The Pit Gallery at The Armory Show 2025. Photo by Sean Zanni/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images
The Armory Show is New York City’s longest-running art fair, so it’s a little disappointing that recent years have seen it staged at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. Originally hosted by the intimate Gramercy Park Hotel, the show now barely inhabits this cavernous glass undulation, which seems more designed to be driven past than entered. Does Frieze stage the Armory Show at the Javits Center because it’s the only building on the island of Manhattan that’s worse than The Shed? It does make the venue for their brand-name fair seem better by comparison. Emily Gould memorably called the Javits “an airport with no scheduled departures,” and despite its absurd proportions, the building can induce claustrophobia if the art is bad. But this year the art wasn’t bad at all—in fact, it may have been the opposite of bad. Below are the five pieces that spoke to me the most, and it’s noteworthy that the five are among many others that I liked quite a bit.
TARWUK, MRTISKLAAH_enecS_laniF_ehT (2025), White Cube
TARWUK, MRTISKLAAH_enecS_laniF_ehT, 2025. Photo: Dan Duray for Observer
Normally, blue-chip galleries organize their art fair booths the way roadside diners organize their menus. They like it dense and diverse, in a way that allows the visitor to know each and every treat that is available to them, from souvlaki to challah French toast. White Cube’s booth at Armory this year was instead given over to Ivana Vukšić and Bruno Pogačnik Tremow, a.k.a. the artist duo TARWUK. It was hard to pick a favorite among them because all were well executed and distinct. In this and other ways, they reminded me of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s recent exhibition “Siena: The Rise of Painting, 1300–1350,” which lived up to the title’s promise of explaining the very origins of the medium’s vernacular. Here we see TARWUK using these older dialects to discuss contemporary issues. The painting I selected sees a varied cast of characters sitting around a compelling crater that feels to me like X, a.k.a. Twitter, a.k.a. The Everything App. They have no control over their apocalypse but are each dressed in a very appealing and bespoke way.
Nikita Gale, INTERCEPTOR (2025), 56 Henry
Nikita Gale, INTERCEPTOR, 2025. Photo: Dan Duray for Observer
Two disclosures: I have worked with Bridget Finn and love Ellie Rines, both of whom have been major champions of Nikita Gale. But you don’t need to be biased to love this work; just about everyone lingered near it. I suppose that if I’m going to complain so much about architecture, that’s the angle from which I should first compliment this work—it’s a booth you cannot enter. It speaks to the obvious love-hate relationship we all have with fairs, no matter where they’re staged. Speaking of stages, this work sees Gale returning to the materials and themes that tend to run through her work, which is interested in the technical aesthetics of audio production. You can’t make it out in this photo so well, but dangled up in those meaty wires are empty mic stands at casual and organic angles. The language on the 56 Henry website seems to imply that this work also resonates with the barricades of the French Revolution, but that doesn’t sound right to me. I think recent years have proven that there’s pretty much nothing you could do to modern-day Americans that would ever make them revolt.
RF. Alvarez, We’re Still Here! (2025), Martha’s
RF. Alvarez, We’re Still Here!, 2025. Photo: Dan Duray for Observer
I showed a photo of this work to a friend at an opening, and she asked, “Is that a scene from Sinners?” It’s a fair enough question, but instead of being vampires, everyone’s just secretly gay. The work was inspired by Paul Cadmus’s famous and excellent The Fleet’s In! (1934), “one of the earliest known cases of censorship of a gay artist in the United States,” per the Met. One of the subtly queer elements in that work is the proposition via cigarette, so it’s appropriate that the artist himself appears in the center, lighting that other guy’s cigarette. The light is one of the many things to like about this painting, even if you don’t care about identity politics. Alvarez paints the whole surface black first, then seems to enjoy the challenge of dealing with this. Everyone’s clothes and skin seem to cling to them as they’re explored by the light. Look at that gleam on the edge of the pool table.
Brittney Leeanne Williams, Interruption 8: Integration (2025), Alexander Berggruen
Brittney Leeanne Williams, Interruption 8: Integration, 2025. Photo: Dan Duray for Observer
Red is a difficult color. Beloved by collectors of the more thuggish variety, many painters avoid it because it’s too dominant. Williams doesn’t fight the red’s power, opting to mitigate it with trompe l’oeil. Her folds are so realistic that when you first approach it, you don’t even think of it as surreal. You see the rocks, the clothes and the reflections, and your brain registers this life-sized silhouette as a person. This is a dramatic and cinematic work without any faces in it. It’s suggestive of the cover of a romance novel from the 1990s, or perhaps a stained glass window. The robe does seem like something Jesus would wear, and the light source does seem to suggest that it’s coming from the non-existent head. It’s appealing how dark and shiny this work becomes near the bottom. It seems to suggest that this work could be many different ways, if it wanted to be
Joel Gaitan, Portadora De Ibeyi (2025), The Pit
Joel Gaitan, Portadora De Ibeyi, 2025. Photo: Dan Duray for Observer
This booth featured a number of similar pseudo-Mesoamerican artifacts, which delve into the Miami-based artist’s Nicaraguan heritage, but this should appeal to anyone who likes sculpture, ceramics or the color blue. What I love about the symmetry of this piece is that it breaks, in the folds of fat on the belly, the lower-hanging breast, and in the curious golden snake scarf, which isn’t quite the same on both sides. It adds to this creature’s undeniable charm. The sculpture’s title translates to “Bearer of the Twins,” who are exactly the same and distraught. But the bearer’s smile is the focal point of this. She is unflappable in the face of whatever seems to be happening in this piece. The hues and textures combine well here, best noticed in the way that puckered skin feeds into the golden pastie. It’s a sculpture about order, chaos and how one responds to them.
The Armory Show 2025 opened with a VIP preview on September 4 and runs through September 7. Casey Kelbaugh/CKA
American collectors seem to have taken the back-to-school spirit seriously this year, with several dealers reporting a brisk and buoyant first day at the Armory Show. The New York fair—one of the city’s most established and historic—opened yesterday, September 4, at the Javits Center and quickly surpassed expectations across price ranges, leaving dealers cautiously hopeful that this season might mark the start of a healthier moment, at least for the U.S. market.
“People are excited to be ‘back to school’—both dealers and collectors,” New York dealer David Nolan told Observer. By early afternoon, his booth had already sold well to existing clients and some new ones. “Many serious collectors are in from out of town to get in on the fun,” he noted. “Not to be hyperbolic, but things are flying off the wall.” Nolan’s booth was strategically conceived to offer something for everyone—one hundred works on paper spanning 1944 to the present, embracing a range of styles and narratives and, most importantly, different price points.
Reflecting on the market, Nolan added that in his experience, the art world operates in cyclical patterns. “I have seen several waves of change since I opened my gallery, and they are good and necessary.” On the fair floor yesterday, there was no room for gloom and doom—only optimism. “I’m not afraid to be a pessimist, but there’s just no place for it at the moment!”
