2025 was a disorienting and destabilizing year, both in the art market and farther afield. But amid all the doom and gloom of gallery closures, tariff announcements, and Trump proclamations, there were hints of brighter days ahead. For every gallery that shut its doors, another opened, and this fall saw the art market seemingly spring to life after a dismaying first six months.
2026, then, offers much to look forward to. Art Basel and Frieze will launch new fairs in Qatar and Abu Dhabi, respectively, and two of the most anticipated biennials—the Whitney Biennial and the Venice Biennale—will return. If nothing else, the new year will likely reveal whether the art world’s pivot to the Gulf, and auction houses’ deepening emphasis on luxury categories, were good choices.
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Below, we asked a roster of art world insiders to share their views on what’s coming up in 2026, both in the US and abroad.
Mari-Claudia Jiménez, partner and global co-head of the art law practice at Withers and head of Withers Art and Advisory: Building on the estate momentum seen in the fall sales, the Great Wealth Transfer will move from theory to reality in the art market in 2026. We will see even more estate-driven sales, with long-held collections entering the market for the first time in decades. This abundance of fresh, blue-chip artworks will fuel a “great taste transfer” and a greater professionalization of collecting, as the next generation of collectors brings different aesthetics and priorities than its predecessors, and treats art and luxury objects not as isolated passion purchases but as significant assets requiring coordinated planning—and fully developed legal, tax, and market strategies.
As generational wealth transitions accelerate, 2026 will also bring a sharp rise in art-related inheritance disputes. Unlike financial assets, art is often accompanied by emotional baggage, incomplete documentation, and ambiguous histories, and these factors, combined with the enormous prices artworks can command, can spark bitter conflict among heirs. In response, more families will seek clearer planning frameworks and proactively address title, valuation, authenticity, and sale decisions before death, in order to avoid costly disputes that can erode both the value of their collections and their family relationships.
David Schrader, cofounder of Pace Di Donna Schrader Galleries: I was at a dinner party a month ago with a reasonably contemporary and postwar collector, and they were talking about a new interest in Old Masters. This is a new way of thinking. There’s a renewed interest in expanding collections and looking into unexplored corners of art history. So, from a 20,000-foot view, I think the market has been getting incrementally better. But from September through November—from London to New York—there has been greater depth of bidding. And not only multiple bidders: people are starting to chase things again.
Classic taste has seen a big revival, I think by necessity, because of the first-class estates that have come to market. The Impressionist and modern day-sale rooms were full at all the houses. This return to classic—or older—taste, I think, will continue for at least a couple of years. It feels like we’re at the beginning of a new cycle. I wouldn’t say I’m exuberant, but I’m optimistic that we can build on some of the successes we’ve seen at auctions, art fairs, and among private dealers.
It’s clear to me that interest has perked up, and people who have been on the sidelines are coming back in. And I think that will continue to build on itself. For a long period of time, there were many collectors—both existing and new or potential—who were simply not interested at any price. Those people are now returning, and as things begin to move, even more will follow.
Gardy St. Fleur, art adviser and collector: 1. The relationship between artists and galleries will continue to shift toward a more project-based model. 2. Self-taught artists will gain significantly greater visibility. 3.The market for high-quality historical and modern art will grow. 4. We will see increased synergy between businesses, leading to greater consolidation in the market.
Alex Glauber, art adviser and president, Association of Professional Art Advisors: Looking toward 2026, I anticipate that collector confidence will continue to grow, but the emphasis on quality over quantity will do little to bring demand in line with supply. Even with inactive collectors reengaging and new buyers entering the market, there is still not enough demand to consistently absorb all the material on offer across the primary and secondary markets—in galleries, at art fairs, and at auction. With costs remaining high due to tariffs and the stickiness of inflation, I think art fair participation, on both the exhibitor and collector sides, is likely to contract. Galleries and dealers will increasingly focus their energies locally and become more selective when evaluating the risk-reward balance of participating in international fairs and presentations.
The silver lining to the inevitable consolidation and economic natural selection that will continue to take place is a market that is healthier and more manageable to navigate.
Claudia Altman-Siegel, founder of the recently shuttered Altman Siegel gallery in San Francisco: My prediction for 2026 is that more and more spaces will start to rethink traditional models and try to create new ones. This is already happening in San Francisco. For example, Et Al and Cushion Works / Jordan Stein, two small galleries, have switched to a nonprofit model. The ICA SF has also given up its brick and mortar space and is now devoted to site specific projects around the city. These are experiments with new ways to achieve the same goals: supporting artists and creating groundbreaking exhibitions.
Models for galleries and nonprofit art organizations have to change to make the ecosystem more sustainable. While galleries that can afford to scale and adopt a corporate structure seem to be thriving, smaller businesses are struggling with overhead. Colleagues in the arts nonprofit sector are feeling underfunded and under-resourced as well. It seems like neither model is working well anymore. A solution more organizations are trying is to combine the for-profit and non-profit models. There are all sorts of easy asks on both sides that would serve to support the organization more fully. Right now, tax incentives and the laws that govern nonprofits make this extremely complicated, but if you take this away, there are many ways to integrate the two models that would make a big financial difference very quickly. For example, galleries could ask their clients to fund production for an ambitious show or host dinners for the artists they collect. These are common asks for nonprofit institutions, but not for commercial galleries. For nonprofits, curators, who frequently advise their donors, could take commissions for the sales of work their clients buy at their recommendation and put that money back into the institution.
