Independent 20th Century Moves to Sotheby’s Breuer Building for 2026
Independent 20th Century will stage its 2026 edition at Sotheby’s Breuer Building on Madison Avenue, a move that pairs the fair with a major auction house for the first time and gives it room to expand well beyond its previous scale. The fair will run from September 24 to 27, 2026, after shifting back by three weeks to align more closely with New York’s fall art calendar.
The new venue carries its own art-historical weight. Designed by Marcel Breuer and opened in 1966, the building was originally created for the Whitney Museum of American Art. After the Whitney relocated to the Meatpacking District in 2015, the structure housed a temporary Met outpost and later served the Frick Collection during its five-year renovation. Sotheby’s announced in 2023 that it would acquire the building for a reported $100 million.
For Independent, the move is also a practical one. The fair will host 56 exhibitors this year, a 75% increase from previous editions, when the number of stands never exceeded 32 galleries. Thirty-three participants are new to the fair, among them Hauser & Wirth, Thaddaeus Ropac, Sprüth Magers, Esther Schipper, Lévy Gorvy Dayan, Berry Campbell, Mitchell-Innes & Nash, Gallery Wendi Norris and Olney Gleason. Hauser & Wirth will present a stand devoted to Swiss artist and healer Emma Kunz, while Thaddaeus Ropac will show work by German artist Oskar Schlemmer. Sprüth Magers will feature Jenny Holzer and Marian Goodman, with a presentation centered on banners from The Betsy Ross Flag and Banner Co and Multiples Inc.
The fair will also bring a stronger Latin American presence to Madison Avenue. Galatea, Gomide&Co and Nara Roesler are based in São Paulo, while Instituto de Visión and Leon Tovar Gallery were founded in Bogotá. Returning galleries include Luxembourg + Co, Nahmad Contemporary, Salon 94, Richard Saltoun, Hollis Taggart, Weinstein Gallery and James Fuentes.
True to the fair’s curatorial emphasis, about 80% of stands will present a solo or dual-artist exhibition. That focus has long distinguished Independent 20th Century from its spring sister fair, Independent, which is devoted to contemporary art. In a city where September already brings a dense concentration of exhibitions and fairs, the Breuer move suggests a more ambitious chapter for the event — and a new kind of conversation between market, architecture and display.
Independent20thCentury Sothebys BreuerBuilding NewYorkArt ArtFair LatinAmericanGalleries