David Nolan. Photo: Marc Selwyn
Some international professionals at the fair were more critical, lamenting that The Armory Show no longer attracts many of the major galleries that once participated. “The Armory is stuck in the middle,” art market expert and thought leader Magnus Resch told Observer. “It has a strong team and a prime venue, but it’s held back by unfortunate timing, the absence of top galleries and direct competition from Frieze Seoul.”
Optimism and early sales nonetheless offered immediate relief—and hope—to younger dealers, particularly those in the fair’s Present section, dedicated to galleries under ten years old and featuring the largest number of participants in Armory’s history. As director Kyla McMillan told Observer in an interview ahead of the fair, for her first edition, she wanted the event not only to appeal to seasoned collectors and institutional players but also to engage a broader, younger audience. The Armory Show is, after all, one of the longest-running fairs in the U.S. and a cornerstone of New York’s cultural scene—and often, for many New Yorkers, the first or only art fair they attend.
One standout this year in the Present section was the alchemical cosmologies translated into glazed ceramic vessels by Mexican artist Alejandro Garcia Contreras, presented by Swivel Gallery in its Armory debut. Following Contreras’s sold-out debut at NADA New York two years ago and a solo exhibition, his new works once again captivated visitors with their mysterious, symbolic, archetypal language, merging mythological visions with pop culture to grapple with the mysteries of the universe. Four vessels and a ceramic mirror sold within the first hours of the fair, priced between $11,000 and $20,000, with an additional $12,000 vessel placed by evening.
The gallery is also presenting in Platform, the section dedicated to large-scale installations, a new work by Jamaican-born artist Simon Benjamin, Tidalectic No. 1, 2025—a 700-pound iteration of his sand-barrel works, transmuting sediment and shoreline into vessels of memory. The piece exposes a geology and maritime history embedded in colonial pasts, engaged in the present and gesturing toward imagined futures.
Swivel Gallery presenting the work of Alejandro García Contreras. Photo: Cary D Whittier
The solo booth of British abstract artist Jo Dennis, presented by Mexico City- and New York-based gallery JO-HS, also attracted plenty of attention. On opening day, the gallery placed one of Dennis’s sculptures made from used military tent fabrics, where dense layers of intuitive marks and gestures accumulate as a psycho-emotional and poetic record of past memories and new bodily and identitarian awareness. By evening, several of her dynamic paintings were on hold with both existing and new collectors.
Returning to Armory this year, Mrs. Gallery is showing a solo presentation of Molly Bounds’s intimate and psychologically nuanced paintings that place undefined and often archetypal subjects in liminal, contemplative and suspended states that resonate emotionally beyond any individuality. By evening, the gallery had placed at least two works, priced at $7,000 and $4,000, respectively.
Also in Present, DINIM Gallery mounted a solo booth of evocative works by Emily Coan. By evening, the gallery had sold at least five pieces, captivating collectors with their imaginative, magical atmosphere inspired by fairy tales and myths. “There’s a tremendous amount of excitement and buzz,” Robert Dinim told Observer, noting the strong institutional presence with curators from museums across the U.S. and a large number of private collectors and advisors out with multiple clients. For him, the first-day atmosphere suggested the possible beginning of a market shift.
An Alexa Kumiko Hatanaka work presented by Patel Brown. Courtesy of Patel Brown
Toronto-based Patel Brown similarly reported a strong first day in the same section, selling six works from their solo presentation of Canadian-Japanese artist Alexa Kumiko Hatanaka, all priced under the $25,000 threshold. Combining tradition and innovation, nature and human creation, Hatanaka works on traditional Japanese washi paper with printmaking and ink, shaping her practice as a way to reattune to the organic rhythms of nature. Her process embraces transformation and the alchemical power of materials to create seemingly abstract compositions that move beyond human-centered perception and expression, while reflecting the fragility of environments and the delicacy of entire ecosystems disrupted by human activity.
Meanwhile, for its inaugural participation in the Armory, Miami-based gallery Andrew Reed featured a solo presentation by Cornelius Tulloch, reporting sales of multiple works in the range of $4,000 to $6,000. Moving within a largely symbolic and allegorical realm, Tulloch explores themes of migration, masquerade and Afro-Indigenous rituals in paintings that evoke both the mystery and vitality of the tropical South Florida and Caribbean landscapes.
Also making its Armory debut, the dynamic Chicago-based Povos Gallery presented a solo booth of Mexican multidisciplinary artist Leopoldo Gout, following his sold-out show at the gallery last year. Gout’s ever-expanding creativity traverses mediums and themes, weaving stories about human nature in relation to the natural world and emphasizing the power of collective imagination. The gallery reported strong interest and promising conversations likely to lead to additional sales in the coming days.
In the Focus section, one of the most anticipated highlights was the solo booth of vibrantly colored ceramics by Miami artist Joel Gaitan, presented by The Pit, which went on to win the $10,000 SAUER Art Prize.
In the main section, Brazilian dealer Nara Roesler saw positive interest in both the Brazilian artists central to her program and international names. By evening, the gallery had placed a linen-and-wool work by Sheila Hicks for $87,000, a print edition by Vik Muniz for $50,000, and works by Marcelo Silveira ($18,000), Manoela Medeiros ($20,000) and Bruno Dunely ($8,000). “We are happy to be back at the Armory with such a strong group of galleries. The mood is still high,” senior director Patrícia Pericas told Observer. “We have been particularly pleased with the increased interest from advisors requesting works by Brazilian artists for their clients.”
Nara Rosler. CHARLES ROUSSEL
In the main section, Marc Straus featured a group presentation of leading names from his roster, with a clear emphasis on the handmade and on legacies of craftsmanship reimagined through contemporary material approaches. The booth included Jeffrey Gibson’s Like a Hammer—the title piece of his landmark touring museum survey that began in 2014—alongside works by Abdulnasser Gharem, Folkert de Jong, Hermann Nitsch, Ozioma Onuzulike, Anne Samat, Antonio Santín, Renée Stout and Marie Watt. “We had a tremendous first day, with five works sold within the first few hours and both new and returning collectors visiting our booth,” Straus told Observer. “I believe our strong sales came from bringing the very best works by each artist and, as always, keeping our prices fair.” First-day sales for the gallery included oils by Antonio Santín.
A range of abstract works dominated James Fuentes’s booth, including pieces by John McAllister and Pat Lipsky, anticipating their fall exhibitions at the gallery. Fuentes had already sold Lipsky’s Winter Landscape (1971) ahead of the fair for $180,000. The artist’s upcoming show and renewed market attention coincide with the release of her book Brightening Glance: Recollections of a New York Painter (University of Iowa Press).
Among the highest-priced sales on opening day, Galleria Lorcan O’Neill placed works by Tracey Emin, Kiki Smith and Rachel Whiteread in the range of $15,000 to $1,000,000, while Sean Kelly sold a painting by Kehinde Wiley for $265,000.
