I’ve been digging through the latest Art Market Annual Report and surfing the usual wave of headlines — and let’s be honest, nothing fundamental has changed. The art world is still built on its holy trinity: opacity, volatility, and a proudly anti-democratic structure.
So it’s no surprise that art-market news never breaks out of its niche. The storylines are always the same:
“Everything’s collapsing” — galleries shutting down, collectors ghosting, NFTs cooling faster than last summer's fling.
Or the slightly delusional “Everything’s fine” — sales are up! (Sure… if you count €100 prints and ignore the blue-chip stall.)
Yet through all this noise, one mantra keeps being recited like sacred scripture: scarcity. Still treated as the holy mechanism that guarantees value. Still defended by insiders as the final firewall against price erosion.
But scarcity today is less reality and more marketing strategy. I’ve personally seen “limited editions” multiply like loaves and fishes: edition #13 sold, then reborn as #13.2, then #13 “online exclusive”, then #13 bis. The €1-bid warriors (you know exactly on which platform!) who panic about “missing out forever” can finally relax — the edition will return, immortalized in infinite duplication.
But let’s park the keyboard collectors chasing “unique pieces” at instant-noodle prices (that’s the next episode of this drama) and look at the real headline.
Because one development truly marks a structural turning point:
The acquisition of Frieze by MARI. The deal was announced in May 2025 and finalized in October 2025.
Not just a corporate deal — a framework shift.
Ari Emanuel — the same man who turned combat sports into premium content and car auctions into luxury theater — has launched MARI, a holding company now controlling Frieze + global tennis tournaments + high-end car auctions, backed by $200 million in capital.
The message is crystal clear: art fairs are no longer trade zones. They are live cultural infrastructure. Art is no longer shown and sold — it is produced, staged, and distributed like entertainment.
And this is where the equation flips:
The future of value will not be scarce = precious, but engaging = relevant.
Not just access for the few, but attention from the many.
Not just gallerists and advisors, but directors, producers, sponsors, and experience architects.
So the question is no longer “Will this model work?”
It’s: Who on earth is ready to compete with it?