Ten years after its founding, Art Monte-Carlo returned to the Grimaldi Forum from 29th April to 1st May with its most expansive edition yet — 26 international galleries, a brand-new curatorial section, and a spring calendar designed to signal the fair’s arrival as a fixture on the European art market circuit.
Under the High Patronage of Prince Albert II, the anniversary edition also marked a structural shift: Art Monte-Carlo’s integration into Informa Prestige, the luxury division of Informa — the world’s largest exhibitions organiser — placing it alongside the Monaco Yacht Show, Top Marques Monaco and BOAT International Media.
“With the support of Informa Prestige and with Stefano’s artistic guidance, Art Monte-Carlo is proud to mark this 10th anniversary edition by announcing a new chapter,” said Charlotte Diwan, Director of Art Monte-Carlo.
Salon Monte-Carlo: a fair within a fair
The most significant development of the 2026 edition was the launch of Salon Monte-Carlo, a new curatorial section conceived by architect and curator Stefano Rabolli Pansera — a figure who curated the Angola Pavilion at the Venice Biennale, where it won the Golden Lion, and who since 2022 has directed the Bangkok Kunsthalle and Khao Yai Art Forest. Housed in a space adjoining the Grimaldi Forum, Salon Monte-Carlo brought together contemporary art galleries, design studios and interior architecture workshops in an approach that transcends the conventional fair format, creating an immersive environment where visual creations, objects and fittings interact in a coherent aesthetic whole.
The section, titled Earthly Delights, took its departure point from Luis Buñuel’s writings on the bar as a space of solitude and contemplation — understanding pleasure not as spectacle but as a patient, attentive practice. Works on show included pieces by Francis Alÿs, Marcel Dzama, Martin Kippenberger, Ed Ruscha and Leonora Carrington, among many others. Among the highlights noted by critics were two canvases by Martin Kippenberger, a small Ed Ruscha work titled Real Estate Opportunities — chosen as a wry nod to Monaco’s notoriously inflated property market — and several sculptures by Hans Josephsohn, including a 1969 piece.
Returning names and new arrivals
Faithful returnees to the fair’s main section included Almine Rech, Galleria Continua, Cortesi, Semiose, Van de Weghe, Voena and Wilde. Joining for the first time were Cecilia Hillström Gallery from Stockholm, Lee & Bae from Busan, Fabienne Levy from Lausanne, and Secci from Milan, alongside two Monaco-based galleries: Hartford Fine Art – Lampronti Gallery and M.F. Toninelli Art Moderne.
Despite the absence of some heavier-hitting contemporary names, the fair maintained a high standard, with a more pronounced emphasis on modern art and 20th-century contemporary work — a format that, in its deliberate boutique scale, allows visitors to spend more time with individual stands.
Conversations, Piaget and the art week beyond
A programme of talks ran across the three public days, featuring photographer Juergen Teller in conversation with Thierry Consigny, designer Ron Arad with Opera Gallery’s Federica Beretta, and collector Batia Ofer with auctioneer Simon de Pury. A panel titled Rendez-vous d’Été gathered representatives from the NMNM, the Fondation Maeght, the Villa Arson and the national Chagall and Picasso museums to preview the season’s upcoming Riviera exhibitions.
Maison Piaget returned as the fair’s horological and jewellery partner, presenting a survey of past and present creations that underlined the house’s longstanding dialogue with artists from Salvador Dalí to Andy Warhol.
The fair formed part of the eighth Monaco Art Week, which ran from 27th April to 1st May under the same patronage, with 14 galleries, auction houses and arts organisations — among them Artcurial, Christie’s, Sotheby’s and Almine Rech — staging parallel exhibitions and events across the Principality’s neighbourhoods.
See also:
Monaco Art Week 2026: from rare masterpieces to bold contemporary visions