By day’s end, the other major-ticket work at the fair—a $1.2 million Alex Katz anchoring Peter Blum’s booth—remained available. Nonetheless, Blum reported several other sales, including works by Martha Tuttle and Nicholas Galanin, who continues to enjoy a strong institutional presence this year, both in the U.S. and in biennials and museums worldwide.
The fair’s opening day reinforced the resilience of the art market. Photo by Casey Kelbaugh. Courtesy of The Armory Show and CKA.
James Cohan Gallery placed a sculpture by Kennedy Yanko in the first hours for $150,000. Yanko only recently joined the gallery’s roster, following her solo presentation with Cohan at Frieze London and a nearly sold-out double exhibition staged jointly with Salon 94 last September. The gallery reported a number of first-day placements for other in-demand artists on its roster, including two paintings by Naudline Pierre at $25,000 and $12,000, a painting by Mernet Larsen ($12,000), two sculptures by Tuan Andrew Nguyen at $95,000 each (following his solo booth at Frieze New York in May) and two works by Trenton Doyle Hancock ($85,000 and $40,000). On the textile front, the gallery placed two appliqué works by Christopher Myers ($45,000 and $37,000) and a woven piece by Claudia Alarcón & Silät ($25,000).
Returning to the Armory this year—and participating in both the New York and Seoul fairs this week—White Cube sold several works from its solo presentation dedicated to the Croatian artist duo TARWUK, with paintings ranging from $65,000 to $100,000. Coming of age amid the dissolution of socialist Yugoslavia, the trauma of war and the collapse of familiar social structures, TARWUK’s work carries a bleak, decadent aesthetic that evokes the lost splendor of the region’s golden age while hauntingly resonating with the present—particularly Europe’s fraught role in global geopolitics. The gallery also sold a mixed-media work by Emmi Whitehorse for $150,000, following her first solo with White Cube last September at its Paris space and a surge of interest sparked by her inclusion in the recent Venice Biennale. Additional sales included a painting by Tunji Adeniyi-Jones for $85,000 and a bronze by the always fair-popular Tracey Emin for £60,000, among others.
Also participating in the season’s restart on both sides of the globe—New York and Seoul—was Tang Contemporary, which reported multiple sales, including Ai Weiwei’s sculpture Toilet Paper for $150,000-180,000. Elsewhere, overlooked-talent-scouting gallery Berry Campbell saw strong interest, closing a 1952 painting by Perle Fine on the first day for $125,000, with additional conversations expected to unfold in the coming days.
The Armory Show brings together more than 230 galleries for its 2025 edition. Casey Kelbaugh/CKA
Proving that the under $50,000 price range may be the most dynamic and fast-moving in today’s environment, Uffner & Liu sold several works on the first day in the main section. Sales included a piece by Sheree Hovsepian for $28,000, two paintings by Sarah Martin-Nuss for $22,000 and $15,000 and a cabinet and two paintings by Anne Buckwalter for $11,000, $14,000 and $10,000, respectively. By evening, the gallery had crossed that “sweet” threshold, placing a sculpture by Hovsepian for $75,000. L.A. mainstay Vielmetter reported selling most of the works they brought to the fair—ranging from $8,000 to $50,000—by the end of the first day, while Anat Ebgi moved quickly to place works by some of their most promising young talents, many recently presented in their new Tribeca spaces. Sales included pieces by Marisa Adesman ($35,000), Tammi Campbell ($50,000), two paintings by Sigrid Sandström ($32,000 and $25,000), Janet Werner ($28,000), Jemima Murphy ($23,000), Ileana García Magoda ($22,000) and two glazed stoneware works by Olive Diamond ($7,500 each).
Meanwhile, another New York staple, Lyles & King, sold multiple works by Brazilian artist Fernanda Galvão, including a $36,000 diptych and a painting for $24,000. Drawing from science fiction and biology, literature and cinematography, Galvão reflects on the construction and manipulation of fictional landscapes, proposing alternative universes with new rules, spatial dynamics and temporal logic. Though already widely exhibited in Europe and South America, this well-received presentation marked something of a debut for the artist in the U.S.
In her first year as director, Kyla McMillan has focused on curatorial strength, U.S. market leadership and New York’s central role in the global art market. Photo by Casey Kelbaugh. Courtesy of The Armory Show and CKA.
Overall, the mood on Armory’s opening day was positive, offering hope for a stronger season ahead for both U.S. and international dealers and for a recovery of the American art market to a “new normal”—though still far from the pace and levels galleries had grown used to. Yet, as dealer and advisor Henri Neuendorf observed, galleries are simply tired of the steady drip of negative news about the state of the market. “We all know sales have been stronger in years past, but the negativity can become a self-fulfilling prophecy,” he commented. “My sense was that dealers and buyers seem cautiously optimistic and ready to turn the page.”
Art advisor Angelica Semmelbauer echoed Neuendorf’s take, noting the fair featured strong presentations from both galleries and artists—even if some leaned toward the safe side. “What felt especially uplifting was seeing sales happening despite all the uncertainty in the art market, which has been a current topic, and the larger world right now that’s weighing on clients,” Semmelbauer said. “I’m still a big believer that artists will keep creating meaningful work and clients will be there to support their practice and acquire the work, to keep the art ecosystem moving forward in a purposeful way!”
Ultimately, it’s a matter of readjusting expectations, refining strategy and adapting to a new rhythm. As yesterday’s Armory opening showed, the important thing is that American collectors—the fair’s core audience this year—are still buying and supporting the ecosystem as this next cycle begins.
Last Spring, Kasmin New York staged “Les Lalanne: Zoophites,” featuring works by the acclaimed French designers drawn entirely from the collection of their eldest daughter, Caroline Hamisky Lalanne. Courtesy of Kasmin
While global auction sales slipped 6.2 percent in the first half of 2025—with post-war and contemporary art down 19.3 percent to $1.22 billion, impressionist and modern sales dropping 7.7 percent and luxury barely budging (down 0.5 percent to $805.9 million)—design, decorative arts and furniture experienced significant momentum. According to ArTactic, the category surged 20.4 percent to reach $172 million in 2025, compared to $143 million the previous year. This growth occurred despite concerns over new tariffs. While fine art remains exempt from tariffs due to a legal loophole, design objects, antiquities and other collectibles are not, yet the market continues to thrive. This sustained growth is driven by a broader collector base and ongoing institutional interest, making it worth a deeper analysis of its various tiers and areas of activity.
Recent numbers from design auctions show strong growth: Sotheby’s design sales in New York this June achieved $37.5 million, followed by Christie’s with $23.6 million and Phillips, which staged just one sale, bringing in $4 million. Altogether, the June auctions saw a 62.3 percent year-on-year increase—proof that, at least for now, the design market is not just holding steady but gaining momentum. In the same period last year, Sotheby’s reported $19.5 million, Christie’s $15.5 million and Phillips $5.1 million across two sales with significantly more inventory.
