Editor’s Note: This story originally appeared in On Balance, the ARTnews newsletter about the art market and beyond. Sign up here to receive it every Wednesday.

Last Thursday, in a basement at No. 9 Cork Street in Mayfair, mega-dealer Thaddaeus Ropac was on hand to launch the 2026 edition of London Gallery Weekend (LGW). The occasion was a panel discussion with Pale Horse Gallery cofounder Emma Hodgson and Kate MacGarry, who runs an eponymous space in Shoreditch. The on-the-nose title: “How is London’s contemporary commercial gallery scene thriving in times of flux?”