiders 2026 market predictions new years 1234768290

Art world insiders share their predictions for 2026, anticipating a market rebound after a turbulent 2025 marked by gallery closures and tariff announcements. Key developments include the launch of new art fairs by Art Basel and Frieze in Qatar and Abu Dhabi, the return of the Whitney Biennial and Venice Biennale, and a surge in estate-driven sales as the Great Wealth Transfer accelerates. Experts note a revival of interest in Old Masters and classic taste, with collectors returning to bidding and galleries seeing renewed activity.

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Gloria Klein, a late New York-based painter known for anxious acrylic arrangements and methodical mathematical systems, is the subject of a new solo exhibition titled "Crisis Management" opening January 9, 2026, at Anat Ebgi New York. The show presents many of her later paintings for the first time, and coincides with the announcement that Anat Ebgi now represents her estate. Klein, born in Brooklyn in 1936, was a queer artist who participated in the feminist publication HERESIES, created portraits of critics Arlene Raven and Lucy Lippard, curated the 1977 exhibition "10 Downtown: 10 Years" at PS1, and was a member of the Criss Cross art cooperative. Despite a recent sale of her work for $30,000 at Frieze Los Angeles in 2023, she remains relatively unknown.

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The article highlights four must-see fall gallery shows in New York City for September-October 2025. It features Mercedes Matter's first solo show at Berry Campbell, reviving the overlooked Abstract Expressionist; Julio Torres's theatrical debut "Color Stories" at Performance Space New York; Gabrielle Garland's first New York solo exhibition at Miles McEnery Gallery, showcasing surreal suburban paintings; and Omar Ba's exhibition "Promises and Glory" at Templon, presenting fantastical mixed-media works.

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This week's art industry moves include South Arts appointing Doug Shipman as its next president and CEO, departing his role as Atlanta City Council president to lead the regional nonprofit across nine Southern states. London gallery Alison Jacques now represents Cape Town–born painter Gina Kuschke, with a debut solo exhibition opening January 15. Gallery Wendi Norris in San Francisco will represent the Marie Wilson estate, while Berlin's Galerie Judin adds Jorinde Voigt to its roster in partnership with David Nolan, Dirimart, and Sicardi | Ayers | Bacino. Thaddaeus Ropac appoints John Utterson as director in London, and Aperture secures $2 million in gifts toward its new permanent home. A record $31.4 million was paid for François-Xavier Lalanne's 'Hippopotame Bar' at Sotheby's New York, tripling its high estimate. The article also notes a growing trend of consultancies—mostly US- and European-based—being hired to help the UAE, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia build their cultural sectors.

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The article is a personal remembrance of artist Robert Grosvenor, written by a former student who encountered him as a visiting speaker at the Rhode Island School of Design in 1978. It recounts the profound impact Grosvenor's work and teaching had on the author's own artistic practice, describing his use of ordinary materials, his sculptural innovations like the cantilever and "hover," and his influence on her approach to art-making. The piece also references Grosvenor's 2025 exhibition at Paula Cooper Gallery and his earlier commission at Storm King Art Center.

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High Art, a Parisian gallery known for launching the careers of artists like Lucy Bull and Julien Creuzet, is closing its physical space after 12 years. The gallery announced on Instagram that its last exhibition closed in July and that it will transition toward collaborations, offsite exhibitions, and individual artworks. Founded in 2013 by Romain Chenais, Jason Hwang, and Philippe Joppin, High Art became a tastemaker in Paris's gallery scene, known for its challenging and often unconventional program. Many artists who showed there early, including Rachel Rose, Matt Copson, and Frieda Toranzo Jaeger, later achieved international recognition.

Who is Alma Allen, US Pavilion Artist for the 2026 Venice Biennale?

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The US Department of State has confirmed that sculptor Alma Allen will represent the United States at the 2026 Venice Biennale. Allen, a Utah-born, Mexico-based artist known for abstract biomorphic sculptures, was selected after a fraught selection cycle that included updated guidelines requiring proposals to promote American values. He was approached directly by curator Jeffrey Uslip, who will organize the US pavilion, and accepted the offer despite reportedly being advised against it by his former galleries Mendes Wood DM and Olney Gleason, which subsequently cut ties with him.

