COLOGNE, GERMANY – November 1, 2026 – The 59th ART COLOGNE runs from November 5 to 8, 2026, and Art Director Daniel Hug has shared a first look at what art lovers can expect in Cologne. The fair is again organised into four segments, GALLERIES, NEUMARKT, COLLABORATIONS and ART + OBJECT, with 165 participating galleries and art dealers. Several well-known names are returning, and newcomers arrive from across Europe and the United States. For visitors, it is a chance to discover art in person, meet galleries face to face, and see a market that Hug describes as stabilising.
Four Segments and Familiar Faces Returning
The GALLERIES segment covers art of the 20th and 21st centuries, and Hug is pleased that several important galleries have come back. Mennour from Paris returns with Lee Ufan, who receives the Wolfgang Hahn Prize this year, which Hug calls quite a major highlight. Nino Mier, who runs galleries in New York City and Brussels, is taking part for the first time since before the pandemic. He will show Stefan Rinck, a German stone sculptor whose work Hug describes as very idiosyncratic and humorous.
Newcomers are international. Pelaires comes from Palma, Wentrup from Berlin, acb Gallery from Budapest and Eduardo Secci Gallery from Milan, while Bärbel Grässlin returns. Hug also singles out 203 Fine Art from New Mexico, which brings art from the American Southwest, including works by Lee Mullican, Larry Bell and 84-year-old sculptor Lynda Benglis. Benglis is known for unconventional materials such as wax, latex, polyurethane and metal. On the modern side, Galerie Bastian from Berlin shows Max Liebermann's painting "Nutzgarten am Wannsee" (The Kitchen Garden in Wannsee).
Newcomers and Shared Stands Add Fresh Energy
NEUMARKT, the section for current art, has around 35 galleries, and several are first-time participants. They include Bonamatic from Copenhagen, COMMUNE from Vienna, Diez from Amsterdam, Anna Helwing from Zurich, Kogo from Estonia and Niso from London. Hug also highlights OSMOS from New York City, which began as a magazine shop before becoming a gallery run by Cay Sophie Rabinowitz. The young gallery eiklid / rusten from Oslo had its first fair at ART COLOGNE PALMA MALLORCA in April 2026, and now joins the main event in Cologne.
COLLABORATIONS has 30 participants this year, and the format works for a simple reason: when several galleries share a stand, costs are lower and they can take greater risks. Thomas Brambilla from Bergamo and Dep Art Gallery from Milan show the late artist Salvo (1947–2015), whose rare works Hug sees as a forerunner of the successful young Swiss artist Nicolas Party. ZAHORIAN & VAN ESPEN from Bratislava team up with GALLERIA CONTINUA from Havanna to present Ukrainian artist Zhanna Kadyrova, who was represented at the Venice Biennale. In ART + OBJECT, returning names such as 10 A.M. from Milan and goldsmith Georg Hornemann are joined by new participants including the Cologne design dealer Gusch and Galerie Derda from Berlin, which shows Oskar Schlemmer, Adolf Fleischmann and Sophie Taeuber-Arp.
Special Exhibitions, Talks and a Museum Night Link
Beyond the stands, the programme gives the fair a wider frame. Landesbank Baden-Württemberg (LBBW) presents "What moves us – art as a mirror of the times," while the Central Archive for German and International Art Market Studies (ZADIK) looks at the art trade between the GDR and FRG from 1945 to 1990. Three focus projects curated by exhibiting galleries centre on Eva Lootz, Christian Megert and Hermann Nitsch. Dierking from Zurich is reconstructing Megert's mirrored room from documenta 1968 within 25 square metres of its stand, with mirrors on the ceiling and floor for an infinity effect.
The talks programme, organised by TEXTE ZUR KUNST, turns to Cologne in the 1990s. A tie-in with the Kölner Museumsnacht adds a city-wide angle: on Saturday, Museumsnacht ticket holders can visit ART COLOGNE from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m., and ART COLOGNE ticket holders can enter the entire Museumsnacht that evening. Two satellite fairs, "Neu Cöln" in the former Dominican monastery on Lindenstraße and "Prospect Cologne" with 18 exhibitors, extend the art week further. The NEW POSITIONS sponsorship programme, running since 1980, gives 18 young artists a 25-square-metre special area next to their galleries' stands.
A Cautious Market and Collectors Who Buy for Love
Hug is candid about the economy. The market is still difficult but still going, at a lower level, and sales at ART COLOGNE last year were mainly in the five and six-digit range. He reads the many returning exhibitors, including the young Cologne gallery Clementin Seedorf, as a good sign, and says few galleries in the Rhineland have closed while a few new ones have opened. Around a third of galleries have booked fewer square metres, a trend that began a few years ago and that Hug says reflects the market.
For visitors, smaller stands may mean a more focused look at each gallery's selection. Asked whether he still trusts the Rhenish collectors and those from the Benelux countries, Hug answered with a line that sums up the fair's mood:
People here buy out of a love of art, not to speculate.
He also stresses the human side of the event, saying selling art is only one element of the gathering:
Art fairs and museums are the last places where people meet and don't just look at their cell phones.
Looking ahead, ART COLOGNE celebrates its 60th anniversary in 2027, when it moves into the new Confex and Hall 1. Hug describes the venue as having daylight, state-of-the-art technology, no columns and a view of the cathedral. That is worth watching if you plan to make the fair a regular date.
Mini FAQ: Planning Your ART COLOGNE Visit
Q: When does ART COLOGNE 2026 take place?
A: The 59th edition runs from November 5 to 8, 2026.
Q: How big is the fair this year?
A: 165 galleries and art dealers take part, matching the number of the previous year.
Q: Can I combine ART COLOGNE with the Kölner Museumsnacht?
A: Yes. On Saturday, Museumsnacht ticket holders can visit ART COLOGNE from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m., and ART COLOGNE ticket holders can access the entire Museumsnacht that evening, with 13 museums and numerous pop-up culture locations.
Q: What is planned for 2027?
A: ART COLOGNE celebrates its 60th anniversary and moves into the new Confex and Hall 1.
Art fans planning a visit this autumn can find the full exhibitor programme and visitor details on the official website at artcologne.