The first half of 2025 marked a landmark period for design at Sotheby’s, according to chairman and co-worldwide head of 20th Century design, Jodi Pollack. Fueled by strong global demand, record-setting prices and an expanding international collector base, the market saw particular momentum among new and younger buyers, with increased cross-category collecting. Sotheby’s reported a $75 million combined total across New York and Paris this season, among the highest series totals ever for Sotheby’s Design sales worldwide. “These exceptional results reflect the galvanizing strength of the global design market and the discerning collectors who continue to passionately pursue rare pieces of extraordinary quality,” Pollack commented.
The Lalanne obsession continued its upward trajectory, but records were also shattered in unexpected areas: the monumental Danner Memorial Window—designed by Agnes Northrop for Tiffany Studios—achieved a staggering $12.4 million last November, setting a new auction world record for Tiffany glass. Not far behind, Frank Lloyd Wright’s double-pedestal lamp reached $7.5 million after an eleven-minute bidding war this May, marking another record in the category this year.
Tiffany Studios’ Stillman Memorial Window sold for $2,390,000 at Sotheby’s in June 2025. Courtesy of Sotheby’s
Another magnificent glass window by Louis Comfort Tiffany, The Stillman Memorial Window, sold in June at Sotheby’s for $2,390,000 (estimate: $1.5-2.5 million) as part of the sale Masterpieces by Louis Comfort Tiffany, Featuring The Ann and Robert Fromer Collection. The sale generated $6.3 million (estimate: $3.6-$5.6 million) with 96 percent sold by lot and nearly 60 percent of lots selling above their high estimates. Notably, 21 percent of buyers participating in Sotheby’s design sales this June were new to the auction house.
Strong institutional demand is also driving the surge in the market for Tiffany Studios pieces, with museums actively acquiring the studio’s masterworks. In 2023, the Metropolitan Museum of Art acquired the three-part, 10-foot-tall, 7-foot-wide Garden Landscape, while this past May, the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas, announced its acquisition of the monumental stained glass window Mountain Landscape (Root Memorial Window).
Meanwhile, the remarkable market surge for François-Xavier and Claude Lalanne continues unabated, cementing the duo as blue-chip fixtures in the design-art hybrid space. According to Artprice, the average auction price for their works has more than quadrupled since 2015, with major pieces now regularly surpassing six figures. The current auction record belongs to François-Xavier’s 1964 Rhinocrétaire I, which sold for €18.33 million ($19.4 million) at Christie’s Paris in 2023.
Between 2019 and 2024, Sotheby’s and Christie’s sold over 700 works from the private collections of Les Lalanne and their daughters, Dorothée and Marie, through a series of high-profile auctions in Paris and New York, generating a combined total of $330.2 million.
Demand remains strong—just this June, François-Xavier’s Grand Rhinocrétaire II (2003) fetched $16.4 million at Sotheby’s, five times its low estimate and accounting for nearly a quarter of the auction week’s total revenue. Christie’s New York also staged a dedicated sale in October 2023, François-Xavier Lalanne, Sculpteur | Collection Dorothée Lalanne, featuring works from the artist’s daughter and curated by French designer Simon Porte Jacquemus, closing with white gloves and a $59 million total, with at least fourteen lots surpassing six figures.
This October, Di Donna Gallery will present a museum-quality exhibition featuring a groundbreaking dialogue between Magritte’s surreal vision and the whimsical world of the Lalanne couple. The show will highlight their shared surrealist sensibilities and historical connection through gallerist Alexander Iolas in the 1960s. Over fifty works will be on display, including rare pieces from the estates of François-Xavier and Claude Lalanne, as well as paintings, works on paper and sculptures by René Magritte. Among the highlights is Magritte’s enigmatic L’ami intime (1958), which fetched $33.66 million at Christie’s London in March. During the last Venice Biennale, Ben Brown presented an extensive exhibition dedicated to the Lalannes, “Planète Lalanne,” featuring more than 150 works by the celebrated French duo.
The François-Xavier Lalanne, Sculpteur | Collection Dorothée Lalanne sale generated nearly $59 million at Christie’s New York in October 2024. Brian W. Ferry, all rights reserved
Phillips’ design specialist Kimberly Sørensen says the market is still strong, but more names are gaining momentum: their June Design auction in New York achieved a 91 percent sell-through rate by lot and 96 percent by value—an exceptional result. This followed their April Design sale in London, which reached 94 percent by lot and 97 percent by value. “These figures underscore the strength of the market and the continued appetite for exceptional design and craftsmanship,” Sørensen commented.
He told Observer that he’s seeing particular interest in female designers: Judy Kensley McKie’s Fish bench led Phillips’ June Design sale in New York, achieving $406,400 and setting a new world auction record for the artist. This, after her Leopard couch already led the top lot at Phillips’ London Design sale in April—further proof of her growing international appeal. Other standout female artists performing well in the recent sale included Line Vautrin and Claude Lalanne, whose works were among the session’s top lots. The American architect and designer George Nakashima also remains a beloved figure with a truly international market, according to Sørensen. “His daughter, Mira Nakashima, now the creative director of Nakashima Studio, is a remarkable designer in her own right and her work not only continues her father’s legacy of craftsmanship, but has also successfully introduced it to a new generation.”
Studio ceramics is another area in which Phillips has seen tremendous success. Phillips’ December New York sale, Moved by Beauty: Works by Lucie Rie from an Important Asian Collection, was a White Glove auction, which followed a dedicated London sale featuring Lucie Rie and Hans Coper. “We’re proud to hold the auction records for Rie and Coper and have previously set benchmarks for Lucie Rie and Doyle Lane,” he said.
Judy Kensley McKie’s Leopard Couch (1983) sold at Phillips’ April Design Sale for £177,800 ($237,736), while her Fish bench set a new record, achieving $406,400. Courtesy of Phillips
Sørensen confirms that design today attracts a broader and more diverse audience than ever. Even looking at their numbers, so far in 2025, 20 percent of Phillips’ design bidders were new to the auction house, which speaks to the category’s growing appeal. The Phillips specialist also points out that they’re seeing an encouraging rise in interest from younger collectors; Millennials and Gen Z now make up 20 percent of the Design bidders. “Many of them are drawn to the sustainability of the secondary market, where Design objects are not only beautiful but also environmentally conscious choices,” he explained. “Social media platforms like Instagram and Pinterest have played a big role in this shift, making it easier than ever for collectors to discover and connect with designers across periods and geographies.”
Looking ahead to the final few months of 2025, Sørensen and his team are optimistic. “The momentum we’ve seen so far suggests sustained interest, especially as more seasoned and new collectors recognize the value and artistry within the category.”