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Alma Allen, a self-taught Utah-born sculptor based in Mexico, has been confirmed as the U.S. representative for the 61st Venice Biennale, opening in May. His pavilion exhibition, titled “Alma Allen: Call Me the Breeze,” will be curated by Jeffrey Uslip and commissioned by Jenni Parido of the American Arts Conservancy. Allen’s selection is notably unconventional: he has no major museum solo exhibitions and was dropped by his galleries, Mendes Wood and Olney Gleason, after accepting the commission. The U.S. State Department’s brief release frames the presentation as highlighting “alchemical transformation of matter” and “elevation,” aligning with the Trump Administration’s focus on “American excellence.”

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A long-unseen 12-foot-wide painting by Martin Wong, titled *Tai Ping Tien Kuo (Tai Ping Kuo)* (1982), will be exhibited at Art Basel Miami Beach next month courtesy of New York gallery P.P.O.W. The work, which features a rare nude portrait of the artist’s mother and stepfather, was last shown publicly in 1987 at the Asian Arts Institute in New York. It was kept in storage for decades because Wong’s mother, Florence Wong Fie, objected to its display out of modesty. The painting adopts a classical three-panel altarpiece format, blending Chinese American history with references to Western art, the Taiping Rebellion, and Wong’s own Lower East Side influences.

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Ballroom Marfa in Marfa, Texas, presents the exhibition “Los Encuentros,” on view through March 29, 2026, featuring five Latinx artists—Ozzie Juarez, Justin Favela, Antonio Lechuga, Narsiso Martinez, and Yvette Mayorga—who transform everyday materials like blankets (cobijas) and piñatas into works exploring Latinx identity. Curated by Maggie Adler, the show prioritizes local community engagement over the international art world, with works such as Juarez's "Coatzomaki" (2025) synthesizing LA street art and Aztec culture. The exhibition grew from Adler's existing relationships with the artists and her belief in working beyond institutional walls.

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The 28th edition of Paris Photo, which closed November 16, saw a surge in representation of women photographers, rising to 39 percent of artists on view from 20 percent in 2018. This shift is driven by the fair's Elles program, launched with France's ministry of culture, and a broader market appetite for rediscovered women artists. Notable sales included works by Ming Smith, whose vintage prints sold for up to €60,000 at M77 gallery, and offerings from Les Filles du Calvaire featuring Helena Almeida and Katalin Ladik. Richard Saltoun gallery returned after six years with a booth focused on women photographers.

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Mel Leipzig, a painter known for his intensely detailed, realistic portraits of everyday people and places, died on November 1 at age 90. Over a career spanning more than five decades, the Brooklyn-born artist taught at Mercer County Community College from 1968 to 2013, founded the Trenton Artist Workshop Association (TAWA) in 1979, and never painted from photographs, instead practicing what he called 'designing with reality.' His work is held by major institutions including the Whitney Museum, the National Academy Museum, and the New Jersey State Museum.

gladstone gallery robert colescott estate representation 1234760508

The estate of Robert Colescott, the influential American painter who died in 2009, has signed with Gladstone Gallery for representation. Gladstone will debut Colescott's work at Art Basel Miami Beach next month and mount its first solo exhibition for the artist in 2025. Colescott is best known for satirical, large-scale paintings like "George Washington Carver Crossing the Delaware: Page from an American History Textbook" (1975), which critiques the exclusion and caricaturing of Black figures in American history and art. The estate sought new representation after its longtime gallery, Blum, closed this summer. Gladstone senior partner Max Falkenstein said the gallery had long admired Colescott and that the partnership felt like a natural fit given the gallery's focus on identity and politics.

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The United States Pavilion at the upcoming Venice Biennale faces an uncertain future after a proposal by artist Robert Lazzarini and independent curator John Ravenal collapsed. The proposal, selected by the US State Department in early September, fell through when the University of South Florida’s Contemporary Art Museum declined to sign the contract, citing a shortened timeline and financial obligations. Ravenal attributed the breakdown to bureaucratic misalignment rather than ideological disagreement, while the State Department declined to comment. The selection process also shifted this year, with the National Endowment for the Arts excluding itself due to staffing transitions, leaving the State Department to handle it alone.

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Raquelín Mendieta, the longtime administrator of the estate of her sister, artist Ana Mendieta, died on October 24 in Miami at age 79 due to a long illness. Raquelín took charge of Ana's legacy after the artist's death in 1985, organizing a retrospective at the New Museum in 1987 and partnering with Galerie Lelong in 1991 to establish a market for Ana's work. Under her stewardship, Ana's art was acquired by major museums like the Whitney Museum and included in over 600 group shows and 55 solo exhibitions, including 16 museum retrospectives.

