art karlsruhe 2026

For over two decades, art karlsruhe has been synonymous with exceptional art enjoyment. The art fair offers around 50,000 visitors an extensive range of works, from classical modernism to contemporary art, spanning more than 120 years of artistic creation.

Suspended ceilings, vastness as far as the eye can see—and art everywhere. Four days a year, art karlsruhe gives the art scene the opportunity to present itself live to a wide audience.
Four halls, a large entrance hall, and a green inner courtyard provide space for everything from the smallest graphics to large-scale sculptures.

art karlsruhe 2026

In a challenging market environment, art karlsruhe is proving itself to be a reliable trade fair location with prospects in the art-loving border triangle of Germany, Switzerland, and France, thanks to 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 a 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, and Korea

Around 30% of the galleries exhibiting at art karlsruhe 2026 are traveling from nearby and further afield. Represented for the first time at an art fair in Germany 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 gallery-owner-run Maryam Fasihi Harandi Gallery from Tehran, 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. Other galleries come from Spain, Austria, the Netherlands, Italy, and the UK.

The German gallery scene spans the entire country. There are 24 galleries from Berlin alone, including Albrecht, Burster, Friese, AOA;87, BBA, Tammen, and Jarmuschek + Partner. Hesse and the Rhineland are also well 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. The Cologne gallery contingent is also present with 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). 

Focus on classical modernism and international names

Traditionally, 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) galleries , while works by Erich Heckel and Max Pechstein can be seen at the Rudolf Kampen Gallery (Amsterdam), among others. Works by Robert Longo are on display at the Jeanne Gallery (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), while the French are represented by 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 including Max Ackermann and Hans Jörg Glattfelder.

The renowned Karlsruhe artist and loyal art visitor Markus Lüpertz, who will celebrate his 85th birthday in 2026, is represented by the Reitz Gallery (Frankfurt am Main), WOS (Düsseldorf), and Art Affair (Regensburg) – the latter will open 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 Meiningen State Theater – including the stage and costumes.

Günther Uecker is the focus at Geißler-Bentler (Frankfurt am Main) and Obrist (Essen), while works by Rupprecht Geiger are on display at Galerie Malte Uekermann (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 shape the image—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 at BRENNECKE FINE ART (Berlin) , Bernd Zimmer also at Fetzer (Sontheim) and Wolfgang Jahn (Munich).

Traditionally influential: sculptures at art karlsruhe

18 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 at its sculpture area this year, which are both heavy and seemingly floating. Names such as HA Schult (Galerie Schrade, Ehingen/Donau), 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 giving young Austrian sculptor Koloman Wagner a stage. Sonja Edle von Hoeßle (Tammen, Berlin) is also bringing powerful sculptures made of wood and stone. 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 were 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 one 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 about 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 draftsman Frank Badur.

Launched in 2025, the re:frame format addresses questions surrounding the desire for the preservation, visibility, and appreciation of artistic heritage. It takes a practical and pioneering approach to showing how estates can be managed responsibly and with an eye to the future. One example is the commitment of the Kunstpartner, 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 "friends" format also continues to receive a positive response : in 2026, nine galleries will present themselves together with one partner gallery each on a shared stand. For example, Cologne's Galerie Anja Knoess is inviting Frankfurt's Galerie Leuenroth, the ulf larsson Galerie is bringing along 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 visitors to art, special exhibitions, and an exciting supporting program, art karlsruhe promises a successful start to the 2026 art fair year.