The Atlas

Where the
galleries are.

Twelve cities, their gallery districts and the months the fairs arrive. A gallery street is a habit, not an accident: rents, foot traffic and the collectors who like to walk decide it, and once it exists it rarely moves.

Fair dates shift by a week or two each year. Check the fair before you book, and check the galleries before you fly: most close on Mondays and many close in August.

The Atlas

Germany

Berlin

SeptBerlin Art Week

Gallery districts

  • MitteAuguststrasse and Linienstrasse, the district that started in the 1990s and is now the established one.
  • Potsdamer StrasseGalleries in former printworks and shops around Tiergarten, the current centre of gravity.
  • CharlottenburgFasanenstrasse and the streets around it: the old West, the older money, the quieter walk.

Fairs and weekends

  • Gallery Weekendlate April or early May
  • Berlin Art WeekSeptember

Local rule

Most galleries open Tuesday to Saturday and close in August. The gallery weekend is the one Saturday the whole city walks.

United Kingdom

London

OctFrieze

Gallery districts

  • MayfairCork Street, Savile Row and the streets off Bond Street: the blue chip district, where the big names have several floors each.
  • FitzroviaNorth of Oxford Street, the mid-career galleries in smaller rooms.
  • Bermondsey and the EastThe large conversions south of the river and the younger spaces further east.

Fairs and weekends

  • Frieze London and Frieze MastersOctober, Regent's Park
  • London Gallery WeekendJune

Local rule

Mayfair galleries are free and open to anyone, however the doors look. Push.

France

Paris

OctArt Basel Paris

Gallery districts

  • Le MaraisRue de Turenne, rue Vieille du Temple and the courtyards between them: the densest gallery walk in Europe.
  • Saint-GermainRue de Seine and rue des Beaux-Arts, the historic Left Bank dealers and the design galleries.
  • Matignon and the 8thAvenue Matignon, where the international houses have opened since 2019.

Fairs and weekends

  • Art Basel ParisOctober, Grand Palais
  • Paris Gallery WeekendMay

Local rule

The Marais on a Saturday afternoon is the walk. Start at the top of rue de Turenne and go south.

United States

New York

MayFrieze New York

Gallery districts

  • ChelseaWest 19th to 27th Streets between Tenth and Eleventh Avenues: the industrial district of the 1990s, now the establishment.
  • TribecaWalker Street, Cortlandt Alley and the blocks around them, where the interesting programmes moved after 2015.
  • Lower East Side and Upper East SideThe younger galleries on Orchard Street, and the townhouse dealers on the Upper East Side for the historical material.

Fairs and weekends

  • Frieze New YorkMay
  • The Armory ShowSeptember

Local rule

Chelsea is a grid: walk one street west to east and the next east to west. Thursday evening is opening night.

Switzerland

Zurich

JuneZurich Art Weekend

Gallery districts

  • LöwenbräuA former brewery on Limmatstrasse with a museum, a kunsthalle and a dozen galleries under one roof.
  • Rämistrasse and the old townThe historic dealers near the Kunsthaus.
  • Zurich WestGalleries in the industrial quarter around the Löwenbräu site.

Fairs and weekends

  • Zurich Art WeekendJune, the weekend before Art Basel

Local rule

Do Zurich on the Sunday before Basel, when everyone in the trade is in town and the galleries open for it.

Switzerland

Basel

JuneArt Basel

Gallery districts

  • MesseplatzThe fair, its satellites and the galleries that open for the week.
  • The cityKunstmuseum, Kunsthalle, Schaulager and the Beyeler outside town: the museums are the reason the fair is here.

Fairs and weekends

  • Art BaselJune
  • ListeJune, the young galleries, the same week

Local rule

Book the hotel a year ahead or stay in Freiburg or Mulhouse and take the train. Liste is where the discoveries are.

Austria

Vienna

Septviennacontemporary

Gallery districts

  • SchleifmühlgasseThe gallery street of the 4th district, a ten minute walk of contemporary programmes.
  • EschenbachgasseAround the Museumsquartier, the established galleries.
  • Seilerstätte and the 1stThe historic dealers and the auction houses in the old city.

Fairs and weekends

  • viennacontemporarySeptember
  • Curated bySeptember, galleries with guest curators

Local rule

September is the month: fair, gallery festival and the openings after the summer all in three weeks.

Spain

Madrid

MarARCO

Gallery districts

  • Doctor FourquetThe street behind the Reina Sofía, with a dozen galleries in former workshops.
  • SalamancaThe established galleries in the quarter north of Retiro.
  • CarabanchelStudios and young spaces in the south, where the rents still allow it.

Fairs and weekends

  • ARCOlate February or early March

Local rule

Galleries close for lunch and for August. The ARCO week is when Madrid collectors open their apartments.

Italy

Milan

Aprmiart and Salone

Gallery districts

  • BreraVia Brera and the streets to the north: the historic galleries and the academy.
  • Porta Venezia and LambrateThe contemporary programmes and the design district that fills with shows during the furniture fair.
  • IsolaYounger galleries in the streets behind the towers.

Fairs and weekends

  • miartApril
  • Salone del MobileApril, the week the whole city becomes a showroom

Local rule

Design week and the art fair fall in the same month. For furniture and lighting from the Register, this is the one trip.

Germany

Cologne and Düsseldorf

NovArt Cologne

Gallery districts

  • Cologne, Belgisches ViertelThe galleries around Brüsseler Platz and in the streets behind the Friesenplatz.
  • Düsseldorf, Carlstadt and the harbourBilker Strasse and the Kaistrasse warehouses; the academy keeps the city young.
  • Düsseldorf, FlingernThe east of the city, where the younger spaces and studios are.

Fairs and weekends

  • Art CologneNovember, the oldest art fair in the world
  • DC OpenSeptember, both cities open together

Local rule

The two cities are twenty minutes apart by train and pretend not to be. DC Open in September is the weekend to see both.

Belgium

Brussels

AprArt Brussels

Gallery districts

  • Ixelles and LouiseRue Saint-Georges and the streets around avenue Louise, the densest cluster.
  • SablonThe historic dealers and the auction rooms.
  • Molenbeek and the canalThe large industrial conversions west of the centre.

Fairs and weekends

  • Art BrusselsApril
  • Brussels Gallery WeekendSeptember

Local rule

Collectors here buy quietly and live with things. Ask galleries about their private views; many show more at home than on the wall.

United States

Los Angeles

FebFrieze Los Angeles

Gallery districts

  • HollywoodHighland Avenue and the streets around Santa Monica Boulevard, where the international galleries have settled.
  • Downtown Arts DistrictThe converted flour mill and the warehouses around it.
  • Culver City and Melrose HillLa Cienega for the mid-career galleries, Melrose Hill for the newest cluster.

Fairs and weekends

  • Frieze Los AngelesFebruary or March

Local rule

Distances are real. Plan one district per half day and drive between them; nobody walks LA except within a block.