How climate change is reshaping the art market

01Physical risks to artworks and exhibition spaces

Extreme weather events, whose frequency and intensity are increasing under the effect of climate change, represent a direct threat to artworks and the spaces that house them. The floods that struck the National Gallery in Prague in 2002 and the damage caused by Hurricane Sandy to the storage facilities of Chelsea galleries in New York in 2012 reminded the entire profession that artworks are physical objects vulnerable to the vagaries of climate. The heatwaves striking Europe with increasing regularity put severe strain on gallery and storage climate control systems, and a prolonged heatwave episode can be enough to damage works on paper, photographs or paintings whose pigments are sensitive to temperature variations.

Galerie Ropac, which maintains storage in several locations, has invested in redundant climate control systems that maintain optimal conservation conditions even if one system fails. Lisson Gallery in London has undertaken thermal insulation work in its storage spaces to reduce dependence on air conditioning and limit energy consumption. These investments, once considered secondary, are becoming a priority for any gallery concerned with the long-term preservation of the works entrusted to it.

The dealer must also rethink artwork insurance in light of climate risks. Traditional insurance policies do not always cover damage from extreme weather events, and premiums are rising in areas identified as particularly vulnerable. The dealer who fails to update their insurance coverage in line with these new risks faces potentially devastating financial losses.

02The carbon footprint of artwork transport

Artwork transport represents one of the largest components of the art market's carbon footprint. Galleries participating in international fairs ship works by air, sometimes several times a year, between different continents. A single participation in an international fair can generate several tonnes of CO2 when one adds up artwork transport, team travel, and stand construction and dismantling. Across all the art fairs held around the world each year, the art market's total carbon footprint is considerable.

The Gallery Climate Coalition, founded in London, brings together galleries, institutions and art market professionals committed to reducing their carbon footprint. Its members include galleries such as Hauser and Wirth, Sadie Coles and Thomas Dane, which have implemented more sustainable transport policies, favouring sea freight over air freight when timelines allow, pooling shipments between galleries and reducing the number of fairs in which they participate.

The environmentally conscious dealer has several levers available. Pooling transport with other galleries attending the same fairs reduces both costs and the carbon footprint of each shipment. Choosing sea freight over air freight, when the calendar allows, divides associated CO2 emissions by ten. Reducing the number of fairs the gallery attends, in favour of a more rigorous selection of the most strategic events, concentrates resources and limits environmental impact without sacrificing visibility.

03The evolution of artistic practices in response to climate

Artists themselves are modifying their practices in response to climate change, and this evolution has direct consequences for the galleries that represent them. A growing number of artists choose to work with recycled, bio-sourced or local materials, thereby reducing the ecological footprint of their production. Others question the very permanence of the art object, favouring ephemeral, performative or dematerialised works that require neither transport nor storage.

Olafur Eliasson, represented by neugerriemschneider in Berlin and Tanya Bonakdar Gallery in New York, has made climate change one of the central themes of his work while rethinking the materials and production processes of his installations. Tomás Saraceno, represented by Galerie Esther Schipper, develops works that explore aerial and post-fossil modes of living, and he has significantly reduced the carbon footprint of his exhibitions by working with sustainable materials and favouring ground transport.

For the dealer, accompanying these evolutions requires rethinking the conditions of production, transport and exhibition. An artist who works with perishable or living materials poses unprecedented conservation challenges. An artist who refuses air transport of their works imposes logistical constraints the dealer must integrate into their planning. An artist who creates ephemeral works obliges the dealer to rethink their sales strategy, since the physical object is no longer the primary vehicle of the transaction. These challenges are equally opportunities for galleries that can transform them into differentiating arguments for collectors sensitive to environmental issues.

04Growing collector demand for a responsible gallery

Collectors, particularly younger ones, increasingly integrate climate issues into their purchasing decisions. They wish to know how the works they buy were produced, transported and conserved. They are attentive to the gallery's environmental policy and they show a preference for galleries that demonstrate concrete commitment to sustainability. This trend, still a minority among older collectors, is advancing rapidly, and the dealer who anticipates it positions themselves favourably for the future.

Goodman Gallery in Johannesburg has integrated sustainable practices into all its operations and regularly communicates its environmental commitments to collectors. Kate MacGarry Gallery in London has reduced its international fair participations in favour of a strengthened online presence, openly explaining this decision on environmental grounds. These galleries are not sacrificing their commercial activity on the altar of ecology: they demonstrate that a gallery can be economically viable while adopting responsible practices.

The dealer who adopts a coherent and transparent environmental policy sends a strong signal to collectors, artists and the entire professional community. This signal does not necessarily translate into an immediate increase in sales, but it strengthens the gallery's credibility and attractiveness over the long term, particularly among collectors who will be the most active in the decades ahead.

05Art as a vehicle for climate awareness

The art market occupies a singular position in the cultural landscape: it is simultaneously part of the problem, through its carbon footprint and resource consumption, and a potential vehicle for awareness, through the capacity of artworks to touch consciences and elicit emotions that go beyond rational discourse. Galleries that manage to articulate both dimensions, reducing their own impact while presenting works that raise awareness of climate change, occupy a strategic position that distinguishes them from their peers.

Galerie Chantal Crousel in Paris has devoted several exhibitions to artists whose work interrogates humanity's relationship with its environment, creating a dialogue between art and ecological issues that resonates with its collectors. Galerie Peter Kilchmann in Zurich has represented artists whose work focuses on transforming landscapes and threatened ecosystems, offering collectors the opportunity to support, through their acquisitions, artistic reflection on the most pressing challenges of our time.

The dealer who programmes exhibitions related to climate change is not simply making a thematic choice: they are affirming the relevance of contemporary art in the face of present-day challenges and reminding us that the gallery is a place of thought and debate as much as a place of commerce. This ambivalence, inherent to the dealer's profession, takes on particular resonance in the context of climate change.

06Adapting the gallery's business model to climate constraints

Climate change is not only an ethical issue for the dealer: it is also an economic constraint that directly affects operating costs and modifies market conditions. Transport costs rise under the effect of increasing energy prices and tightening environmental regulations. Insurance costs rise in areas exposed to climate risk. Conservation costs rise as weather conditions become more extreme and less predictable.

The astute dealer integrates these constraints into financial planning and explores models that maintain profitability while reducing environmental footprint. Online sales, which eliminate the transport of works to an intermediary exhibition venue, reduce the carbon footprint of each transaction. Programming longer exhibitions, which reduces the frequency of installations and associated transport, contributes both to carbon footprint reduction and cost control. Building a network of partner galleries in different world regions, which allows works to be presented locally without long-distance transport, offers a credible alternative to the international fair model.

Artedusa offers galleries a platform that reconciles commercial ambition with environmental responsibility, enabling works to be discovered by collectors worldwide without the need for physical travel, and providing dealers with tools to communicate their commitment to a more sustainable art market.