A change of perspective through art
This year’s art fair in Cologne can impress with international stars, up-and-coming talents and an extraordinary exhibition on art trading between the two German states.
From 5 to 8 November 2026, Cologne will serve as a meeting place for the international art scene. At the 59th ART COLOGNE, 165 galleries and art dealers will be presenting works ranging from the classical modernism through to contemporary art. The fair is among the world’s longest-standing art fairs. It is considered the oldest art fair of its kind that is being held to this day, and has played a considerable role in shaping the international art market since it was first established in 1967.
From Liebermann through to present-day artists
Galleries from Milan, Budapest, Copenhagen, Amsterdam and London will be showcasing the great diversity of the international art scene, with works on display ranging from classic positions of modernism through to experimental contemporary art. The 203 Fine Art gallery from New Mexico will be showing American art including works by Lee Mullican who was inspired by folk art. Lee Ufan from South Korea is a renowned minimalist artist, while Hermann Nitsch is a pioneer of radical performance art. Artists such as Zhanna Kadyrova, Julius von Bismarck and Sophia Süßmilch are addressing social and political issues in their work.
The forms of artistic expression are just as diverse, ranging from painting and photography via sculpture through to video and performance art. Among the highlights of the fair will be works by Larry Bell, a representative of the Light and Space movement, as well as by the feminist sculptor Lynda Benglis (pictured), who experiments with wax, latex and metal. The Bastian gallery from Berlin will be showing the painting The Kitchen Garden in Wannsee by the German impressionist artist Max Liebermann.
The art stars of the future
In the New Positions section of the art fair, galleries will be showcasing works by 18 up-and-coming artists. Dior Thiam is working with colonial photography from Ethiopia, Patrick Walsh creates sculptures from rubbish and cigarette ends, Katja Tönnissen explores the female body. The focus of these artists’ work is on issues such as identity, remembrance and migration.
The professional association of art experts, whose 50 experts provide advice in the areas of art valuation, assessments and inheritance, will be represented for the first time.
More than an art market place
The supporting programme of ART COLOGNE includes a special exhibition about art trading between the GDR and the Federal Republic of Germany. One of the highlights will be the mirror room by the 90-year-old artist Christian Megert that will be reconstructed by the Diekering gallery from Zurich. The installation, in which mirrors on the ceiling and the floor are used to create a sense of infinitude, had been previously shown at the 1968 documenta art fair.
Art Cologne is an important platform for international art trade: it is an opportunity for galleries to present their artists, attract new collectors and get in touch with museums and other art market players. However, ART COLOGNE aims to be more than a trading platform. Its Director Daniel Hug believes that personal exchange is also an important aspect of the fair: “Art fairs and museums are the last places left where you can meet people who do not look at their phones all the time.”
