ADAA Hits Pause On The Art Show as Dealers Question the ROI of Fairs

According to the report, the U.S. was the largest national market for art fairs in 2024, hosting 24 percent of all global events. North America accounted for 26 percent overall—a slight dip from 28 percent in 2019—reflecting a net loss of 27 fairs over that period. Europe continued to dominate, accounting for 54 percent of all fairs, including 12 percent in the U.K. and 10 percent in France. Compared to 2019, Europe hosted 39 fewer fairs in 2024, with notable drops in the U.K. (down 10 percent), Switzerland (down 3 percent) and Germany (down 3 percent). Asia’s share held steady at 10 percent, with Mainland China and Hong Kong together representing 4 percent. Overall, the region saw just three fewer fairs than in 2019. South America and Oceania remained stable, while the Middle East lost three events—though it may regain some ground this year with Art Basel’s upcoming debut in Qatar. Africa, still home to only a handful of fairs, was the only region to register growth, increasing from five to six events.

While the industry has long lamented the relentless churn of art fairs worldwide, that conversation has taken on renewed urgency. With sales stagnating and the adrenaline of the post-pandemic boom now a distant memory, galleries are increasingly reluctant to crisscross the globe for expensive, low-yield events that offer little beyond what the major fairs already provide. In this climate, many dealers are doubling down on strong in-house programming and building deeper relationships with existing and local collectors, who offer more consistent support than the elusive one-off buyer halfway across the world. Several dealers Observer spoke with in recent months said they plan to skip many of the fairs they once regularly attended—particularly domestic art fairs—opting instead to scale back and recalibrate their strategies heading into 2026.

The Art Basel & UBS report also noted that many galleries struggled to maintain profitability in 2024, with more reporting decreased profits (43 percent) than increased (32 percent) compared to 2023. Rising operational costs were cited as a major contributor. Dealers consistently said they are now more carefully weighing the cost-benefit ratio of fair participation. While expenses varied by business size, the largest external costs across the board in 2024 were art fairs, packing and shipping, and travel—all of which saw the steepest year-on-year inflation.

Art fairs accounted for 27 percent of total external costs in 2024—limited to booth and exhibition fees—a 2 percent increase from the previous year. Fair-related expenses rose by an average of 10 percent annually, but for dealers participating in more than one fair, that figure jumped to 16 percent. Packing and shipping costs comprised 15 percent of total expenses, up 3 percent year over year, and were identified as among the most inflation-prone categories over the past three years, with a 15 percent annual increase reported.

In this climate, even brand-powered, once-mighty fairs like Frieze Seoul are starting to feel the strain. At least 40 western galleries have opted out of this year’s edition after mixed results in the last two outings, as South Korea’s art market cools to more sustainable levels. But even the most prestigious fairs, including Art Basel, are now seeing galleries step back, unwilling to jump through the ever-narrower hoops set by increasingly opaque and demanding selection committees.

As Adam Lidelman of Venus Over Manhattan wrote in his farewell-to-the-art-business essay on Artnet, “They gleefully ask you to get down on your hands and knees, wag your tail, and beg for forgiveness. Then, callously, they waitlist you in permanentia.” Case in point: Air de Paris withdrew from the 2025 Basel fair after 25 consecutive editions—not for financial reasons, but as a pointed protest against what they called a “brutal and unfair” booth placement that undermined both their stature and long-term investment in the fair.

Yet even amid rising costs and mounting fatigue, the appetite for art fairs hasn’t entirely evaporated. According to Art Basel and Arteconomics data, the average number of fairs attended by dealers held relatively steady through 2023, with only a modest decline beginning in 2024. Among those who participated in at least one fair in either 2023 or 2024, the average dropped to three in 2024—down from four in 2023, 2022 and the pre-pandemic high of 2019. Dealers with higher annual turnovers remained the most active: those generating over $10 million in sales attended an average of six fairs in 2024, matching their 2019 level and doubling the fair count of galleries with revenues under $500,000. Those numbers, however, may not hold steady for 2025 and 2026.

Even as costs climb and financial risk intensifies, art fairs remain—for now—a critical sales and networking channel for dealers. According to the Art Basel & UBS report, fair-driven sales rose modestly in 2024 to 31 percent of total dealer sales, up 2 percent from 2023, though still shy of the 35 percent recorded in 2022. Notably, that figure remains well below the 42 percent seen in 2019, when live events still outpaced gallery sales. The 2024 uptick was primarily driven by stronger results at overseas fairs, which accounted for 20 percent of dealer sales, while local fair sales held steady at 11 percent.

Still, as the gap between rising costs and diminishing returns continues to widen, a structural reset feels less like a matter of if and more like how. Alternative formats—more agile, more curated, more contained—are beginning to gain traction. Art Basel’s upcoming experiment in Qatar is one such effort, though it too demands significant resources and risk from participating galleries. Others are exploring more radical departures. The recently concluded Zero Art Fair offered a no-cost platform for both exhibitors and buyers, aimed at circulating works otherwise languishing in storage. Even more guerrilla in spirit is the forthcoming U-Haul Art Fair, set to coincide with the Armory Show this September. It will feature 10 booths housed in rented moving trucks—a bold attempt to slash overhead while preserving ambition. Whether these models mark the future or remain provocative outliers, they’re at least asking the right questions.