Miniatures and the market squeeze at the Investec Cape Town Art Fair
- 2 days ago
- 7 min read
Reviewing an art fair is never straightforward. There isn’t one vantage point from which to judge it, but several: sales, attendance, quality of the art, the layout, and that je ne sais quoi (the mood among dealers and buyers, which is most often linked to external conditions like the economy, political events, etc.). Your perceptions can also be coloured by what time of day or which day you dipped into the art fair and how much of the overpriced Boschendal bubbles you quaffed.
The Numbers: Steady, Not Surging
Exhibitor numbers are said to have increased to 34 000. It felt busy. Even during the collectors’ preview on Thursday afternoon and the serene Friday morning slot, which is usually my favourite time to browse and chat to dealers.
And yet, paradoxically, it felt smaller.
The fair has not grown in size; give or take a few exhibitor numbers, the 2026 edition was more or less the same size. It perhaps felt smaller, as some of the booths shrank in size, with a few mid- to established galleries opting for smaller stands. It felt less international this year. This perception may well be linked to the diminished international presence. Galleries from the United States, Brazil, Turkey, and parts of the Middle East have not returned, though the Japanese gallery, LEESAYA, did, and with a better offering. In previous editions, there was more of a sense of geographic breadth. The fair has become more regionally concentrated. It's become less like a global crossroads and more like a strong, but contained, European and African platform.
Many European-based galleries, such as Galerie Victor Lope (Spain) and The Norm (Paris), presented works by South African artists, recognising that collectors who travel to Cape Town are largely looking to acquire local work. I observed Italian visitors, for instance, far more interested in buying South African art through South African dealers than works by galleries they already knew from home. On the one hand, this is positive for local artists – galleries from Europe are forging long-term relationships with them, opening new markets for their work. On the other hand, it makes the fair feel a little too provincial. The international component, ideally, should encourage local collectors to diversify their taste. It is, of course, also expensive to travel works to South Africa (and back if they don't find buyers). Working with local artists obviates this cost, so it's less risky.
Local galleries reported that sales were on par with last year, which saw some of the smaller galleries running out of art to sell. Dealers were less effusive about sales this year, so perhaps it wasn't as buoyant, though some of the more established dealers, such as Everard Read Cape Town, said they sold many works off PDF catalogues before the art fair opened. Southern Guild apparently had their best year at the fair—selling works valued at up to $210,000 (around R3.5m) and almost selling out Manyaku Mashilo’s solo presentation. Jeanne Hugo's solo booth presented by Everard Read was a sell-out, which wasn't a surprise, given the quality and size of the paintings (modest compared to the previous tendency towards large canvases).
Shrinkcation: Booths and Budgets
One of the most noticeable shifts at the fair this year was scale – not only of the booths but also of the artworks.
Miniature works were everywhere. Small paintings and even small sculptures. You could literally leave the fair with an artwork in your handbag, and apparently, people did. So what's the miniature trend all about? Is art like fashion, where seasons of long hems are almost always followed by minis, or is it about affordability only? Certainly, art has become more affordable. You could pick up a Zander Blom for around R10k.
Making his work available to young collectors who had long coveted his work was part of the motivation behind the collection of mini Bloms, according to Emma Van der Merwe. It also brings the cost of shipping down for international collectors.
"Increasingly, shipping safely becomes an exorbitant cost, and I've personally had collectors be really enthusiastic about work, get a shipping quote… and sometimes these quotes are just disproportionate to what they're paying for the work,” says Van Der Merwe.
The rise of the miniature might also align with what the global market data have been signalling for some time: contraction at the higher end. The art market may not be collapsing, but it is certainly recalibrating.
The squeeze at the top is no longer abstract. Take a look at South Africa's two top-tier galleries. Stevenson closed its Johannesburg branch, a significant move that speaks volumes about the pressures facing its operations. Stevenson also offered 'smaller' works at the fair – not quite miniatures but much smaller Gratrix and Siopis paintings compared to the typically large works previously offered by these artists.
Goodman Gallery entered the fair, announcing its positioning as an art advisory, effectively offering to guide collectors on what to buy – including from other galleries, we could assume – while also formalising its secondary market activity.
