Pace Gallery drops 50 artists, lays off 50 staff

Pace Gallery Cuts 50 Artists and 50 Staff in Major Restructuring

Pace Gallery, one of the art world’s most prominent institutions, announced Thursday that it is cutting approximately 50 artists from its roster and laying off around 50 staff members in what CEO Marc Glimcher called a rejection of the mega-gallery model he says is beyond repair.

The restructuring will reduce Pace’s represented artists from roughly 135 to about 80, a decline of nearly 30 percent, while its workforce will shrink from approximately 250 to 200, according to the New York Times, which first reported the news Wednesday evening.artnet

‘Broken’ and ‘Unfixable’

“The art world has changed dramatically over the past decade, and the current gallery model isn’t only broken, it’s unfixable,” Glimcher said in a statement to press. “Every gallery is currently making temporary fixes and compromises to prop up a system that no longer works.”facebook

Glimcher framed the decision as a departure from the mega-gallery approach of recent decades, which he said “requires an overlay of management that diverts resources and attention from the heart of our business” and “has also resulted in rosters that are so large that it’s impossible to give all of the artists the level of support that they deserve.”artnet

The gallery did not release a full list of departing artists, but names that have disappeared from its online roster since early this year include Keith Coventry, Glenn Kaino, teamLab, and John Gerrard, according to Artnet News. In recent months, Pace added Anicka Yi and the estate of Constantin Brancusi, who remain on its website.artnet

Financial Pressures

The move comes amid a prolonged downturn in the contemporary art market and persistent questions about Pace’s financial health. Artnet News reported the gallery carries a roughly $9 million-a-month lease on its towering flagship gallery in Manhattan’s West Chelsea neighborhood — a space that opened in 2019 as a bet on the future of physical gallery experiences.artnet

Pace has also been pulling back internationally. In October 2025, the gallery closed its Hong Kong exhibition space at H Queen’s, with a spokesperson telling The Art Newspaper that the space was “no longer serving us.” The gallery currently operates locations in New York, Los Angeles, London, Geneva, Berlin, Seoul, and Tokyo.artnet

Looking Ahead

“We’re going back to the future, connecting younger artists to their spiritual fathers and mothers and building upon our 66-year history,” Glimcher said. ARTnews reported the gallery will “continue to be a global gallery” while aligning programs with local art scenes.artnews

The announcement came the same day Pace revealed its booth lineup for Art Basel in Switzerland, which opens to invited guests on June 16, featuring works by longtime artists including Alexander Calder, Agnes Martin, and Louise Nevelson.artnet