“All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” Leo Tolstoy’s famous opening line from Anna Karenina has long been borrowed beyond literature to explain why complex systems fail. Success, the thinking goes, requires every part to work in harmony. Failure, on the other hand, needs only one weak link. Over the past year, as the global art market wobbled, many gallery owners found themselves confronting that truth firsthand.
The result has been a Wave of Gallery Closures that has rippled across cities once considered unshakeable art capitals. While each shuttered space has its own story, the broader pattern is difficult to ignore. When the numbers point to a contracting market, it becomes clear that many galleries are facing the same core problem: relentless overhead costs paired with slowing sales. Rent, staffing, shipping, and fair participation continue to rise, while buyer confidence has proved far more fragile.
Are the Headlines Too Grim?
Not everyone agrees that the situation is as dire as it appears. Some critics have pushed back against what they see as overly pessimistic coverage. Earlier this year, ARTnews editor Alex Greenberger highlighted the arrival of several small, new galleries, noting that entrepreneurial energy still exists in the market. Established galleries, too, have continued to expand selectively, opening new locations or testing fresh formats.
There have also been moments of optimism. Since Art Basel Paris, sentiment has noticeably improved, and November’s marquee New York auctions generated roughly $2.2 billion in sales. For many observers, those figures suggested that collectors were regaining confidence, at least at the very top end of the market.
Yet for galleries on the ground, optimism has often been outweighed by reality. Even amid headline-grabbing auction totals, the prevailing mood has leaned more toward endings than beginnings. And this wasn’t an isolated moment—it built on a steady drumbeat of closures stretching back several years.
Endings That Keep Adding Up
The Wave of Gallery Closures in 2025 did not emerge in a vacuum. Those who downsized or shut their doors this year joined a growing list of spaces that had already disappeared in recent memory. Some insiders argue this is simply the art ecosystem correcting itself. Miami dealer Frederic Snitzer recently described it as “a healthy, natural thinning of the herd in terms of quality.”
Still, the sheer frequency of closures has been striking enough that Artnet News recently published a practical—and sobering—guide titled “How to Close Your Gallery.” When an industry begins offering instructions for exit strategies, it signals a shift that goes beyond normal cycles.
A Year Marked by High-Profile Closures
Many of the most notable announcements arrived in the second half of the year. In July, Tim Blum surprised the art world by revealing plans to “sunset” his influential gallery, which had operated in Los Angeles and Tokyo and was preparing a New York outpost. His decision came with a promise to pursue a new model rather than simply walk away.
Just a week later, collector Adam Lindemann closed Venus Over Manhattan after 14 years, bluntly stating that it was time “to wave the white flag.” Around the same time, Swiss powerhouse Hauser & Wirth struck a contrasting note, announcing plans for a new Palo Alto location set to open in 2026—ironically in a city where Pace had closed a space just a few years earlier.
As Thanksgiving neared, more long-standing institutions fell. New York’s Sperone Westwater revealed it would close after 50 years, amid a legal dispute between its founders. Stephen Friedman announced the closure of his Manhattan gallery less than three years after opening. Across the Atlantic, London’s Project Native Informant and Munich’s Nir Altman also called it quits.
Flickers of Expansion Amid the Gloom
Despite the prevailing sense of contraction, there were moments of expansion that hinted at resilience. Artnet reported that New York dealer Alexander Shulan and art advisor Ralph DeLuca would launch Lomex Las Vegas, transforming a ranch-style home into a gallery space in Sin City. It was a reminder that while traditional hubs struggle, new geographies and formats continue to attract risk-takers.
December brought mixed news as well. Paris-based High Art announced it would close its physical location, while South Africa’s Stevenson Gallery said it would shut its Johannesburg space after 17 years, continuing operations in Cape Town and Amsterdam. On a brighter note, Hauser & Wirth acquired a historic palazzo in Sicily, planning to open a new gallery there by 2030. Meanwhile, Pace, Di Donna, and David Schrader revealed a new partnership set to take shape in the spring.
An Industry at a Crossroads
Taken together, these developments paint a complex picture. The Wave of Gallery Closures reflects real financial strain, but it also underscores a period of transition. Traditional gallery models are being questioned, geographic priorities are shifting, and survival increasingly depends on adaptability as much as reputation.
Whether this moment proves to be a painful correction or the beginning of a more sustainable future remains to be seen. What is clear, however, is that the art world is learning—much like Tolstoy’s unhappy families—that it only takes one missing piece for even the most established structures to come undone.
So—what does it all mean? At least one market insider warns against giving in to pessimism.
“Closures tell different stories,” said Kinsey Robb, executive director of the Art Dealers Association of America (ADAA), in a phone interview. ADAA represents over 200 member galleries in nearly 40 U.S. cities and runs an annual New York art fair. “Some reflect exhaustion or high overhead or a shifting business model but then you have others, we really should acknowledge, that are part of a natural generational turnover, as we’re in a field where many galleries are owner-run small businesses.
“I think this period has looked difficult for some, but I don’t see it as a collapse for the market but rather as a moment of transition,” she said. “2025 has felt dramatic as a whole year, not just in the art world. I try to keep that perspective.”
Robb pushed back on some of the reporting, resorting to a common expression: “It’s not all doom and gloom,” she said, “but more a cautious, more selective, smarter, more flexible art market.”