The move into advisory and secondary markets signals a strategic shift: greater emphasis on facilitating the circulation of established names and managing collector relationships. It also raises a few questions. Does this indicate renewed confidence in the secondary market? Or a cautious retreat from riskier primary-market bets on emerging artists?
Some dealers suggested that their sales were dependent on the artists they brought to the fair. Others said they didn't meet new collectors and that their attention was often diverted by off-site events.
"I believe it would have been more effective if they were also introduced directly to galleries and artists on the floor," said Shamiela Tyer of Eclectica Contemporary.
Circulating on the art fair floor, however, were a host of international museum curators from the Tate Modern, the Brooklyn Museum, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Contemporary Art Society and the Cleveland Museum, among others. This institutional presence further affirmed the value of this fair as a vital hub for African art. This is highly beneficial for new art dealers who can't afford to travel to international art fairs to make these kinds of connections.
The Art Itself: Consistently Strong
If there is one thing that remains constant at this fair is the high quality of the art. It is rare now to encounter work that feels out of place.
Among artists clearly pushing their practices forward, several stood out;
Wazile Harmans, showing with WHATIFTHEWORLD, continues to expand the material and conceptual vocabulary of his practice.
Jeanne Hoffman’s solo presentation by Everard Read demonstrated a painter operating on the edge of abstraction with confidence.
At Smac Gallery's booth, Marlene Steyn showed works merging pottery and painting in ways that felt organic rather than gimmicky, folding sculptural tactility into her distinctive painterly language.
At Kumalo/Turpin, Thuli Gamedze presented a series of compelling textile works that read like a fusion of maps and quilts. It will be interesting to see where this language leads.
Tzung-Hui Lauren Lee, who has been at the fringes of the art world, brought some visually arresting monochromatic works to the Vela Projects booth, revealing an architectonic abstract language that presents a rewarding reconciliation between her work as an artist and set designer.
Most tend to associate Wallen Mapondura's art with ephemeral found materials. However, it turns out he started as a figurative painter. He has returned to this medium and has infused it with the aesthetics of his abstract assemblages. Portia Zvavahera had best watch out.
There was a noticeable move away from overt figuration. Abstract painting, once again, feels newly confident. And crucially, it no longer needs to be monumental in scale to command attention.
Beyond the South African Bubble
Among artists operating outside the South African ecosystem, several deserved particular attention.
Chiara Colore, presented by Gianni Bonelli Gallery, was, in my view, the strongest contender in the "Tomorrow/Today" section and arguably should have won. Her work had both formal assurance and conceptual clarity.
Ignazio Cusimano Schifano, shown by Lo Magno artecontemporanea, makes haunting paintings that are expressive, dark and intriguing.
Yagazie Emezi at Kó incorporated photography and collage into textiles in a way that felt genuinely inventive – a precise, seamless integration of the two.
Ana Malta’s vibrantly coloured mixed media works at This Is Not a White Cube were slightly overwhelming collages but were very moreish… the more you look, the more you want to see and find. A multitude of layers of disparate references.
Layout and Experience
The experiential dimension of the fair remains an area for development. Given that the director, Laura Vincenti, is trained as an architect, one might expect a more compelling spatial narrative. The entrance lacks drama. There is no curated threshold that builds anticipation — no equivalent to the large-scale, spectacle-driven Max section one encounters at the FNB Joburg Art Fair. Nor are there any must-see special projects of the kind you would get at the RMB Latitudes fair.
The commercial logic dominates. The performance programming was perhaps conceived as the antidote – as it usually is – but curiously, I missed the 'performances', and the ones I did see via the Socials looked a little uninspiring.
The Long View
The fair did not grow. It held steady. The higher end of the market is clearly under pressure, and international visitors are spending less, or at least dealers anticipated this outcome via more accessible (small) or locally made works of art.
And yet, the artistic standard remains high. Artists are perhaps more aware now than before that you have to keep growing your practice to remain relevant and visible.
Art fairs are ultimately imperfect barometers. They serve to compress the consumption of thousands of artworks and exchanges (it is ultimately a social event) into a few frenetic days that are often a blur, unless you happen to have popped a miniature in your handbag.
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