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Alison Knowles, a pioneering artist of the Fluxus movement, died at age 92 in New York on October 29. Her gallery, James Fuentes, announced her passing but did not specify a cause. Knowles was best known for works like *Make a Salad* (1962) and *The Identical Lunch*, which used everyday materials and simple text-based instructions to create participatory art. Her most famous piece, *Make a Salad*, consists only of its title as a directive, allowing performers to interpret it freely; it has been staged at venues from Art Basel to Tate Modern. Knowles was a key figure in Fluxus, a movement formalized in 1963 by George Maciunas that rejected traditional art in favor of performance and accessible materials.

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The Institute of Contemporary Art San Francisco (ICA SF) will leave its current home at The Cube in December 2025 to adopt a fully nomadic, citywide model, presenting exhibitions and programs at various sites across the Bay Area starting in early 2026. Its final shows at The Cube are solo exhibitions for Masako Miki and David Antonio Cruz, on view through December 7. The museum has already secured support from the Office of the Mayor of San Francisco and lined up programs for the next year, including exhibitions at the Transamerica Pyramid Center featuring Tara Donovan and Lily Kwong, and a two-person show for Dominique Fung and Heidi Lau at Pier 24 in 2026, with a partnership planned for 2027.

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Racquel Chevremont, a model, curator, and reality TV star, has filed a 31-page lawsuit against her former romantic partner, artist Mickalene Thomas, in the Supreme Court of the State of New York. The suit expands on earlier harassment allegations from August, detailing claims of an abusive work environment and financial exploitation. Chevremont alleges that Thomas denied her promised compensation from sales of artworks featuring Chevremont, including a painting that sold for $1.83 million, and that Thomas paid herself significant sums while Chevremont received nothing from their joint company, MT Special Projects (also known as Deux Femmes Noires). Thomas has denied the allegations through a spokesperson, calling them false and a desperate attempt to profit from her reputation.

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Olney Gleason, a new gallery founded by former Kasmin senior staff Nick Olney and Eric Gleason, has been appointed as the exclusive representative for the estates of Jackson Pollock and Lee Krasner through the Pollock-Krasner Foundation. The gallery, which opened earlier this year, succeeds Kasmin in handling the artists' work; Kasmin had represented Pollock since 2024 and Krasner since 2017. Olney and Gleason previously organized multiple Krasner exhibitions at Kasmin and supported major museum shows, including a 2019 Krasner retrospective at the Barbican Centre and a 2024 Pollock exhibition at the Picasso Museum in Paris.

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Berlin gallery Société has announced that it now represents Edi Rama, the Prime Minister of Albania, as an artist. Rama, who has been in office since 2013, studied at the Academy of Arts in Tirana, worked as an artist in Paris in the 1990s, and served as Albania's minister of culture before entering politics. His work includes boldly colored ceramic sculptures and abstract works on paper, often created on repurposed official documents during meetings. He previously exhibited at Marian Goodman's Paris space in 2024.

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Luke Agada, a Nigerian painter who completed his MFA at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2023, chose to remain in Chicago rather than move to New York or Los Angeles, citing the city's balance of opportunities. He opened his solo exhibition "To Translate Is to Move Across" at Monique Meloche Gallery during the third edition of Chicago Exhibition Weekend (CXW), a four-day event involving over 70 galleries, talks, studio visits, and a tennis mixer. CXW was founded by Abby Pucker of the consultancy firm Gertie and co-organized with Expo Chicago, expanding this year to include the Chicago Architecture Biennial and a curated exhibition of conceptual art.

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ARTnews has announced the nominees for the 2025 ARTnews Awards, which honor excellence in art at US institutions and galleries. The awards, now in their second year, feature six categories: Emerging Artist, Established Artist, Lifetime Achievement, Best Thematic Museum Exhibition, Best Gallery Group Show, and a newly introduced Best Historical Artist category. The jury includes five top US curators and two ARTnews editors, with winners to be celebrated in November.

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A group of 50 artists and cultural figures has sent a letter to Judy Chicago and Pussy Riot founding member Nadya Tolokonnikova, accusing them of “artwashing” for their collaborative exhibition “What If Women Ruled the World?” scheduled to open September 25 at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art. The letter calls for the exhibition’s cancellation, arguing that it is hypocritical to present a feminist show at an Israeli institution while Israel’s military actions in Gaza have killed over 28,000 women and girls since October 2023, according to UN Women. Tolokonnikova has stated she is not involved in decisions about the work’s current venue, while museum director Tania Coen-Uzzielli rejected the idea that canceling exhibitions is a meaningful response to the conflict.

cristin tierney marks 15 years tribeca 1234750653

Cristin Tierney, a seasoned art dealer, has opened a new gallery space in New York's Tribeca district, marking her fourth relocation in fifteen years. The inaugural exhibition, titled “Fifteen,” is a group show featuring over 30 artists who have shaped the gallery's identity, including Dread Scott, Mary Lucier, Judy Pfaff, and Shaun Leonardo. Tierney's move comes amid widespread reports of gallery closures, positioning her expansion as a strategic bet on the viability of midsize, independent dealers. The gallery's model combines a conceptual front-room program with secondary-market sales, a practice Tierney likens to the legacy of Leo Castelli.

