Right now, it feels like we’re living inside a news cycle that borders on the surreal.
Over the past year alone we’ve had Trump’s tariffs reshaping global trade, the Iran–US conflict dominating headlines, endless political drama, and the strange drip-feed of revelations around the Epstein files. Some days the news feels almost impossible to process — like events are unfolding faster than anyone can properly make sense of them.
And yet, the art world keeps moving.
When the tariffs were first introduced in 2025, there was a real sense that things might slow dramatically. Art itself may be technically tariff-exempt, but everything around it isn’t. Shipping costs climbed, logistics became more complicated, and moving work internationally suddenly felt far less predictable.
For a while, collectors seemed to pause and watch. But what’s become clear over the past year is that the market hasn’t collapsed — it’s simply adapted.
Collectors are still buying, just more thoughtfully. The era of impulsive, trophy-style purchases has cooled slightly, replaced by a stronger focus on artists’ practices and works that feel meaningful rather than purely speculative. In many ways, that shift has actually been healthy. Smaller and mid-range works continue to perform well, and conversations with collectors feel more considered. People are taking their time, asking more questions, and thinking longer term about the work they bring into their lives.
And despite the relentless waves of strange and often unsettling news, the beginning of this year has actually been better than expected.
That doesn’t mean the uncertainty has disappeared. The constant churn of geopolitical tension, economic shifts and headline-grabbing scandals creates a background hum of instability that everyone in the art world can feel. But art has always existed in moments like this. If anything, periods of uncertainty often sharpen people’s desire for things that feel human, thoughtful and real.
So while the world outside may feel chaotic, the appetite for meaningful contemporary art is still very much there.