A smaller ART SG 2025 signals optimism for Singapore’s art market

It’s colloquially known as the “Switzerland of Asia”, so has Singapore finally got its own Art Basel equivalent? That was the question on many art world watchers as ART SG launched in 2023. And as ART SG 2025, the third edition of the fair, opened on Thursday, the mood among those in attendance remained defiantly bullish.

“People are really taking Singapore very seriously as a market hub,” fair co-founder Magnus Renfrew told Artsy. “Obviously it’s early days, but I think people are getting a sense that there is optimism, or at least a noticeable absence of pessimism.”

ART SG has quickly become the focal point of Singapore Art Week. This legacy week-long event first started in 2013 and offers a packed itinerary of museum and gallery events, as well as the smaller, more locally oriented trade show SEA Focus. The city’s growing prominence as an art center has been a theme in recent years: galleries such as Woaw and Whitestone have opened branches, encouraged by the resilience of the city-state’s long-standing institutions such as the Singapore Art Museum and the National Arts Council.

Much of the optimism surrounding the Singaporean market can be attributed to the recent growth in wealth in the city-state. Family offices – investment vehicles for very wealthy families – were an increase of 43% in 2024 compared to the previous year, and Singapore’s wealth management sector has doubled since 2018with around 80% of assets originating outside Singapore. In particular, rich collectors in Singapore have a lively attitude to buy: According to last year Art Basel and the UBS Survey of Global Collecting97% of Singapore’s high net worth collectors were the “most optimistic” about the global art market.

This year’s edition of ART SG includes 105 galleries and is divided into three sections over two floors: on the first floor is Focus, dedicated to galleries presenting solo, duo or specially curated programs; and Futures, which has galleries in business for 10 years or less. The main gallery section of 56 exhibitors is on the lower floor. Notably, this year’s edition of ART SG is its smallest yet. Last year’s fair featured 116 galleries, and more than 150 participated in its inaugural edition. Several of the heavyweight names that attended the fair’s debut event, such as David Zwirner and Pace Gallery, have not returned (but megagalleries including Gagosian, White Cube and Thaddaeus Ropac are in attendance for the third time in a row).

Renfrew puts the reduced number of exhibitors down to “adverse conditions, geopolitical, geoeconomic, that all over the world have been exposed to.” He noted the “encouraging” fact that a number of galleries that featured in the first edition of the fair but not the second had returned this year. “We are keen to grow the fair as the market grows and the most important thing for us is to maintain the quality and ensure that the galleries that are here have a successful time,” he added.

A “bigger is not always better” attitude was also noticeable among galleries. “It’s a difficult time in the art market right now, but I think some of these newer, smaller fairs offer a quality of experience that’s very different from some of the really big established fairs, which frankly can get overwhelming,” said Jacob Twyford, senior board director at London’s Waddington Custot. The gallery displays a wide selection of works by a number of leading international names, including Kenia Almaraz Murillo, March Avery, Peter Blake, Fernando Botero, Ian Davenport, Robert Indiana and Sean Scully. Bringing a wide range of works — and at a corresponding price point — reflects the fair’s varied audience, Twyford noted: “People are perhaps more open to being amazed or seduced by something,” he said.

This composition of visitors was noticed by several galleries across the fair, where everything from blue-chip to bleeding-edge new works were present, often in the same condition. “The fair attracts a different level of collectors,” noted Frej Forsblom, founder of Makasiini Contemporary, who has attended the fair since its inception. “It’s not just for advanced buyers, but also new beginners.” The gallery, based in the Finnish city of Turku, has also brought a mixed stand of works by artists in its program such as Nir Hod, Jacob Hashimoto and Yuichiro Sato. Prices on the stand range from $22,000 to $80,000.

Singapore’s regional appeal was another theme highlighted by galleries across the fair. Debuting at the fair this year is London gallery rosenfeld, which targets “different price points and kinds of collector bases,” said Josephine May Bailey, a director at the gallery. The three-artist booth includes paintings by Riccardo Guarneri, Araminta Blue and Enrique Brinkmann, priced between $9,000 and $20,000. “We are already investing our time and energy in this side of the world, and I think Singapore has a reputation for being a place with a lot of business capital,” she added. Fellow debutante Inloco Gallery from Dubai echoed this view, with representative Nadya Kovaleva noting the region as a “new development sector” for the gallery. Its booth, a solo presentation of works by Italian artist Filippo Minelli, features a VR headset where visitors can navigate the artist’s “digital idealized city,” according to the gallery’s press materials.

International exchange is also central to the fair, which draws galleries from 30 countries and territories. “We’ve really found that as we’ve learned more about collecting practices in the region and engaged with more audiences, collectors and institutions, our program has found great traction,” said Anthony Dawson, director at Goodman Gallery. The Johannesburg-founded gallery presents a mixed bag of major artists in its program, such as William Kentridge and Kapwani Kiwanga, who most recently represented Canada at last year’s Venice Biennale. “It’s just wonderful to be able to showcase a cross-section of our program and see that it’s resonating with people globally,” Dawson added.

But the fair maintains a strong regional focus: About 32 exhibitors also have branches in Southeast Asia, 21 of which operate a space in Singapore – including Tang Contemporary Art, which opened an outpost last year. “We are always looking for new opportunities and we have a lot of clients, especially (from) Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, who come to Singapore for the fair,” said Sue Oh, art director at the gallery. The works on its stand are by artists from the region, from Thai painter Kitti Narod to Chinese artist Leng Guangmin.

Another country prominently represented at the fair is India. “Singapore has always had a very strong Indian diaspora, and so has Southeast Asia in general,” said Priya Midgal, vice president of art consulting at Delhi powerhouse DAG. “We have very strong collectors here.” The gallery displays works by Bombay Progressive Group artists Francis Newton Souza and Maqbool Fida Husain, as well as Indian women artists Shobha Broota and Madhvi Parekh. “It’s important to understand that we want to educate our customer base … about various Indian artists who are also not just the top names,” Midgal added.

As the fair’s VIP day got under way, it was clear that the Singapore fair drew in a diverse crowd, which continued to filter into the venue throughout the day. And as the afternoon premiere began to bleed into the evening vernissage, a number of significant sales reported by galleries confirmed that collectors were also willing to spend. Leading the ticket for the day was a Pablo Picasso work on paper, Buste d’Homme à la pipe (1969), which sold at Cardi Gallery’s booth for $1.2 million.

Other significant sales included a Tunji Adeniyi-Jones work, Heavenly collection (2024), which sold for $350,000 at White Cube, and Teresita Fernández’s Stella Maris (Net) 4 (2024), which was sold at Lehmann Maupin’s booth for a price in the range of $120,000-$125,000 to a “prominent” Singaporean collector. Other six-figure sales reported by galleries across the fair included Lee Bae’s Issu de feu K-20 (2003) for $180,000 at Johyun Gallery’s booth and Roberto Matta’s Are you wanted? (1957) for $150,000 at Galerie Gmurzynska. Galleries also reported a number of sales for five-figure prices, such as Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery, which sold nine paintings by Tuan Vu, including two works for $20,000 each.