In the south of France, Marseille is in the spotlight. Among the newest offerings are La Mer, a boutique fair held in 19 rooms of Les Bords de Mer hotel, which was launched in July by Becca Hoffman, the founder of 74th Arts and cofounder and director of the Aspen Art Fair. Hoffman has made a specialty out of putting on events away from traditional market centers. ‘People are wanting new opportunities, new events, new engagements, new experiences. So why not provide that to them,’ she says.

Hoffman points to notable local galleries, such as the experimental Double V Gallery and Galerie Béatrice Soulié, which has focused on outsider art for over 30 years: ‘Marseille feels like Berlin 15 years ago. There’s change, there’s creativity, there’s development, there’s excitement, there’s opportunity – the south of France is having a resurgence. It’s like the 1920s all over again.’

The philanthropy advisor and author Leslie Ramos recommends an art road trip along France’s Mediterranean coast, from Monaco (where Hauser & Wirth also has an outpost) to Marseille. Notable private museums along the way include the sculptor Bernar Venet’s foundation and Domaine du Muy, the sculpture park founded by the Mitterrand art dealing family (both at Le Muy); La Commanderie de Peyrassol, a vineyard peppered with the owner Philippe Austruy’s contemporary art collection; and the Collection Lambert in Avignon. Ramos adds that South Africa’s Goodman Gallery has a pop-up exhibition at Bogéna Galerie in Saint-Paul-de-Vence (until August 28), close to Fondation Maeght, including works by Yinka Shonibare and William Kentridge.

Ramos also points to the vibrant art scene in Naples, Italy, where Thomas Dane, the London-based dealer, opened a gallery in 2018. Dane is quick to point out that his is ‘just one of a group of galleries,’ joining established Italian names such as Lia Rumma and Alfonso Artiaco, in an ‘immensely supportive’ city. Dane modestly acknowledges that his arrival has helped to attract more visitors, especially from the UK (some 130 clients and museum directors flew in for the opening of a Michael Landy and Gillian Wearing show in January).

The gallery has been invaluable in broadening and refreshing the horizons of artists, gallery staff, and clients alike. ‘What’s fascinating in the last 6 years is that people stay in Naples more and more, whereas before they would have gone straight to Capri,’ Dane says, adding that Rocco Forte has announced it will open a hotel in the city in 2027. Dane’s Naples gallery is currently showing a group painting exhibition, ‘Push Me, Pull You’, curated by Jenni Lomax and including artists such as Prunella Clough, Hurvin Anderson, and Amy Sillman (until September 27).

Greek islands

If Marseille is akin to Berlin 15 years ago, then the Greek islands are reminiscent of ‘East London in the early 2000s,’ says George Vamvakidis, who cofounded The Breeder gallery in Athens in 2002. Over the past decade, artist-run spaces, residences, and exhibitions have popped up organically around the islands, Vamvakidis says, listing exhibitions this summer on Ios, Kea, Santorini, Andros, Lesbos, Spetses, and Skiathos. On the island of Chios, from which many wealthy ship-owning families originate, The Breeder is currently collaborating on the exhibition ‘Once We Were Gardens’, curated by Akis Kokkinos of DEO Projects (until September 7) and set within the Karavas estate on Chios. Kokkinos, Vamvakidis says, has gathered a host of wealthy benefactors to support the annual exhibition, now in its fifth year.

After Art Basel in June, VIPs flock to Hydra for the opening weekend of the annual exhibition at Cypriot collector Dakis Joannou’s Deste Foundation Project Space, which this year is a solo show of the Romanian artist Andra Ursuţa, titled ‘Apocalypse Now and Then’ (until October 31). Other events have sprung up too, Vamvakidis says: ‘Every year you see more satellite exhibitions in schools, in houses, in other spaces around the island.’

‘There are also Mediterranean mobile residences, like the Art Explora Festival,’ Vamvakidis says, referring to a purpose-built ‘museum boat,’ which is sailing around the Mediterranean all summer, stopping at ports in 15 different countries. The Lebanese artist Mohamad Abdouni, represented by Vamvakidis, is taking part in the residency, and will exhibit the work he developed on board at The Breeder in Athens in October.

