2026 will be an eventful year for the art world. From the long-awaited arrivals of LACMA’s new campus and the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi to major moments like the Venice Biennale, the Whitney Biennial, and Art Basel’s expansion into Qatar, the calendar is already filled with defining milestones. At the same time, collectors are watching emerging artists and new technologies reshape how they see and acquire art. Artsy spoke with 12 leading collectors about the exhibitions, artists, and trends they’re most excited to follow in 2026.
Mitra Murthy
Banker, J.P. Morgan
Houston
Fable, 2018
Terrell James
Josh Pazda Hiram Butler
“One of the most compelling trajectories to watch in 2026 is the re-centering of women artists within historically male-dominated visual and architectural canons,” said Houston-based collector Mitra Murthy. “As [I’m] a student of Gothic architecture, Claire Tabouret’s stained-glass commission for Notre-Dame de Paris—with maquettes on view at the Grand Palais—felt especially resonant. This momentum is echoed institutionally in the [Museum of Fine Arts, Houston]’s landmark 2026 exhibition on Frida Kahlo.” Frida: The Making of an Icon opens on January 19th and explores the trajectory of the artist’s fame.
Murthy emphasized that 2026 will bring increased exposure for South Asian artists, particularly for the Pakistani American painter Hiba Schahbaz. The collector also praised Los Angeles–gallerist Rajiv Menon’s program as one of her favorites (Menon himself is a major collector of South Asian art).
Murthy is looking closer to home, too: After last year’s inaugural edition of Untitled Art, Houston, she “would be remiss not to say the city will continue to edge its way onto the art world’s main stage.” She expects local artists such as Terrell James and Jasmine Zelaya to continue earning national acclaim.
Sean Green
Founder, ARTERNAL
Los Angeles
Japonica Round Neck, 2023
Amoako Boafo
Roberts Projects
“I’m looking forward to the Amoako Boafo opening at Roberts Projects in L.A. on January 17th,” Sean Green, founder of art and technology company ARTERNAL, told Artsy. “I’m a fan of how he celebrates Blackness and its diverse subjectivities.” Green also looks forward to seeing some 80 works from The Eileen Harris Norton Collection installed at Hauser & Wirth in downtown Los Angeles on February 24th. He is particularly excited to see pieces by Kerry James Marshall, Mark Bradford, Betye Saar, Lorna Simpson, and Glenn Ligon.
As a collector and head of one of the art world’s most influential software purveyors, Green is thinking deeply about new technology. “AI empowers galleries to better serve collectors,” he said. “I know the frustrations during the buying process too well—you’re ready to acquire an artwork, but wait days for shipping quotes or artwork availability.” He argued that AI is finally becoming a practical tool inside galleries, hopefully shifting human attention back towards relationships and sales.
Patrick Sun
Founder, Sunpride Foundation
Hong Kong
Patrick Sun, founder of the LGBTQ+ rights nonprofit Sunpride Foundation, told Artsy that 2026 will herald a “transformative year for Asian art.” He highlighted Singaporean artist Ming Wong’s forthcoming exhibition at London’s National Gallery, the museum’s first solo show by a Southeast Asian artist. Meanwhile, he noted that Seoul’s Art Sonje Center will launch South Korea’s first major institutional queer art survey, featuring rising stars including Young-Jun Tak, Ayoung Kim, siren eun young jung, and Haneyl Choi. Lastly, he anticipates a surplus of LGBTQ+ artists and queer themes at the 61st Venice Biennale at the national pavilions of Japan and the Philippines in particular.
Aleksandra Artamonovskaja
Head of arts, Trilitech
London
Aleksandra Artamonovskaja, the head of arts for blockchain technology company Trilitech, is well-positioned to predict what’s next for digital-savvy collectors.
“In 2026, the art market will continue to broaden at accessible price points while being reshaped by a generational shift in collecting behavior,” the London-based collector said. “New collectors are driving demand across categories, prioritizing experimentation, narrative, and cross-disciplinary practices over rigid medium hierarchies. That’s why digital art is particularly well placed for growth.”
Artamonovskaja believes that museums are prioritizing exhibition strategies that entice younger generations. “This year, I’m excited by exhibitions integrating technology alongside performance, moving image, and conceptual art,” she said. Artamonovskaja highlighted the Museum of the Moving Image’s ongoing program with the Swiss nonprofit Tezos Foundation (Trilitech is built on the Tezos blockchain). This year, the institution will tap artists including Swedish artist Jonas Lund, Berlin-based Sarah Friend, and Canadian artist Rhea Myers, to experiment with blockchain technology as a creative medium.
