art karlsruhe 2026 presents a lineup of 180 galleries from 18 countries
With innovative formats and established strengths, art karlsruhe presents itself as a reliable trade fair location with prospects
With around 180 galleries from 18 countries, art karlsruhe will present artistic positions from 120 years of art history from February 5 to 8, 2026. In a challenging market environment, art karlsruhe is proving itself to be a reliable exhibition venue with prospects in the art-loving border triangle of Germany, Switzerland, and France, thanks to its innovative formats and established strengths.
From high-caliber classical modernism to concrete art, informel, and pop art to current contemporary positions, the exhibiting galleries present the spectrum of artistic perspectives in four halls—typical for art karlsruhe in a dialogical composition. While the increasing international interest is reflected in the high participation of foreign galleries, galleries that made their debut at art karlsruhe in 2025 and are returning this year confirm the conceptual orientation of the art fair – including Cosar (Düsseldorf), Mollbrinks (Uppsala, Sweden), Molski (Poznan, Poland), Taubert Contemporary (Berlin), Löhrl (Mönchengladbach), and ASPN (Leipzig).
International field of participants – new accents from Iran, the USA, Japan, Korea
Around 30% of the galleries exhibiting at art karlsruhe 2026 are traveling from neighboring countries and further afield. Represented at an art fair in Germany for the first time is the Chase Young Gallery from Boston, which has been synonymous with painting between abstraction and figuration for 35 years. Also making its debut is the Maryam Fasihi Harandi Gallery from Tehran, run by a female gallery owner, which presents contemporary Iranian art by female artists. A total of eight French galleries are participating in art karlsruhe, three of them from Paris – including Galerie Eric Mouchet. It is bringing works by Ulrike Ottinger, Ella Bergmann-Michel, and Afghan artist Kubra Khademi, who recently exhibited at the Städtische Galerie Karlsruhe. A total of six galleries are traveling from Spain, three of them from the art city of Barcelona. Also from Catalonia is the long-established Galerie Anquin's from Reus, which celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2023. Other galleries come from Austria, the Netherlands, Italy, and the United Kingdom.
The German gallery field spans the entire Federal Republic. Twenty-four galleries come from Berlin alone, including the Albrecht, Burster, Friese, AOA;87, BBA, Tammen, and Jarmuschek + Partner galleries. Hesse and the Rhineland are also strongly represented. The Maurer Gallery comes from Frankfurt, as does the Hagemeier Gallery, which focuses on German Expressionist art, New Objectivity, and the expressive realism of the lost generation. Ten galleries are traveling from Düsseldorf, including Petra Rinck, Ludorff, Voss, Benden & Ackermann, Art-Edition Fils, Schwarzer, and Bengelsträter. Cologne's gallery scene is also represented by Anja Knoess, Anke Schmidt, Martina Kaiser, Biesenbach, and other well-known names.
With Alfred Knecht, Neue Kunst Gallery, PAW, artpark Moon-Kwan, and Yvonne Hohner Contemporary, the Karlsruhe galleries are also visibly represented at the fair.
18 galleries exhibiting at art karlsruhe for the first time
With 18 new exhibitors from Germany and abroad, art karlsruhe 2026 will bring new impetus to the exhibition halls, including interesting galleries such as Oechsner (Nuremberg), Parri Blank (Stuttgart), and Philipp Anders (Leipzig). Around half of the galleries exhibiting at art karlsruhe for the first time come from abroad. These include MOB-ART studio from Luxembourg, Mario Mauroner (Salzburg, Austria), Chase Young Gallery (Boston, USA), TNB Gallery (Republic of Korea), and Ting Ting Art Space (Taipei, Taiwan). From Spain, the traditional Galería Marc Calzada (Barcelona) is making its debut. Its focus is on established Spanish artists, big names such as Chillida and Tàpies. From Bordeaux, France, the JAF Gallery completes the field of new exhibitors, representing renowned names such as Bernard Buffet, Jean Miotte, and Claude Venard. The number of newcomers is also growing nationally: represented for the first time are the ARP Galerie (Hanau), the coGALERIE (Baden-Baden), and Better go south (Stuttgart). Gallery owner Philipp Anders brings young positions and a breath of fresh air from Leipzig.