Despite the swoon in the broader art market, design has continued to hit new highs with world record prices in all of Christie’s top markets, according to Alex Hemingway, Christie’s global head of design. Asked about the most sought-after names, he pointed to Lalanne, Giacometti, Tiffany and Royère, adding that today’s buyers are especially drawn to masterpiece-level works with strong provenance and compelling narratives.
George Nakashima’s Three-door room divider sold at Phillips for $209,550. Courtesy of Phillips
This June, Christie’s Design auction and the single-owner American Avant-Garde: The James D. Zellerbach Residence by Frances Elkins sale brought in a combined total of $23.6 million. Leading the auction was The Goddard Memorial Window by Tiffany Studios, which achieved $4,285,000, soaring past its $2-3 million estimate and becoming the second-highest price ever realized for a window from Tiffany’s studio. Nonetheless, the world record remains The Danner Memorial Window, which sold for $12.5 million with fees at Sotheby’s Modern Art evening sale last November. Before this, the studio’s record was $3.4 million for a Pond Lily lamp sold by Christie’s in 2018.
The Goddard Memorial Window, part of the American Avant-Garde sale, brought in $8.1 million, with 81 percent of lots selling at or above their high estimates. Other top-performing lots included two rare Oiseaux sculptures by Alberto Giacometti (sold for $2,954,000 and $2,833,000, respectively) and a pair of rare ‘Pyramides’ andirons (sold for $378,000). Jean-Michel Frank’s Aragon low table sold for $819,000, and his ceiling light brought in $277,200—more than five times its low estimate.
Lalanne led the $15.4 million Design sale. Claude Lalanne’s unique Structure végétale aux papillons, souris et oiseaux chandelier (2000) fetched $1,865,000, while her L’Enlèvement d’Europe (1990) sold for $1,134,000. Works by François-Xavier Lalanne also performed strongly, with Le Métaphore (Canard-Bateau) (ca. 2002) soaring to $667,800—five times its high estimate—and Rhinocéros Bleu (1981) achieving $327,600, well above its low estimate of $70,000. Animal-inspired design by other design masters drew significant interest as well, with Jean Royère’s Éléphanteau armchairs realizing $743,400. Notably, demand surged for Alberto and Diego Giacometti’s sculptural and lighting designs across Christie’s sales, with aggregate results finishing 147 percent above the combined pre-sale low estimates.
Claude Lalanne’s Unique ‘Structure végétale aux papillons, souris et oiseaux’ Chandelier (2000) sold for $1,865,000. Christie’s
Vintage design has become a market of its own over the past decade, confirms Alessandra di Castro, a renowned antiques dealer and the fourth generation of her family’s historic business based in Piazza di Spagna. Over time, she has progressively expanded her offering into broader categories to meet the evolving tastes of a more diverse and constantly shifting collector base. Di Castro pointed out that demand is especially strong when it comes to prominent names, particularly among the many foreign buyers who, encouraged by the flat tax, are purchasing homes in Italy. “They furnish them with Italian taste and aesthetics—those are very interesting clients,” she explained, noting how quickly international buyers absorb the beauty around them and want to live surrounded by it, much like travelers during the era of the Grand Tour.
“Even decorative art and design have become a global market—much more conscious and diverse than in the past,” she said, noting how it’s no longer just architects searching for the perfect piece. Auction houses have opened dedicated departments, and people now come with very specific requests—asking, for instance, whether they have or can source a particular piece by Scarpa.
“Personally, I always buy unique pieces, because I view them through my own lens—as a kind of continuity with the periods I’ve always focused on, particularly the 18th and 19th Centuries,” Di Castro explained. “But with my particular approach to research and my eye for unusual objects, I really look at everything.” Still, the expert dealer admits it’s somewhat disheartening that certain categories—like sublime examples of 18th- and 19th-century cabinetmaking—are now valued far less than when she began her career, even though they remain extraordinary works.
The market for big Italian design names like Carlo Scarpa or Ettore Sottsass remains strong, even in the international market. In December 2023, a rare Pennellate glass vase by Scarpa fetched $107,100 at Wright Auction House—starting from just $24,000 after being acquired for $3.99 in a thrift shop. The Italian architect’s latest record was set just this March for a special-order display cabinet that fetched $489,868 at Piasa. The most recent record for Memphis visionary Ettore Sottsass was set in 2018 at Phillips in London, where his iconic undulating mirror sculpture fetched $430,221. Since then, his furniture and ceramics have consistently crossed into mid- to upper-five-figure territory at European post-war and design sales.
Collectible design for new collectors and expanding geographies
According to Jennifer Olshin, partner and founding director at Friedman Benda, the term “collectible design” feels arbitrary—and even reductive—especially now that the categories of art and design increasingly overlap, both in how works are created and how they circulate. “We tend to avoid using the term because it doesn’t reflect how artists and designers think about their work. For them, it’s about creating something that expresses who they are, that pushes beyond what already exists. They don’t frame it as ‘collectible’—it’s just design, in the same way we don’t say ‘collectible art,’ we say art.”
“Ettore Sottsass 1947-1974” at Friedman Benda in 2023. Courtesy Friedman Benda and Ettore Sottsass | Photo: Daniel Kukla
Friedman Benda is a leading gallery at the intersection of contemporary design, craft and art, representing a highly diverse, intergenerational roster of designers and artists from around the world. Many challenge conventional boundaries between disciplines, materials and cultural narratives, often in cross-disciplinary ways. “Our focus is more on the making, the expression, the stories and commentary—the reason the work exists in the first place,” said Olshin. “Every artist on our roster is doing something we haven’t seen before. Together, they form what almost feels like an encyclopedia of what’s happening in design today.”
The gallery opened in New York in 2007 with an inaugural exhibition of legendary Italian designer Ettore Sottsass—his final show before his death. Since then, Friedman Benda has staged numerous exhibitions exploring the many phases of Sottsass’s complex, imaginative career and continues to represent his estate, along with other historically significant names such as Andrea Branzi, Gaetano Pesce, Wendell Castle and Shiro Kuramata. At the same time, the gallery champions emerging and multidisciplinary voices such as Samuel Ross, Misha Kahn, Ebitenyefa Baralaye and Formafantasma. “We’ve built a program that spans three or four generations of designers, artists and architects, many of whom play off each other in fascinating ways,” Olshin noted. “There have even been moments when a collector comes to us as a Sottsass collector and leaves with a work by Misha Kahn—because they sense a shared spirit between the two.”
Misha Kahn’s “Rien à voir” at Friedman Benda, Paris, in June 2025. Courtesy of Friedman Benda and Misha Kahn | Photo: Fabrice Gousset
Olshin sees the early generation of design pioneers like Sottsass as having paved the way for younger talents. “They fought the initial battles and made things possible. Now, younger designers are building on those hard-won foundations and pushing things forward in their own way. After 18 years, we’re starting to see generational connections—designers introducing us to other designers, former students becoming peers, friends becoming collaborators. These evolving communities are really what we try to make the gallery about.”
