Almine Rech Shuts Down London Gallery After 11 Years
As the Paris-born powerhouse exits the English capital, Rech signals toward a repositioning rather than a clean exit.
Summary
- Powerhouse dealership Almine Rech has announced the closure of its Mayfair gallery in London
- The latest gallery to shutter amid the market’s shaky waters, the French gallerist maintains that the English capital will remain a central site of overall strategy
After more than a decade in London, Almine Rech has officially shuttered its Mayfair outpost. First reported by The Art Newspaper, the Paris-born powerhouse confirmed that its UK arm entered voluntary liquidation in August, shortly after its final Gregor Hildebrandt solo, naming the move as a “technical step to restructure a lease that no longer aligned with [its] plans.”
Filings to Companies House suggest that the gallery holds a £6.3 million GBP deficit, though French gallerist, Rech herself, noted that “the gallery has no unpaid obligations to artists, employees, or suppliers.”
The decision lands amid a wave of closures and consolidations shaking up the global art scene. The gallery’s London foothold took root in 2014 with a building of Savile Row, later moving to Grosvenor Hill two years later. Once home to headline shows by blue-chip names, including its inaugural Jeff Koons exhibition, the Mayfair spot, perhaps, faced the same headwinds hitting much of London’s market: post-Brexit uncertainty and pandemic fallout.
Despite the closure, Rech reassured that London remains central to the gallery’s strategy, suggesting a repositioning rather than a full exit. Almine Rech will keep on its eight spaces, including its duet Parisian sites, Brussels, Shanghai, Gstaad and New York, which is currently hosting a sold-out painting exhibition by Chloe Wise.
