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Art World Predictions for 2026 & What I am Most Excited to See This Year
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Art World Predictions for 2026
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I can't start 2026 predictions without looking back at my 2025 predictions. I think the market proved all the naysayers wrong in 2025 and frankly, I’m tired of hearing the doomsday reports. So the art market is dead, long may it reign!
Sadly no great online marketplace came to fruition but if etsy and 1st dibs had a baby this is what I had in mind.
For 2026 my greatest hopes are:
Museums finally realize they can't please everyone all of the time and decide to do a combination of exhibitions that are big blockbusters that pay the bills and art historically relevant. You can rarely get both together in one show (a major retrospective of Frida Kahlo a number of years ago comes to mind as the rare opportunity for both) so a balance is required.
Despite art fair fatigue, there continues to be new art fairs outside of the global art capitals that seem to thrive. I think these are a welcome opportunity for convening art interests and it has proven prescient for a fair in Los Angeles in February and in hindsight, so overdue for one in Paris to follow London in the fall. I think the mega fairs have become overdone and collectors will gravitate to the new and undiscovered in their backyard.
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Art I am Excited to See in 2026
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Dreamworld: Surrealism at 100 at its lone US-stop at the Philadelphia Art Museum. I am timing my visit to view Noah Davis which opens later this month and Henri Rousseau: A Painter’s Secrets at the Barnes Foundation and the newly opened Calder Gardens as well.
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The Roy Lichtenstein retrospective at the Whitney will be the biggest exhibition of the year in NY, but more important is the newly reopened Studio Museum and the New Museum to follow soon.
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I hope to catch An Indigenous Present at the ICA Boston before it closes.
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If you’re looking for a particular work, thinking about building your collection, or simply want a friend to go see some of these shows with, I’d love to connect.
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I'm Amelia, Founding Partner at Legacy Art Partners, where I help collectors navigate every stage of their art journey—from strategic sales and acquisitions to market valuation and analysis. With over twenty years in the art world, including leadership roles at Bonhams and Christie’s, I'm passionate about art both as a personal pursuit and an alternative asset class. I love sharing insights from my experience and am always excited to connect with fellow art enthusiasts and investors.
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Legacy Art Partners is a full service art advisory firm partnering with contemporary art collectors across the US. Wherever you are in your collecting journey, build your legacy with us.
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