Design itself is not new, nor is its market, Olshin pointed out. There have always been iconic collectors—especially in the U.S.—who’ve played a key role in shaping the broader design landscape. Many are deeply embedded in museum and institutional ecosystems, supporting exhibitions, publications and emerging practices. “These great patrons are integral to the cultural infrastructure,” she said. “By helping bring design into public view—through shows, dialogue and visibility—they create ripple effects that expand awareness and accessibility, shaping how wider audiences engage with design.”
What has changed more recently, however, is the breadth and diversity of the collector base. Interest in unique design pieces has expanded significantly since the pandemic, particularly among younger generations and across new geographies. “It’s not necessarily a new market, but we’re seeing a broadening of interest,” Olshin observed. “There are more players, more people engaging with what we’re doing—and a younger generation is coming to design in a really exciting way. They’re not drawing the same distinctions that once existed. For them, design isn’t separate from broader cultural conversations around art—it’s all part of the same dialogue.”
This new generation of collectors is looking to define their environments in more personal, meaningful ways. “It’s not just about aesthetics—it might be a single detail or object—but about surrounding themselves with stories and significance,” Olshin clarified. That shift has also changed who the buyers are. They’re no longer from a single social stratum or traditional collecting circles. Architects and interior designers now find themselves in closer dialogue with increasingly international, hands-on clients. “They’re interpreting the ethos of their clients—their values, daily lives, habits and aspirations. It’s about translating those stories on a deeper, more integrated level.”
Installation View: FormaFantasma’s “Formation” at Friedman Benda, New York. Courtesy of Friedman Benda and Formafantasma. Photo: Izzy Leung
If there’s one common thread among today’s collectors, it’s a desire to live with design—intentionally and fully. “They’re not just acquiring objects to display in a corner; they’re integrating design into their daily lives in meaningful ways,” Olshin said. “It’s about creating environments that reflect how they live, think and feel.”
We’re also seeing notable geographic shifts beyond a handful of major centers. “Even in the U.S., we’re seeing collectors engage with cutting-edge work from regions that didn’t have a strong design presence in the past,” she said. “Whereas before they may have traveled to New York to experience it, now they’re building collections in their own communities.” Museums are starting to reflect this expanded interest as well. Some institutions have long been ahead of the curve, while others are now adapting to meet their audiences’ growing appetite for design. “There are curators who have been championing this for years and others who are now taking cues from their patrons, local communities, or academic circles.”
At the same time, the perspective has become truly global in terms of makers and collectors. “We used to talk about the U.S. market versus international markets, but now the gaze is much broader,” Olshin added. “It’s being driven partly by institutional collecting and design initiatives in places like Australia, the Middle East and Asia.”
“Summer By Design 2025” at Carpenters Workshop Gallery in Paris. Photo: Benjamin Baccarani
“The collector base has indeed grown and diversified over the years,” confirmed Cyrelle Herve, director of Carpenters Workshop in Paris, when Observer asked her to speak on the pulse of the market. “We naturally work with contemporary art collectors. We also engage with enthusiasts of vintage design and even more classical pieces. We particularly enjoy seeing our artists’ works interact with other styles, creating a sense of harmony and aesthetic balance.”
Founded in 2006 in a former carpenter’s workshop in London’s Chelsea, the gallery has since expanded globally, with locations in London (Mayfair), Paris (Le Marais), New York and Los Angeles. With a research-driven curatorial approach that remains attuned to both emerging talent and evolving trends in limited-edition functional sculpture and collectible design, the gallery now boasts a prestigious roster of artists, including Maarten Baas, Wendell Castle, Ingrid Donat, Studio Drift, Rick Owens and Antonio de Cotiis, among others.
Since the gallery’s founding, the design-art segment has undergone a remarkable transformation, Hervé reflects. “Just 15 to 20 years ago, it was still considered a niche market. Today, it holds a prominent place on the international art scene, and its market has evolved rapidly.” A visit to Design Miami or Art Basel’s Paris fair makes this shift palpable: the growing hybridization between art and design has fueled fluid collaborations across disciplines, resulting in exclusive, editioned works that blur the line between functional object and collectible sculpture.
According to Hervé, there’s a growing appetite for works that merge craftsmanship with a strong conceptual or material narrative. “Limited-edition design has moved from a niche interest to a core category in contemporary collections,” she said, noting how the gallery has recently seen a broadening audience—from seasoned contemporary art collectors to new generations drawn to tactile materials, storytelling and the individuality of each piece. “The act of collecting is no longer driven solely by function or decoration, but by a desire for meaningful, enduring works with cultural or sculptural depth. Buyers are more informed now—often researching materials, processes and the artist’s intent before purchasing.” At the same time, Carpenters Workshop is seeing increased demand for commissioned and site-specific pieces. Clients today prioritize sustainability, provenance and innovation as much as aesthetics.
Carpenters Workshop Gallery Paris showcases historic and contemporary works united by aesthetic associations. Photo: Benjamin Baccarani
Regarding trends, Hervé has seen a renewed interest in Brutalism and materiality, alongside a consistent appetite for statement pieces by established names such as Ingrid Donat, Vincenzo De Cotiis and Wendell Castle. Organic design is also on the rise, with artists like Najla El Zein and Wonmin Park gaining traction. At the same time, designers blending technology and form—such as Studio Drift and Random International—are increasingly in demand.
Asked about what she hopes to see next, Hervé is clear: “I would like the next trend to focus on narrative and sociopolitical engagement—pieces that address the environment, identity, gender, memory or decolonization.” She confirmed that the market in Paris—and more broadly in France—has grown significantly in recent years. “We work closely with many interior architects, who play a key role in promoting design art.” While the market remains sensitive to political and geopolitical shifts, which can introduce unpredictability, she notes that the market has been consistently dynamic and expansive in the United States, both on the B2B and B2C fronts. Still, she added, the French approach tends to be more measured and reflective. “More broadly, across all our markets, collecting is often guided by an intellectual process—an interest in the history of forms, the artist’s gesture and the meaning embedded in each piece. Our role goes far beyond simply presenting the work; we’re here to accompany, inform and at times, help educate the collector’s eye.”
The market for design is strongest in Europe. Artnet
According to 2024 data from the Artnet Intelligence Report published in March, sales in the decorative-art category—which in their analysis includes both design objects and furniture but also jewelry, watches and other collectibles—dropped nearly 42 percent year on year, netting $3.3 billion, the lowest total in a decade. In terms of geographical distribution, the market for the category at auction is much stronger in Europe ($1.3 billion in sales) and Asia ($1 billion), while North America maintains a third position for decorative art, generating just over $898 million.