Also in Athens this October, the Onassis Foundation will open a new exhibition space, Onassis Ready, set in an old factory, with a survey show of Juergen Teller’s photographs (October 19 to December 30). It is part of a groundswell of artistic activity in the city. ‘The joke is that every 10 years, people discover Athens, again,’ Vamvakidis says. ‘And that’s because of the constant movement and the constant change of moods and tastes. At the moment, we have a huge influx of both Lebanese artists and collectors, but also Israelis [due to tensions in the Middle East]. When they’re here, it’s a carefree time, they’re actually in the mood to enjoy art, enjoy culture.’

As Vamvakidis says, Athens is ‘an inspiration – the cradle of democracy, the cradle of Western civilization.’

Balearics rising

The Balearics are also fast becoming a hotspot for the commercial art world. Last year, the London gallery Gathering opened an outpost in rural Ibiza. ‘There’s no competition, which is quite unique in the art world, to do something on untrodden ground, especially when it’s as fertile as it is here,’ says Gathering’s founder Alex Flick, who describes Ibiza as ‘like a city on an island.’ Despite the relative lack of a commercial art scene, Flick points to the many artists who live on the island, such as Stefan Brüggemann, and to the Museu d’Art Contemporani d’Eivissa in Dalt Vila, Ibiza’s old town, which is currently showing Miquel Barceló’s work (until November 16).

The first year was tough, Flick says. But now, people are starting to buy. ‘It’s a mindset shift to buy contemporary art on holiday,’ Flick says. ‘People are used to buying in big city galleries or at a fair. But we’ve seen it work with Gstaad or Aspen or the Hamptons, where galleries have taken the initiative to go where their clients have homes.’

Flick continues: ‘There’s a growing collector base here, but a lot of them are people who have second homes. Many who live nearby come to the restaurant – they can gather, eat, then hopefully buy some art.’ Gathering is currently collaborating with the Berlin-based gallery Société on a group exhibition titled ‘Sunset Strip’ (until September 1), which includes works by Bunny Rogers, Tai Shani, and Marianna Simnett among others.

That a good restaurant is key to a destination gallery is something Flick learnt from working at Hauser & Wirth, and the Cantina restaurant is central to Hauser & Wirth’s Menorca gallery, which has attracted 300,000 visitors since it opened in 2021. Here the focus is on engagement – ‘it is not sales orientated,’ says its director, Mar Rescalvo Pons.

Although the gallery has attracted international attention to the island, Menorca-born Rescalvo is quick to acknowledge that other cultural initiatives predate it, such as the annual Pedra Viva festival, the Trobades & Premis Mediterranis Albert Camus, and Mahón’s well-known opera house. Keen to contribute to the local scene, Hauser & Wirth has also collaborated with Institut Menorquí d’Estudis to offer a grant for art production and joined Art Palma Contemporari, ‘to strengthen the links with Mallorca,’ Rescalvo says. Hauser & Wirth Menorca is currently exhibiting Mika Rottenberg and Cindy Sherman (both until October 26).

Sergio Sancho founded CAN Art Fair Ibiza in 2022, when many second home owners started using their Ibiza homes as a principal residence due to the pandemic. The latest fair took place in June just after Art Basel and, Sancho says, many took it as an opportunity to relax, with the fair organizing studio visits and boat trips to Formentera for its VIPs. ‘We sell a whole experience,’ Sancho says. The Balearics art landscape is evolving and Sancho predicts more galleries will open in the next 2 to 3 years: ‘Mallorca has always had a busy art scene, now there’s Hauser & Wirth in Menorca and, in Ibiza, there is more activity in the winter.’

With more and more people living peripatetic lives year-round, and a sense of ennui around some traditional art market centers, these Mediterranean hotspots are fast becoming regular fixtures on the art world circuit. And with the arrival of some of the bigger commercial galleries and art fairs on the scene, their market share looks primed to grow.