Even in NYC, art gallery closures are growing for small and midsize dealers

THE NEW YORK TIMES
By Robin Pogrebin

The Lower East Side gallery On Stellar Rays. Credit Kirsten Kilponen

NEW YORK---Midsize galleries have long struggled to compete in a field increasingly dominated by mega-galleries with multiple locations, like Gagosian, David Zwirner and Hauser & Wirth. But lately the trend toward an intensely commercial and competitive art market has resulted in a critical mass of galleries folding, moving or merging. What is widening the divide? High-priced real estate in gallery neighborhoods like Chelsea, and the proliferation of expensive art fairs, where collectors now do most of their browsing and buying. Participating in an art fair these days can cost a gallery hundreds of thousands of dollars. [More]