The rise of fairs dedicated to Design
Meanwhile, new fairs are focusing on meeting the growing demand for collectible design. While Design Miami canceled its Basel edition, it has swiftly cemented its presence in Paris, becoming one of the most highly attended events during Art Basel Paris week. Its Miami Beach flagship returns for its 21st edition this December, curated by Glenn Adamson, and for the first time, Design Miami is also pushing into Asia with a curated exhibition in Seoul, timed to coincide with the city’s art week and tapping into the region’s booming market. Titled “Illuminated: A Spotlight on Korean Design,” the show (which is part of Design Miami’s new In Situ series) will be curated by Hyeyoung Cho, chairperson of the Korea Association of Art & Design, in collaboration with the Seoul Design Foundation. It will feature over 170 works—from furniture to lighting to objets d’art—exploring the convergence of traditional Korean craftsmanship and contemporary innovation.
This September, The Armory Show will debut a new design-focused section, Function, that explores how artists blur the lines between art and design. Beyond the curatorial intent to expand definitions, the initiative is also a strategic play to attract a broader cohort of aesthetically minded collectors. “The more entry points we can offer different types of audiences, the better,” fair director Kyla McMillan told Observer.
That same week, COLLECTIBLE returns to New York for its second edition, expanding its footprint and exhibitor roster after a successful debut at the new WSA 2 building. Long established in Belgium as the only fair devoted exclusively to 21st-century design, COLLECTIBLE’s New York edition could fill a persistent void in the U.S. market for dedicated contemporary design fairs.
The FASHION section at COLLECTIBLE New York in 2024. Photo: Simon Leung
COLLECTIBLE distinguishes itself with a fluid, non-traditional format that prioritizes aesthetic experience over discrete objects with immersive presentations such as Vignette, a section inviting interior designers to stage fully realized environments, creating compelling conversations between contemporary and vintage works. “Vignette will explore the conversation between collectible and interior design,” said interior designer Michael Hila, who curates the section, in a statement. “Each Vignette becomes a curated mise-en-scène—a sort of ‘store window’—where contemporary works are paired with vintage or antique pieces to express a personal design ethos. While the spaces might be small, the ideas will be boundless.” Combining curatorial rigor with a spirit of experimentation, COLLECTIBLE also keeps an eye on the future of design through New Gaarde, a platform dedicated to pioneering emerging studios founded within the past three years.
“What was once a critically engaged field has in recent years gained momentum,” Liv Vaisberg, who founded the fair with Clélie Debehault in 2018, told Observer. “We have seen a marked acceleration: more galleries dedicated to contemporary collectible design, a growing base of committed collectors, increasing institutional interest and deeper media coverage. While the market remains selective in scale, its cultural relevance has expanded significantly—shifting from the margins to a more prominent, discerning place within the broader design landscape.”
COLLECTIBLE recently announced its first-ever Hong Kong edition—the fair is venturing into the Asian market with an event scheduled for December and supported by the Hong Kong Government’s CCIDA. Curated by co-founders Clélie Debehault and Liv Vaisberg, with scenography by Ann Chan (Hero Design), the show will be part of Design Factory, a new international platform presented by Maison&Objet in Hong Kong.
Luxury-branded design holds the furniture market
It’s important to note that the data and analysis above mainly refer to the art and collectible side of the design market, which consists of exclusive collaborations, special editions and artist collaborations that distinguish it from the broader design and furniture industry. However, even when considering the industry as a whole, the global furniture market showed consistent growth in 2024. According to Future Business Insights, it was valued at $568.6 billion and is projected to reach $878.14 billion by 2032, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.65 percent. Asia Pacific led the market in 2024 with a commanding 48.68 percent share, underscoring the region’s manufacturing dominance and rising consumer demand. In the United States, the market is expected to reach $130.24 billion by 2032, driven by strong housing sales and growing demand for innovative, design-forward furniture.
The luxury segment remains a leader. According to Technavio, the Global Luxury Furniture Market is expected to grow by $9.54 billion from 2024 to 2028, driven by the increase in the number of luxury furniture showrooms and a demand for more eco-friendly, high-quality craftsmanship.
The market is holding up across different geographies, according to Marcello Lucchetta, a vice president of sales at Luxury Living Group. “It was certainly not the best year, but it has remained stable thanks to a specific and important factor: the world of branded real estate developments,” he said, referring to branded hotels, such as Bentley Residences, Dolce & Gabbana Residences and the Fendi Condo Residences.
At this year’s Milan Design Week, Dolce & Gabbana unveiled the new Verde Maiolica homeware line, its first-ever collection of bed linens, new Gotham furniture and its latest outdoor collection, Saint Jean, created in collaboration with Luxury Living Group. Dolce & Gabbana
And that segment is especially relevant in certain regions, Lucchetta adds, noting the growing presence of so-called “soft luxury” brands—those that aren’t overly loud—doing exceptionally well, like Fendi, automotive names like Bentley and Bugatti and fashion brands like Armani, Versace and Dolce & Gabbana, which continues to show strong interest.
According to Lucchetta, the number of residential and hospitality developments tied to a brand and/or featuring branded interiors is growing, particularly in North America, extending beyond Miami. “Previously, most of the activity was centered in Miami, which now feels somewhat saturated, but the market is expanding across the U.S. and North America more broadly,” he said. “Compared to last year, the numbers are roughly the same, but there’s more uncertainty now, mainly due to tariffs and what could be described as trade wars or customs duty conflicts.” As for retail, it’s a different story—the market is weak for other products. “I think that’s a trend we’re seeing across various sectors, not just luxury.”
Isa Lorenzo and Rachel Rillo at Silverlens Manila. Photo by Joseph Pascual. Courtesy of Silverlens (Manila/New York).
While the Philippines might not yet be considered one of the leading centers in the art world, the country has a vibrant and healthy art scene and market. The local art system already presents a mature structure, with long-established galleries and auction houses and regional artists with lengthy waiting lists commanding high prices.
According to most of the Filipino collectors we spoke with, the art scene in the Philippines dates back to even before WWII, despite at the time mainly focusing on memorabilia, religious art and the Philippines’ Masters. When discussing the pre-war era, people mention Roman Ongpin, a Chinese-Filipino businessman and philanthropist who established El 82 in 1882 in Binondo, Manila. The space was originally an art supply shop but later became a significant cultural and social hub, supporting Filipino artists and the Philippine Revolution when Alfonso Ongpin, his son, transformed it into a gallery that showcased important Filipino artworks.
The Filipino art market is very healthy and appears to be continuously growing. Exhibitions in Manila are often sold out, to the point that most galleries and artists don’t technically need to circulate their work elsewhere. The Philippines now has its own art fair, Art Fair Philippines in February, which was founded in 2013 by Lisa Periquet, Dindin Araneta and Trickie Lopa—passionate art enthusiasts and advocates for the Philippine art scene.
Since its beginning, the founder of the gallery Silverlens wanted to do things differently, applying an international gallery business model and aiming to bring Filipino artists abroad. We met with founder Isa Lorenzo, and co-director Rachel Rillo to learn more about their story and the Filipino art system in general.