Focus on classical modernism and international names
As usual, classical modern art is well represented at art karlsruhe: works by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner are on display at the Koch (Hanover), Thole Rotermund (Hamburg), Lauth (Ludwigshafen), and WOS (Düsseldorf), while works by Erich Heckel and Max Pechstein can be seen at Galerie Rudolf Kampen (Amsterdam), among others. Works by Robert Longo are on display at Galerie Jeanne (Munich), Alex Katz can be seen at Raphael (Frankfurt am Main), Alexander Calder at Gilden's Art UK Limited (London), and Allen Jones at Michael Schwarze Fine Art (Düsseldorf). The Düsseldorf gallery Ludorff is once again presenting big names, including Christopher Lehmpfuhl, Heinz Mack, Hermann Max Pechstein, Gerhard Richter, and Andy Warhol. Among the important Spanish artists are Dalí (Rudolf, Kampen/Sylt), Miró (Gilden's Art, London; Kroken and MDA, Höganäs), Antoni Tàpies (CORTINA and Marc Calzada, Barcelona) and Jaume Plensa (e.g. Scheffel, Bad Homburg). Among the French artists, Bernard Buffet (e.g. at JAF, Bordeaux), François Morellet (Dr. Dorothea van der Koelen, Mainz), and Jean Dubuffet (CORTINA, Barcelona). German superstars such as Gerhard Richter (at Schwarzer, Düsseldorf; Art-Edition Fils, Düsseldorf) and Georg Baselitz (at ten Hoevel, Berlin; Erik Bausmann, Cologne) are prominently represented. Imi Knoebel is represented by Fetzer (Sontheim), Walter Stöhrer can be seen at LUZÀN (Berlin) and Schlichtenmaier (Stuttgart/Grafenau), and Galerie Geiger (Konstanz) presents works by artists Max Ackermann and Hans Jörg Glattfelder, among others.
The well-known Karlsruhe artist and loyal art visitor Markus Lüpertz, who will celebrate his 85th birthday in 2026, is represented by the galleries Reitz (Frankfurt am Main), WOS (Düsseldorf), and Art Affair (Regensburg) – the latter is opening a new branch in Munich in January 2026, where it will present Lüpertz's design drawings for the opera “Rheingold,” which he is staging at the Staatstheater Meiningen – including stage and costumes.
Günther Uecker is in the spotlight at Geißler-Bentler (Frankfurt am Main) and Obrist (Essen), while works by Rupprecht Geiger are on display at the Malte Uekermann Gallery (Berlin).
ZERO art is also prominently represented, not least thanks to the Samuelis Baumgarte Gallery (Bielefeld), which is showing Otto Piene's “luminous, floating compositions.”