Alan Lo
Investor
Hong Kong
La Pluie Printemps de Pékin, 1984
Li Shuang
Galerie Vazieux
Hong Kong–based collector Alan Lo told Artsy that he believes that collectors and institutions are increasingly adopting international outlooks. The shows he’s most looking forward to include a group exhibition at Hauser & Wirth in February, curated by American artist Josh Kline and Korean artist Anicka Yi, as well as Chinese artist Shuang Li’s solo show at Kunsthalle Basel this June.
When it comes to fairs, Lo suggests paying close attention to smaller yet more considered events, particularly Japan’s community-focused Art Collaboration Kyoto. “We also continue to see activation around East Asia and Southeast Asia, with new fairs, collector-driven projects, and museums popping up in Taipei, Bangkok, Singapore, as well as Manila,” he said. During Singapore Art Week, January 22nd to 31st, the city will host the Singapore Biennale, the Art SG fair, and an exhibition at the Wan Hai Hotel. Art Fair Philippines 2026 will take place at its new venue, the Circuit Corporate Center One, from February 6th to 8th, while the Bangkok Biennale returns on October 29th.
Pete Scantland
CEO, Orange Barrel Media
Columbus, Ohio
Ohio-based collector Pete Scantland believes that museums will prioritize access in 2026. For years, admission fees have made museums into exclusionary spaces, even as they claim a public mission. That’s beginning to change. Institutions like the Whitney Museum of American Art and MoMA PS1 have announced new free-access programs, following earlier moves by MOCA Los Angeles and the Columbus Museum of Art, whose free Sundays help its audience better reflect the city it serves. “At a moment when museums are being asked to justify their relevance and impact, removing financial barriers is one of the most direct and powerful ways to reaffirm their roles as civic institutions,” Scantland said.
Scantland also points to major museum milestones ahead, including the openings of the New Museum’s expansion (March 21st) and LACMA’s new campus (April). He’s also looking forward to the Whitney Biennial (opening March 8th), “Greater New York” at MoMA PS1 (April 16th), and the Venice Biennale (May 9th), as well as shows by Carol Bove at the Guggenheim (March 5th), Raphael at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (March 29th), and Marcel Duchamp at MoMA (April 12th). Another highlight will be Tavares Strachan’s “The Day Tomorrow Began” (May 16th), which will travel to Columbus from LACMA alongside Strachan’s Bar Room (2022–present), a fully functioning rum bar in the museum: according to Scantland, “the best place to get a drink in town.”
Alia Al-Senussi
Cultural strategist
London
London-based collector Alia Al-Senussi told Artsy that “in these dark (and weird) times,” her experiences in the art world have brought her a calming sense of community. This year, Al-Senussi will continue to seek emotional and cultural recalibration in both historic centers and emerging hubs around the globe.
For instance, Al-Senussi visited Uzbekistan for the first time last fall to experience the Bukhara Biennial, which activated the rich history of this ancient city. She believes that experiencing historical civilizations with fresh eyes is a crucial experience for art world denizens. Al-Senussi expects Art Basel Qatar (February 5th–7th) to offer such pleasures in 2026, with the international art world coming together “to learn (and collect) artists from the Arab world and beyond.…This will be a double whammy of fantastic art in the region as it directly follows the opening of the third edition of the Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennale,” she said.
From her base in London, Al-Senussi plans to keep returning to “Nigerian Modernism” at Tate Modern before turning her attention to LACMA’s newly opened galleries. “No list such as this would be fathomable” without Koyo Kouoh’s Venice Biennale, she added. The event will offer a critical moment to honor Kouoh’s vision and legacy following her 2025 passing. The collector is also looking toward the Middle East, where she is excited about the long-awaited Guggenheim Abu Dhabi: “a project near and dear to my heart, and one that will help with this sense of recalibration of the world, so desperately needed,” she said. As galleries across new arts districts, including Alserkal Avenue in Dubai and JAX in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, gain global visibility, she sees them as vital sites of cultural exchange.
