After the cancelation of two Viennese art fairs, an association of 35 of the city’s galleries has come together to launch a new fair: Astoria Artshow.
Running September 10–13, Astoria Artshow will take place at the historic Astoria Garage, a six-story historic building dating to 1923 in Vienna’s 8th District that will host an art event for the first time. The inaugural edition host around 70 galleries, both from Austria and abroad, and it will act as a preview for a more formalized edition in 2027.
Astoria Artshow is being put on by VAU – Vienna Art United, whose board consists of owners of some of Gienna’s top galleries: Markus Peichl (of Galerie Crone Wien), Thomas Krinzinger (Galerie Krinzinger), Maximilian Thoman (Galerie Elisabeth und Klaus Thoman), Karoline Bartosch-Hilger (Galerie Hilger), Antonia Lia Orsi (City Galerie Wien), and Isabell Kisling-Steynek (Galerie Steinek).
The first edition has received funding from both the City of Vienna and the Federal Ministry for Housing, Art, Culture, Media and Sport. “These grants enable Vienna galleries to establish a truly independent, autonomous new art fair and send a clear signal for Vienna’s dynamic art location,” Peichl, who serves as chairman of VAU, said in a statement.
Astoria Artshow will also adopt a “solidarity participation model” in which “participation fees are scaled according to the revenue and company size of the participating galleries—not according to the size of exhibition space. This enables fair and sustainable participation of galleries—taking into account their economic capacity,” according to a release.
In January, German-language newspaper Kurier reported that Vienna Contemporary, which had just mounted its 10th edition in 2025, had laid off staff and was facing legal proceedings for unpaid rent, meaning that a 2026 edition was “not financially viable” and had effectively been canceled. Days later news broke that Spark Art Fair Vienna had canceled its upcoming edition in March, though it planned to return in 2027.
Earlier this month, Monopol reported that VAU had gathered support from 107 artists, including Renate Bertlmann, Ernst Caramelle, Jakob Lena Knebl, and Eva Schlegel, to launch a fair to fill this gap. In its press release confirming Astoria Artshow, VAU said that the new fair is a “a direct response” to the two fairs’ cancelations, which had led “a vacuum that Vienna’s gallery scene is now actively filling with the new Astoria Artshow.”
Peichl added, “Our ambition is to combine the highest international quality standards with an open, collectively supported, and forward-looking format. Our goal is to unite the strengths of Austria’s gallery sector and develop a forward-thinking and sustainably successful fair format of international renown.”
