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Last weekend, Austrian big trader Thaddaeus Ropac held a grand opening of his new gallery in Milan. In the art media, there are more than this signal that the city’s art world is expected to explode, around which it calls it “the next great hope for the art market” or “the next center of the art market.” Let us not surpass ourselves.
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There is reason to remain optimistic about the Italian art market. The Italian government has long been struggling with the EU’s highest art tax, and announced in June that it would reduce the VAT for art from 22% to 5%. Now, the country has the lowest interest rates in the euro zone. A study published in March estimates through nominees for consulting and market intelligence companies that the move could help galleries, antique dealers and Italian auction houses generate 1.5 billion euros in three years. It also predicts that the Italian economic outcome could grow by 4.2 billion euros.
Then there were expected wealthy British and other Europeans leaving Britain to escape the Labor government’s decision in February, demanding a major overhaul of the non-obligated long-term tax rules, which was for tax purposes, residents of their permanent residence abroad. By comparison, Italy’s non-DOMS has a uniform tax rate of only €200,000, making it a super-rich landing place.
Rich people love collecting art, which is good news for Italian galleries, including Ropac and smaller fish in the ponds of Milan, such as Cardi Gallery, Lia Rumma and Robilant + Voena.
At the opening ceremony ahead of Milan Fashion Week, Ropac insisted that his decision to open 3,000 square feet of Milan Space (his Seventh Memorial Gallery) had announced VAT cuts or a non-major renovation in the UK. He told him: “If I wanted to follow this money, I would go to Dubai.” Artnews. Despite this, he seems to be a business practice.
“Milan has the potential to be an arts centre – it already has excellent institutions, but of course, it doesn’t have the same infrastructure as Paris or London, and there are no major national museums dedicated to contemporary art.” Ropac argues that in the art world with two galleries in Paris, people have seen so much growth because it has “new museums” over the past decade, from Louis Vuitton to business commerce.
“First, the artist comes, then the college, then the institutions, then the market,” he said. “That’s why it’s the arts center.”
Ropac should know the trajectory. In 2021, he was one of the first international dealers to open a space in Seoul, lagging just behind Perrotin, König and Lehmann Maupin. Gladstone, White Cube and Esther Schipper soon followed. When Frieze announced that he would hold a new expo in the city, he was in the middle of the open Seoul space.
He said: “I opened a gallery in South Korea almost exactly five years ago and now I’m asked the same question as Milan, and then it was related to Seoul: ‘Do you think the city will be a major arts center?'” he said.
But Italy is not South Korea. The art world in the country has been here before, and it was a false dawn.
In 2007, Art-World Monolith Larry Gagosian opened a shop in Rome, where he remains a relatively small market. Coincidentally, this is also the seventh gallery he opened. He has more than a dozen now. “The locals were ecstatic at the highly anticipated opening ceremony… They thought it was a sign that the city finally became an international cultural capital after 15 years of vacation. Caput Mundi,” wrote reporter Chandyrn Drake Artforum then. “Considering the recent media focus on the spirit and economy of Italy… [the opening] A particularly popular recognition… [Italy’s] The art market does play a role at an international level. “Written by famous Italian curator Achille Bonito Oliva La Repubblica The Gagosian landing was “a great coup” that would enliven the Roman art world.
However, nearly 20 years later, despite presiding on some of the famous contemporary art museums (they are Maxxi and Roman Museum of Contemporary Art), the art community in the Italian capital has not yet graduated from the Major League, as well as respected dealers such as Gavin Brown and Loran O’Neill. (The latter first opened a space in Rome in 2003, but launched his current large gallery in 2014 on the 17th-century palace in the city center).
Clare McAndrew, author of the annual Basel Art and UBS Art Market Report, told Artnews Her conservative estimates for the Italian art market last year were about $381 million to $425 million. For comparison, the United States totaled $24.8 billion during the same period, while the United Kingdom and France generated $10.4 billion and $4.2 billion respectively.
Even the Gagos were unable to reverse the fate of the Italian art market in 2007, when global art sales (speculative bubble swelled) reached a record $65.8 billion. (The commentator suggested that he move partially to Italy to secure the adoption of Cymbly’s property, whose work opened in Rome. During the global financial crisis, sales reached 41% between 2007 and 2009, although the market recovered a few years later.
Niccolò Fano, founder and director of the Matèria Gallery in Rome, told Artnews It was indeed a “important factor” in the decision of the Gagosians to open in Rome, but said the gallery had recently interacted with the recent local stage.
“These big companies are more trapped in their own plans than galleries, and their plans are so pressing that it’s hard to interact with their surroundings,” he said. “It’s a sign of a real interest in the development of the contemporary stage in the city.”
Meanwhile, Ropac arrived in Italy during tough times. Global art sales in the first half of 2025 fell 6% from last year, and sales in 2024 have fallen 12% compared to 2023. This summer, a series of gallery closures, fair cancellations and lawsuits were sold that pointed to a slow market.
Ropac opened a new gallery with a joint performance by Georg Baselitz and Lucio Fontana, called “L’Aurora Viene”. Fondazione Lucio Fontana of Milan borrowed four works for the exhibition.
A few days before the launch party, I called the Italian dealer Massimo de Carlo, who helped shape the contemporary art world in Milan after opening his first gallery there in 1987 (one of his former galleries occupied the same space as Ropac’s new work near Piazza Belgioioso).
“Now, every time a new gallery opens, the art world doesn’t tremble,” he said. “Ropac is a major player, welcomed, but does not change the Milan background.”
De Carlo added that the challenge in the Italian market remains the same: too much bureaucracy, too much taxation, and too fragile markets. In his estimates, these factors mean that dealers spend a lot of time in cumbersome situations like supporting artists.
“We have great artists, but the systems around us are often underfunded or overly complex,” he added. “Slashing VAT is a good sign. Let’s see if it helps collectors feel more adventurous.”
Executive Director of Ropac Milan Elena Bonanno Di Linguaglossa was formerly the Senior Director of Lévy Gorvy Dayan Artnews She hopes the VAT reform will have a significant impact on the local market.
“This will change fundamentally because we are punished by the highest VAT [on art sales] In Europe, but now we have the lowest, accounting for 5%. cowboy sculpture. “France has 5.5%, but believe me, that makes a difference – a collector will hope to be at a rate of 0.5%.
When I asked her about the challenge of selling art in Italy, she was rebellious. “Why is this a challenge? I can’t see any challenge.” I’m sure I saw a painful smile.
Jessica Kreps, partner of Lehmann Maupin Artnews By email, while the long-standing changes have been overdue, Italy already has “a favorable tax law…it is a natural attraction to the luxury market.” She added that the city has a strong base of existing collectors, which is “relatively untapped.”
“Milan’s economy is developing rapidly – from Brexit, among other factors, we have seen this growth expand into the arts sector.” “All of this makes Milan a very friendly environment, especially for the luxury industry – so there is a lot of potential there!”
Obviously, ropac has intuition. Time will tell whether Milan is a success story in the art world, and he and everyone else show a foreshadowing.
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