Dylan Abruscato
Tech founder
Los Angeles
“The artist on my radar for 2026 is [London-based artist] Saskia Colwell,” collector Dylan Abruscato told Artsy. “She creates these chalk and charcoal drawings that look more like photos of marble sculptures than works on paper. The work feels Old Master, but the tone is very modern. There’s an intimacy to it, and often a sense of humor, similar to artists like John Currin and Anna Weyant. I expect her 2026 solo show with Victoria Miro in London to be the moment she breaks through, much like Weyant did a few years ago.”
“My hot take for 2026 is that it’s the year people start going to galleries again,” Abruscato said. He mentioned the buzz around closures last year and insists that the anxiety is unwarranted. Instead of a market decline, he proposes it’s simply a “changing of the guard,” in which more established galleries will step aside to make room for younger, more experimental spaces. He’s excited about a new generation of gallerists that includes Megan Mulrooney, Sea View, and Lobster Club in Los Angeles. These galleries, he said, are “rethinking the gallery to be less transactional, less intimidating, and more of a social space again.”
Dan Sallick
Founder, Subject Matter
Washington, D.C.
Zoobrücke, Köln, 1988
Andreas Gursky
Matthew Marks Gallery
Dan Sallick, founding partner of Washington, D.C.–based creative advocacy firm Subject Matter and former chairman of the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, anticipates a comeback for large-scale contemporary photography. “After years of softening prices, the medium finally feels properly valued—and ready for renewed attention,” he said. He noted that several presentations at last December’s Art Basel Miami Beach prominently featured photography. Gallery heavyweights MARUANI MERCIER GALLERY and Lehmann Maupin, for example, both brought the form into their booths.
“Collectors are poised to rediscover what the medium uniquely offers: scale, intellectual ambition, historical depth, and undeniable wall power,” he continued. “I expect renewed demand for contemporary masters like Andreas Gursky, Jeff Wall, Candida Höfer, and Wolfgang Tillmans, alongside the rise of a new, more globally diverse generation of photographers working ambitiously at scale.”
Roselyn Mathews
Chief of staff and vice president, Lucifer Lighting Company
New York
A Self Portrait Of An Artist On Narrow Street, 2020
Jammie Holmes
The End Gallery
New York–based collector Roselyn Mathews kicked off the year with a visit to American artist Jammie Holmes’s Paris studio. Mathews, vice president of the family-owned, San Antonio–based Lucifer Lighting Company, oversees the firm’s New York showroom and frequently travels between cities. In Paris, she observed how the city has begun to shape Holmes’s expressive figurative work. “I see a very vibrant future for him,” she said.
“This spring, I am especially looking forward to Marcel Duchamp’s exhibition at MoMA—his first U.S. retrospective in over 50 years,” Mathews said. “While in Paris, I saw Gerhard Richter’s painting of his wife descending a staircase, and the dialogue it creates with Duchamp’s Nude Descending a Staircase (1912) left me giddy for what’s to come.”
Purat (Chang) Osathanugrah
Chairman, Dib Bangkok
Bangkok, Thailand
Purat (Chang) Osathanugrah, the chairman of the contemporary art museum Dib Bangkok—which opened in December 2025—believes that last year’s leading trends will become more “exaggerated” in the new year.
“As the commercial hubbub grows louder for auction houses and galleries, I believe museums are being asked to play the role of a cultural constant, providing a stable foundation for engaging with audiences—both new and old,” Osathanugrah told Artsy.
He also predicts continued attention to the broader Southeast Asian cultural scene, which gained significant traction last year. “Visitor numbers across Southeast Asia rose in 2025, and the outpouring of support for…Dib Bangkok has been catalyzed by broader interest in the region. All of this leaves me hopeful that art can still slow us down, encouraging people to spend time, look again, and engage more thoughtfully in 2026,” he said.
Jennifer Gilbert
Founder, Lumana
Detroit
“From a designer-collector perspective, I see 2026 as a tipping point for when art is no longer treated as a final layer but as a core piece in commercial developments and projects,” said collector Jennifer Gilbert. “Collectors and developers are increasingly budgeting for art early and often, understanding the importance of thoughtful acquisitions and commissions. This shift is especially visible in cities outside main art hubs—like Detroit—where design, art, and real estate are deeply intertwined.”
Gilbert founded the nonprofit arts space Lumana, which will officially open in 2027 at Stanton Yards, a waterfront development in Detroit’s Little Village. This cultural corridor is being developed by the co-founders of local gallery Library Street Collective and designers Anthony & JJ Curis.
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