Contemporary names dominate the scene – and the halls
Benjamin Appel (ASPN Gallery, Leipzig) and the duo Güngör & Ertekin (Anna Laudel, Istanbul) represent current international trends. Also represented by Anna Laudel is Ramazan Can from Ankara, a descendant of South Anatolian nomads, to whom the Gustav Lübcke Museum dedicated the first solo museum exhibition in Germany a year ago. Christopher Lehmpfuhl can be seen this year at KORNFELD (Berlin) and Schloß Mochental (Ehingen/Danube). Tammen (Berlin) is bringing Marion Eichmann and Dietmar Brixy to Karlsruhe. Norbert Tadeusz, Lars Teichmann, and Bernd Zimmer are represented by BRENNECKE FINE ART (Berlin), with Bernd Zimmer also represented by Fetzer (Sontheim) and Wolfgang Jahn (Munich). Traditionally influential: sculptures at art karlsruhe
Eighteen spacious sculpture areas in Halls 1, 2, and 4 underscore the role of sculpture as the signature medium of the fair. Under the exhibition title “Der andere Raum” (The Other Space), Galerie Schlichtenmaier is showing new sculptures by steel sculptor Robert Schad in its sculpture area this year, which are both heavy and seemingly floating. Names such as HA Schult (Galerie Schrade, Ehingen/Danube), Wolfgang Flad (Evelyn Drewes, Hamburg), Claudia Thorban (Schacher, Stuttgart), Bruno Feger (Barbara von Stechow, Frankfurt am Main), and Stefan Rohrer and Bernar Venet (Scheffel, Bad Homburg) are also attracting attention. G'3 Production is traveling from Paris to show sculptures by Belgian artist Martin Hollebecq, who works with marble, granite, and geometric shapes and has already exhibited several times in Germany. The Salzburg gallery Mario Mauroner Contemporary Art is providing a stage for the young Austrian sculptor Koloman Wagner. Sonja Edle von Hoeßle (Tammen, Berlin) is also bringing powerful sculptures made of Corten steel, while Katharina Schnitzler (mianki.Gallery, Berlin) is presenting her fabric objects. The sculpture spaces are complemented by sculpture spots in the exhibition hall corridors, presented by galleries including KORNFELD (Berlin), ASPN (Leipzig), and Claeys (Freiburg).
re:discover and re:frame: Making art more visible
A total of 20 artists whose careers have been interrupted will be presented at the third edition of the re:discover format, which is sponsored by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media (BKM). Around a third of the curated positions are female artists: Bettina von Arnim (POLL, Berlin), Eri Hahn (ARP Galerie, Berlin), and Vera Mercer (Schlichtenmaier, Stuttgart/Grafenau) have been addressing topics for decades that are once again particularly topical and socially relevant today, such as sustainability, recycling, nutrition, technocracy, and questions of genetic material and reproduction. New York-born Kevin Clarke (Leander Rubrecht, Wiesbaden) explores DNA in his work and creates so-called DNA portraits. The Sturm und Schober Gallery (Stuttgart/Vienna) is showing works by painter and draughtsman Frank Badur.
The re:frame format, launched in 2025, addresses questions surrounding the desire to preserve, showcase, and appreciate artistic heritage. It takes a practical and pioneering approach to demonstrating how estates can be managed responsibly and with an eye to the future. One example is the commitment of the art partners, which arose from personal concern and has become a best practice example thanks to its professional implementation. They combine the management of three artists' estates with exhibitions and discussions, representing the work of artists Susanne Böhm and Margo Luf as well as artist Max Bresele. The estate of Karlsruhe artist Andreas Lau, who died in 2024 at the age of 60 and was known for his large-scale paintings of pixelated portraits, is presented by Galerie Alfred Knecht (Karlsruhe). The Schwind Gallery (Leipzig) is bringing works by the painter Rolf Händler, who follows in the tradition of the Berlin School of Painting, while the Berlin-based Horst Dietrich Gallery is presenting the estate of Alfred Genin, known for his coloring books, Bible overpaintings, Roman missal pages, and diary-like travel books.
The “friends” format also continues to meet with a positive response: In 2026, nine galleries will present themselves together with a partner gallery at a shared stand. The Cologne-based Galerie Anja Knoess has invited the Frankfurt-based Galerie Leuenroth, the ulf larsson Galerie is bringing the Biesenbach Galerie, both from Cologne, and Galerie Sievi (Berlin) is cooperating with the Baden-Baden-based coGalerie.
With these and other highlights, formats dedicated to introducing people to art, special exhibitions, and an exciting supporting program, art karlsruhe is set to kick off the 2026 art fair year on a high note.
Complete gallery list: art-karlsruhe.de/en/galleries/
Further information: art-karlsruhe.de, facebook.com/artkarlsruhe, instagram.com/art_karlsruhe, art-karlsruhe.de/linkedin