Hybrid for-profit/non-profit exhibition spaces seem like an obvious answer to the future of art institutions. It would just need some radical transparency and a new model for tax incentives to make it work. I see seeds of this started to take root, and I imagine it’s only going to get more common as the year goes on.
Ana Sokoloff, New York–based Latin American art specialist and former Christie’s vice president: Overall, the Latin American art scene had a robust 2025, particularly as reflected in auction results. Notably, the strong showing for Frida Kahlo’s El sueño (La cama) set a new record for the most expensive work by a woman artist. I anticipate other major works like this masterpiece entering the market. The Latin American field, much like the broader art market, is undergoing a significant transfer of wealth. As a result, some of the most important works by modern and late 20th-century Latin American artists are likely to surface in marquee sales at Sotheby’s, Christie’s, and Phillips, where they may surpass existing records and establish new pricing reference points for the category.
As art fairs continue to differentiate themselves, I anticipate an increasingly competitive landscape for contemporary Latin American art, particularly at upcoming editions of Art Basel Miami Beach and Untitled. Untitled has positioned itself as a strong platform, featuring a notably well-selected contingent of galleries from across Latin America and presenting artists and programs that remain relatively fresh to the market. While established regional fairs such as Zona Maco and ARCO Madrid continue to anchor the ecosystem, I foresee the steady rise of “boutique” fairs in the region. This trend is being led by Material in Mexico City and ArPa in São Paulo, both of which emphasize curatorial rigor, experimentation, and closer alignment with younger collectors and institutions.
Claudia Albertini, senior director at Massimo De Carlo and co-president of Hong Kong Gallery Association: When I look ahead to 2026, I don’t see a market slowing down, but one that is growing. The pace of transactions has slowed somewhat, but it feels less rushed and more intentional now. Collectors are taking their time and thinking longer term. There’s less interest in what makes “noise” or what is “trending,” and more attention to artists with a clear, long-lasting language, which feels healthy to me.
Hong Kong has always been a bridging center—a radiating meeting point rather than an enclosed market—and that hasn’t changed, but the confidence has. Collectors here are incredibly informed and increasingly comfortable trusting their own instincts. The energy is still there; it’s just more focused. I think 2026 is the year in which our creativity will need to be at its best: we must be ready to turn challenges into opportunities and rethink how to better utilize our time and resources.
Max Carter, chairman of 20th/21st-century art, Americas at Christie’s: The stock market, said Warren Buffett, is manic-depressive. The art market, like many of its players, is the same, and this fall its mood swung from an unreasonable pessimism to an all-over confidence not felt since Covid. With momentum starting to gather, next year we are likely to see:
- More truly historic estate material coming to auction. The generational wealth transfer is real and new collectors may not realize how spoiled they are for opportunity until it’s over.
- Strength in the core market. I toiled in the barren day-sale fields of 2008–9 and I hardly recognize the energy, global nature, and routinely high sell-through rates of day sales today.
- Records for Impressionist and modern art. In times like these, people seek out the classics.
- A renewed appreciation for the postwar canon, with de Kooning’s “Breakthrough Years” opening at the Princeton University Art Museum on March 14 and Krasner and Pollock coming to the Met in September.
Will Lawrie, cofounder of Dubai’s Lawrie Shabibi gallery: It’s quite obvious that with Basel and Frieze now on our doorstep, and with local institutions building collections and preparing to open, there will be far greater focus on the art scene of the Middle East. This attention brings opportunity: deeper dialogue, new audiences, and the chance for the region’s artists and institutions to take their place more visibly within a global context. But attention is not the same as understanding. Too many galleries, dealers, advisers, and consultants arrive assuming that visibility means engagement, and that a handful of studio visits, a fair booth, or a short-term pop-up equals meaningful participation in a region with its own histories, infrastructures, and audiences.
True commitment is that much harder. It demands sustained presence, shared risk, and the patience to build trust over time. Local knowledge cannot be acquired overnight or compressed into fairs, brief visits, or reports. There’s been a profusion of gatekeepers when what’s really needed are guides, acting as a filter to what collectors see, and that risks flattening the richness and nuance of the scene. Artists are misunderstood, reputations misjudged, and opportunities for long-term impact overlooked.
In 2026, it should be clear which players are genuinely invested and which are merely passing through. The ones that will stand out are the ones willing to genuinely invest in relationships and to learn the subtleties of how artists, galleries, collectors and institutions interact in the region.
Omayra Alvarado, cofounder and executive director at Instituto de Visión: I believe that in 2026, strategic planning and collaboration will be key to the success of Latin American galleries—and, frankly, for most non-blue-chip galleries more broadly. Political unrest and inflation across the region will continue to weigh on the art market, creating a challenging environment, but selling art has never been easy.
At the same time, as museums and institutions increasingly look beyond traditional art centers, Latin American artistic practices remain a strong focus of interest. This shift continues to drive institutional acquisitions, advance artists’ careers, and strengthen their markets.
In a society that often promotes division, coming together will be the path forward. I expect to see more galleries sharing spaces, art fair booths, and exhibition costs, alongside other strategic approaches. With a clear vision, an authentic voice, and a stronger sense of community, 2026 can be a successful year in many meaningful ways.
