ARTnews’s “Top 200 Collectors” Issue Features 36th Annual List, a Look at the Rising Gulf Art Scene, and More

All the masterpieces notwithstanding, there are few truly cinematic moments in the life of an art journalist. But when I was in Saudi Arabia for the first edition of Riyadh Art Week this past April, I experienced one. Chatting with a person who works closely with a collecting entity associated with a government agency there, I asked how they would characterize their role. The person answered, “I’m everyone and no one.” Superhero movie fans will recognize that as one of the last lines of Sam Raimi’s Darkman; close followers of the art scene in Saudi will recognize it as an apt description of how a lot of the Vision 2030–associated collecting is transpiring: in the background, prodigiously, to be revealed in
the form of well-stocked museums.

Melissa Gronlund captures this environment expertly in this issue in her feature on the Gulf, noting that “the prevailing wisdom is that the Saudi government must build all the elements of an ecosystem before the country can support an independent market, and right now the priority is museums and noncommercial programming.” But she also portrays a wider Gulf scene that is opening up and providing opportunities for private collectors and foundations. Clearly, the international art world is paying attention: Gronlund was already at work on this article when news broke that Art Basel will be launching an edition of its fair in Qatar in February 2026.

Gronlund also observes that “the Saudi market seems difficult for anyone to ignore, especially given the current softening in Europe and the US.” That softening has not been lost on the collectors who comprise the 36th edition of the annual ARTnews Top 200 Collectors list; as seasoned participants in the art ecosystem, some of them have critiques to share. “I have observed the cooling of the art market,” Christen Sveaas told us, “and have for some time been amazed by the blue-chip galleries’ haste in raising prices for the newest of their artists. Sustainability and building an artist’s career over time seem less of a concern for many galleries, and so the cooling of the art market comes perhaps not only because of the global economic turmoil, but also as a reaction to such ‘over-commercial’ strategies.”

I believe the art world and the art market are at an inflection point. This period will not be without its bumps—several prominent galleries closed this year—but it will be fascinating to witness. 

FEATURES

The ARTnews Top 200 Collectors
by The Editors of ARTnews

Introduction: What Is the Future of Collecting?
Our Top 200 Collectors respond to our annual questionnaire.
by Maximilíano Durón

What the World’s Top Collectors Bought in 2025
A look at what the Top 200 acquired in the past 12 months.
by Maximilíano Durón

Giving It Away
A look at important gifts from top collectors to global institutions this year.
by Francesca Aton

L’Etat, C’est Nous
Fashion titans François Pinault and Bernard Arnault rule the Paris art world and both own private museums. Are they as competitive in art as they have been in business?
by Devorah Lauter

In Focus: Art Insurance
Lessons from the Los Angeles fires.
by Francesca Aton and Karen K. Ho

The 145 Top Art World Professionals
A look at the leaders in 12 categories within the United States.

Bridging the Gulf
With a Sotheby’s auction in Saudi Arabia, a Guggenheim going up in Abu Dhabi, and Art Basel landing in Qatar—not to mention plenty of homegrown initiatives—the Gulf art scene is showing its global force.
by Melissa Gronlund

Open Circle
In Dubai, Nadine Khoury’s Young Collectors Circle is leading new prospects to the art market.
by Tessa Solomon

DEPARTMENTS

Best Practices
Cynthia Hawkins makes her own rules through abstractions that defy the rigid logic of grids.
by Alex Greenberger

Books
Lady Charlotte Schreiber, one of the most important collectors of ceramics in 19th-century England, anticipated the multivalent roles of art world figures today.
by Caroline McCaffrey-Howarth

Perspectives
A collector suggests some remedies for the current market doldrums.
by Jeff Magid

The ARTnews Accord
Solana Chehtman and Chris Sharp in conversation.
by Andy Battaglia

Case Study
Can the Aspen Art Museum, built by and for collectors in one of the wealthiest pockets of the US, ever fully unmoor itself from the forces that created it?
by Daniel Cassady

Open House
V. Joy Simmons’s collection is host to an entire constellation of Black artists and artists of color.
by Maximilíano Durón

Collector’s Diary
A personal reflection by a Top 200 collector on a pilgrimage to Italy.
by Jon Landau

Insights
A letter from Washington, D.C., finds the capital’s art institutions united in their purpose at a moment when they’re under assault by the current presidential administration.
by Greg Allen