“Causal Loops” at Silverlens Manila. Courtesy of Silverlens (Manila/New York).
The gallery’s Manila headquarters are in an industrial building in Makati, a financial center and one of the wealthiest parts of the metro city. There are other art galleries nearby, though this isn’t yet what you could rightly call an arts district.
The gallery has a large open space upstairs, meaning they can host two exhibitions simultaneously. When we visited, it was during the last days of a show by Filipino artist Bernardo Pacquing, who, with a similar approach to Arte Povera and Art Informel, mixes found objects to conceive new abstractions dense with memory while playing with notions of “ugly” and “messy.” The artist is quite popular in the Philippines, although he has rarely been shown abroad. In the other room, they had a show of a younger artist, Dina Gadia, who, applying the strategy of Pop art’s burst brushwork and acrylic washes over printing ink, works on the images of school books Americans brought to the Philippines during the occupation, problematizing the imagination created during this time.
In Manila, we met with Rillo, who, after showing us around, invited us to sit at a large round table in the office. She told us that the gallery was founded in Manila in 2004 by Lorenzo, and then she joined in 2007 as co-director. Initially, the gallery focused on photography, then expanded to other media with time and the market evolving. More importantly, since their start, they had the ambition to be an international gallery, able to promote artists from the Philippines and the broader South Asia region to the global contemporary art world.
Rillo recalled that other galleries criticized their model, not understanding why they decided to have a bigger staff and space and participate in the international fairs. Most can easily survive and even do very well just by tapping into the local market, and so other Filipino galleries tend to avoid international fairs as they don’t see the need to invest money in something that will most likely bring more loss than profit. But to Lorenzo, from the very beginning, it was clear that Silverlens had to play a global game.
The gallery opened an outpost in Singapore in 2010, which was open for four years, and they started participating in international fairs. In 2017, they decided to expand their space in Makati to show how they could be the local powerhouse.
According to Rillo, another factor in their stable growth has been their unique approach to the business: being artists themselves, their philosophy is artists first, and their aim is to provide the platform for creatives to build solid careers within institutional settings instead of only thinking in terms of market success. While the market is fueling the careers of many Filipino artists, it’s a short-term strategy.
The institutional interest also pushed the gallerists to consider a big move to open in New York during the pandemic. Lorenzo told Observer that, “it was during the pandemic that we noticed that international curators were interested in the region. Perhaps as a product of art travel restrictions and museum programs halting during that time, we had several conversations with institutions from the U.S., that hinted at an interest in art from our side of the continent.”
“Soft Fantasy / Hard Reality” at Silverlens New York. Courtesy of Silverlens (Manila/New York).
The challenge was significant, considering the prices in New York, but a space came to them as if by fate, Rillo recalled: “We started to ask around and explored, and decided to rely on an agent a friend suggested to us. We gave him the exact street and position where we wanted to be; we said either that or nothing. After a few days, he returned to us with an unreal offer, and the timing was right.” As sometimes happens, chances in life let things flow. After making the necessary arrangements, in 2022, the two opened in a premier position in Chelsea, at 505 on 24th Street, between Kasmin and Marianne Boesky.
The program space in Chelsea clearly shows their target is, first and foremost, institutions: this summer, they have a multimedia show curated by Lorenzo, “Hard Fantasy / Soft Reality,” featuring a group of Filipino and South Asians who stage a multifaceted and futuristic exploration of a body and identity reality that is constantly evolving today, despite the resilience of various conservative social systems that persist in parts of Southeast Asia. Video, sculptures and installation works are predominant in the exhibition, with many of the artists included already boasting institutional recognition and projects in their resumes.
When asked about feedback thus far and if they saw interest growing, Lorenzo responded that since the gallery opened in Chelsea, “interest has become more palpable, not only for art that comes from SEA but from the diaspora. The response and the energy from the Filipino-American and Asian-American community are overwhelming. So yes, there is an internationally growing audience in New York, but this is not something that just happened; it is the result of 20 years of Silverlens and 15 years of being part of several important art fairs.”
Silverlens now regularly participates in international art fairs, including the Armory Show, Art Basel Hong Kong, Art Fair Philippines and S.E.A. Focus, a more curated boutique event dedicated to South Asia art in Singapore during Art Week in January. “It’s more like a curated show or a Biennale,” Rillo explained. “I like the dialogue that this fair also creates with other colleagues in the region.” They used to do other fairs like Frieze London, but there are some regions where Filippino and South Asian art still do not resonate much with the public.
The Philippines has a complicated colonial history that connects it with Spain, of course, but also with Central and Latino America with the Galleons and later with the States for their influence during decolonization. In these geographical and intercultural exchanges, the Silverlens program can function as an essential platform to problematize and explore this history, these interconnections and the unique cultural hybridization that resulted from that.
When asked if there’s something particular in Filipino art today, compared to their Asian colleagues and their international counterparts, Lorenzo commented, “The Philippines’ complicated colonial history is ongoing. Our art history mostly starts and continues from a very European art practice/history via Spain via the Catholic church. Then, our modern and contemporary leans heavily on American postmodernism, politics and pop culture. It is in these interconnections and cultural hybridity (as you said) that make for a very dynamic art language both locally and in the diaspora.”
“Land Poetics” at Silverlens Manila. Courtesy of Silverlens (Manila/New York).
In the deeper analysis we had a chance to undertake while exploring the local art scene and talking with some of its players and patrons, what the art system in the Philippines seems to be now lacking is just a national infrastructure of public and institutional support. Surprisingly, despite the maturity of the system and the growing popularity of contemporary art here, there’s still no national museum or national collection of modern and contemporary art, except the national bank and the university galleries, which are very active. While the market for contemporary Filipino art is growing, challenges such as limited public funding for the arts and the need for more professional art management still need to be addressed.
Various private initiatives, however, are trying to compensate for this gap. One of the first was Pintô Art Museum, founded by Dr. Joven Cuanang, a neurologist and art patron, in 1988 as the first museum dedicated to contemporary Filipino art open to the public. Although the entire system relies on private endeavors, many local collectors, including regional and very established international names, are already planning to create private museums to open their collections to the public.
Meanwhile, Filipino artists are gaining growing international recognition, as we can see in the U.S. from the extensive survey MoMA Ps1 is dedicating to Pacita Abad (which showed at SFMOMA after premiering at Walker Art Center), the video work by Martha Atianza currently presented in ninety billboards in Times Square as part of the historical art program “Midnight moment,” as well as just the many names from the Philippines and the South Asian Region region that are showing this year at the Biennale.
The role of local art galleries in the Philippines like Silverlens is the key to putting the country’s contemporary art onto the world stage—participating in international fairs and bringing it to the attention of international institutions is step one. This will further validate Filipino artists’ careers and establish them within a global art history narrative when the national scene is still struggling to find public support.
