A quarter of Gagosian’s younger artists came from other mega-galleries. A third of Pace’s came from galleries that closed
The gallery that represented each artist just before the mega-gallery signed them, by what it is now
- Another mega-gallery
- A gallery at Art Basel in 2026
- A gallery since closed
- Any other gallery
The numbers
| Mega-gallery | Another mega-gallery | A gallery at Art Basel in 2026 | A gallery since closed | Any other gallery |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gagosian, 29 artists | 7 | 11 | 6 | 5 |
| Hauser & Wirth, 26 artists | 1 | 14 | 3 | 8 |
| Pace, 28 artists | 2 | 9 | 10 | 7 |
| David Zwirner, 18 artists | 2 | 12 | 0 | 4 |
| White Cube, 20 artists | 0 | 7 | 3 | 10 |
Living artists born in 1970 or later whom the gallery signed (or first gave a solo show) in 2010 or later and still lists on its artists page: rosters read on October 4, 2026, Hauser & Wirth’s as of June 14, 2026. 5 signings with no gallery just before, or none known, are left out. Sources: the galleries’ announcements, the artists’ CVs and the press; Art Basel’s list of exhibitors in Basel, June 2026.
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
- 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
- Half the artists given a first show by a mega-gallery since 2011 were 47 or older. Ten were under 30
- 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