2020 Art World Predictions

I wasn’t going to write them, but you asked for them – even though my predictions from last year were pretty accurate. Here is a general overview of what I see happening in 2020 in the art world.

More figurative art:

In the past four years we saw an increase of figurative works, particularly from very talented young women artists.  Figuration responds to the times, and we are in turbulent times where art presents both a mirror and a hopeful outlook into the future.  Female empowerment has been a constant topic, as a response to structures of power, patriarchal systems and oppression.  I do not, unfortunately, see a change of government happening in the US in November, but as a figurative lover, I am excited to discover and support men and women artists who deal with these struggles with grace, humor, beauty and expansive ideas.  

More activist art:

Art is political, it is always the expression of human beings who respond to external circumstances.  In the past four years there has been more activist art in this country than in the past one hundred.  Given my prediction about November, this type of art isn’t going anywhere.  It will only proliferate.

The race for the estates of unknown artists:

As the inventory of modern art becomes more and more depleted, medium-size and big galleries have to either start representing quasi-unknown artists who are of quite an advanced age and somehow elevate and pump obscure careers that nobody really knows about, or try to land the representation of a deceased artist, i.e., the estate, even if that artist had a less-than-stellar career.  As my gallerist friends say: it is always easier to work with a dead artist than a living one.

Consign anything at the auction house:

Also, as a consequence of depleted inventories, particularly for old masters and modern art, auction houses are carving out space for other categories: aboriginal art, African masks, outsider art, unknown artists, branded sales, artist-driven-direct-to-collector sales, you name it.  Anything that can be photographed and described with fancy words in a catalogue, either online or in print, will be auction-worthy.

The Gallery-Cum-Museum:

Big galleries are investing in rather large buildings, and to fill up those buildings and rotate shows every eight weeks or so, they need historical art shows too.  And a lot of the times, these galleries have a hell of a lot more power than museums and can get anything they want on loan.  These mega-galleries will now be competing with museums for attendance, and guess what? The galleries are free to visit, and many museums are not.

Happy 2020! Leave your own predictions on my Instagram account comments section, so I can read them ASAP!