Half the artists given a first show by a mega-gallery since 2011 were 47 or older. Ten were under 30
The 207 living artists whose first solo show at Gagosian, David Zwirner, Hauser & Wirth, Pace or White Cube came in 2011 or later, by their age that year
The numbers
| Age at the first show | Artists |
|---|---|
| Under 30 | 10 |
| 30s | 41 |
| 40s | 66 |
| 50s | 35 |
| 60s | 24 |
| 70 and over | 31 |
Living artists on the five’s artist pages, of any age, whose first solo show at any of them came in 2011 or later (an artist on two rosters counted at the earlier show; a duo by its first-named member): rosters read on October 4, 2026, Hauser & Wirth’s as of June 14, 2026. A show announced for this autumn counts for 2026. Sources: the galleries’ artist pages, exhibition pages and the artists’ CVs.
From the report
From first show to mega-gallery, in charts
The 122 artists born since 1970 whom Gagosian, David Zwirner, Hauser & Wirth, Pace and White Cube have signed since 2010, traced back to their first shows: who found them, who the mega-galleries took them from, how long the climb took, and what happened to the price of their work on the way up and since.
More from this report15
- From first show to mega-gallery, in numbers
- Their first solo shows were in 48 cities. Only 24 were in New York
- 21% of the artists’ first shows were at a gallery at Art Basel this year, against 54% of the galleries they joined a mega-gallery from
- A quarter of Gagosian’s younger artists came from other mega-galleries. A third of Pace’s came from galleries that closed
- Eight galleries each saw three or four of their artists go to a mega-gallery, and seventeen more saw two
- Of the artists signed since 2024, 20 of the 27 still have their old gallery too
- From first solo show to a mega-gallery took nine years at the median, and anything from none to 27
- The five signed 19 of these artists in 2022, the most in any year
- Auction sales of new art peaked at $2.9 billion in 2021 and fell to $0.9 billion in 2025
- Anna Weyant’s prices rose 15-fold when she moved to Gagosian. Lauren Quin’s rose by a fifth
- A painting bought for $10,000 in 2016 sold at auction for $2.1m six years later
- Almost half the artists of the smallest galleries are emerging. More than half of the largest dealers’ are established
- The smallest galleries make 40% of their sales from a single artist
- Of artists whose first shows were at the most prestigious venues, 59% ended there. Of those who began at the least, 10% got there
- Twelve of the 37 artists in the mega-galleries’ solo shows this autumn have died