English
Pace Gallery CEO Marc Glimcher has moved to reassure the art world following a week of headlines about the gallery’s financial performance. Speaking to ARTnews by phone on Monday, Glimcher said the business has returned to profitability and confirmed plans to open a new European location in the near future.
“We’re all off the bottom,” Glimcher said. “We just had a record art fair at Art Basel Paris, and we’ve had sellout shows of primarily young artists. Everything is turning.” He added that the gallery will open a new space in Europe “fairly soon.”
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Financial Accounts Prompt Questions
Pace Gallery filed its 2024 accounts with Companies House, the UK government’s business register, last week. The filing arrived 10 months late. It recorded a turnover of $67.7 million for 2024, a 35.5 percent decline from the $105 million the gallery reported in 2023. The accounts also showed a pre-tax loss of $2,429 in 2024, compared to a $6.8 million profit the year before.
Shortly after, the gallery’s 2025 accounts also became public. They showed turnover falling a further 2.6 percent to $65.9 million. Glimcher attributed the apparent losses to a deliberate restructuring of the gallery’s finances. “We did a balance sheet shift,” he explained. “We’re keeping those units a little more autonomous and self-sufficient. To do that, you have to shift the balance sheet.” Pace’s UK registered company, The Pace Gallery Limited, acts as the umbrella entity for its operations across Europe and Asia, excluding Tokyo and the US.
Staff Cuts and Roster Changes
In June, Pace laid off 50 staff members and removed 50 artists from its roster. Those dropped included Keith Coventry, TeamLab, John Gerrard, and Glenn Kaino. The gallery now represents a total of 85 artists.
Glimcher defended the roster changes as a matter of focus. “The artists that left were artists we were really not working with,” he said. “It’s about focusing your efforts to do less better than doing more not as well.”
London Remains Central to Strategy
Despite recent changes to its real estate portfolio, Glimcher insisted London remains a key market. Pace listed its London property for sale in June, citing a desire for a “less corporate” space. In September, the gallery also sought tenants for part of its Chelsea headquarters in New York.
However, Glimcher was direct about the gallery’s commitment to the British capital. “London is working very well. We are never going to close in London,” he said. He described the city as an international hub where “a lot of work gets done managing Asian and European units.”
The gallery currently occupies 8,600 square feet on Hanover Square. Glimcher said the new London space will be a similar size but in a more prominent location. He added that the gallery already has “a couple of amazing choices” under consideration. Meanwhile, he pointed to strong results elsewhere. “We have had an extremely profitable year already in Los Angeles,” he said. “The things we’ve done are already bearing fruit.”
