It would appear that yet another of the big London art galleries is to close, or at least to move and down size, this time Pace and their big Hanover Square space. According to Artlyst, Pace are to close their “Hanover Square mega gallery after £5.4m losses”. The great big gallery on the corner of the square that was of course the home Blain Southern before that gallery crashed out in a stew of bankruptcy and closed down the very same space that Pace now call their London home back in early 2020. This is all of course on the back of a number of significant closures over in neighbouring Cork Street including that other now rather empty “mega gallery” that was home to Stephen Friedman until Spring of this year – London’s stand out Stephen Friedman Gallery goes into administration, now that’s going to leave a great big Cork Street hole… – The list of major galleries either closing or scaling down is growing,
We’re not really that concerned about the business of art around here, although as working artists, it is sometimes hard to avoid. We are mostly concerned with the exploring of art, the searching out of art, we are concerned when art spaces close. True Pace has been nowhere near as interesting as Blain Southern were in the same space and nowhere near as constantly rewarding as the much missed Stephen Friedman Gallery was. According to Artylst
“Pace has put its Hanover Square lease up for sale. It quietly went on the market in June following an internal restructuring. Around 50 artists left the roster worldwide, and sales fell by about 20 per cent. Both sets of accounts say the aim is to concentrate resources, serve artists and collectors better and return to efficient, profitable trading. They also note a smaller property footprint, which means fewer exhibitions and lighter overheads”.
Artylst go on to say that “part of Pace’s woes stem from the construction and renovation of the Pace Gallery’s global flagship in West 25th Street, Chelsea, New York, which cost just under $100 million. Marc Glimcher, CEO and son of the founder of Pace, said, “The gallery model is broken; the current commercial art world has become too big, too corporate, too impersonal, and Pace is doing something about it. Glimcher is on the lookout for a smaller London space nearby in 2027. In New York, some floors of the headquarters are available to sublease…” Artlyst, who do concern themselves with the financial side of art far far more we do go on to say that “Pace Gallery Limited incurred a $5.4 million loss in 2025…” well Artlyst say a lot more, we don’t really need to repeat it all here, seems the whole (sordid) business of high end art is busy eating itself far more than pop ever did…
There is no indication that all this impacts on the current Hanover Square programme.
“Pace put its Hanover Square lease up for sale as part of a global restructuring and shift toward a leaner gallery model, with plans to transition into a smaller Mayfair space on nearby Grafton Street….”
We haven’t caught the current exhbition yet, I expect we will in the next few days, watch this space: “Pace will present The Mudlarkers, an exhibition of new paintings by New York-based artist Kylie Manning, at its London gallery from October 13 through November 14…”
Previously on these pages
Actually now we think about it, Pace in terms of Hanover Square has been little more than a drop in space on the way to other shows and galleries, the first space encountered as the Lizzy line drops you by the square. We do seem to be in Pace rather a lot without really feeling the need to write that much about it. It is disappointing to see these spaces disappear, it is very easy to take them for granted, we do just get to walk in freely and see the art they show