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A major survey of Donald Locke's work, titled "Resistant Forms," has opened at Spike Island in Bristol, England, in collaboration with Ikon Gallery in Birmingham and Camden Art Centre in London. Featuring over 80 works spanning five decades, the exhibition includes early biomorphic ceramics, monochromatic black paintings from the 1970s, collage paintings, mixed-media sculptures, and personal writings and photographs. Highlights include the black paintings series addressing colonial subjugation, such as "The Cage" (1976–79), and later whimsical works like "Reconstructed Bottle with Pearls #11 (Pearls for Mahalia)" (2008). The show traces Locke's journey from his birth in Guyana, his time in the UK as part of the Windrush Generation, and his eventual move to the US, where he lived until his death in 2010.

rosalyn drexler dead pop art 1234750693

Rosalyn Drexler, a Pop artist known for her 1960s paintings exploring Hollywood, violence, and gender, died in New York at age 98. Her death was confirmed by Garth Greenan Gallery, which represents her. Drexler also wrote novels and briefly worked as a professional wrestler before turning to art.

palestinian artist samia halabys market rise to continue this fall 1234749012

Palestinian American artist Samia Halaby has experienced a dramatic surge in market value and institutional recognition over the past decade, with eight of her top 10 auction results occurring in the last three years. A Christie's sale in May 2025 saw her 2013 painting *Water Lilies* sell for $138,600, more than triple its 2020 result, while her 1974 work *Mediterranean #279* set her current auction record at £400,000 ($534,000) in 2020. Her first US museum survey opened in 2024 at Michigan State University's Eli and Edyth Broad Art Museum, and her work has been shown at MoMA, Tate Modern, and the Centre Pompidou, which acquired a piece last year.

yinka shonibare gas foundation fondation h retrospective 1234747771

Yinka Shonibare, the London-based British-Nigerian artist, established the nonprofit Guest Artists Space (G.A.S.) Foundation in Nigeria in 2019 to address the lack of artistic infrastructure in Lagos. The foundation, which grew out of his earlier Guest Projects initiative in London, operates two facilities: the G.A.S. Lagos Residency and the G.A.S. Farm House in Ijebu, Ogun State. It hosts residencies and programs supporting artists and curators from Africa and beyond, and launched the G.A.S. Fellowship Award in 2022. The article highlights the experience of 2024 fellow Amanda Iheme, an architecture photographer who expanded her practice during her residency. Shonibare funds the foundation partly from his own art sales, and the piece notes his recent major exhibitions, including at the Venice Biennale and Serpentine Galleries, as well as his current show at Fondation H in Madagascar.

smithdavidson gallery tjukurrpa the dreaming 2670351

SmithDavidson Gallery has partnered with London-based Unit gallery to present “Tjukurrpa: The Dreaming,” an exhibition timed to the Tate Modern survey of Emily Kam Kngwarray (1910–1996). The show, on view through August 17, 2025, highlights Kngwarray's work alongside pieces by Warlimpirrnga Tjapaltjarri, Makinti Napanangka, and Paddy Nyunkuny Bedford. Founders David Smith and Gabriëlle Davidson, who have collected Australian First Nations art since 2006, describe how their gallery transformed from a focus on 19th-century European and Impressionist art to a dedicated program for Modern and Contemporary Australian Indigenous art, with ethical standards that benefit artists' communities.

maria helena vieira da silva venice retrospective 1234747463

A major survey of Portuguese French artist Maria Helena Vieira da Silva (1908–92) is on view at the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice through September 15, before traveling to the Guggenheim Bilbao. The exhibition highlights her maze-like abstractions, which feature vibrant tile-like squares and interwoven lines, and includes works from her World War II–era figurative period, such as *The Disaster* (1942). The show follows a traveling exhibition in Marseille and Dijon (2022–2023) and her inclusion in the Centre Pompidou’s 2021 “Women in Abstraction” exhibition, signaling a resurgence of interest in her work.