Image: Museum Kunstpalast, Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf’s annual contemporary art sales exhibition 'DIE GROSSE 2026' opened on 4 July and runs until 9 August at Kunstpalast Düsseldorf. According to the exhibition website, the opening drew about 2,000 visitors. The long-running event presents more than 650 works across media and genres, with prices starting at 400 euros.
The exhibition is described by the organizers as the oldest and largest sales exhibition in the German-speaking world, and as one that is entirely organized by artists for artists. Its scale this year extends beyond the museum itself into the NRW-Forum and a short section between the two institutions, with works also shown in the Ehrenhof area. The website says the presentation spans nearly all media and genres of contemporary art, from expressive and conceptual work to geometric, gestural, abstract and hyperrealist positions.
The Kunstpalast newsletter places 'DIE GROSSE' within a broader summer programme that also includes Visual Arts Yoga, a Dog Day event on 26 August, and the forthcoming exhibition 'Niki de Saint Phalle. Dream Machine'. Within that newsletter, 'DIE GROSSE' is presented as a recurring summer fixture in the house, underscoring its role as a large, open-format showcase for current art from North Rhine-Westphalia.
The event’s own website adds a sales dimension that sets it apart from a conventional survey exhibition. In the Kleines Format section, original works are available from 400 euros, while the highest priced work listed is 60,000 euros. The exhibition is therefore positioned both as a public survey of contemporary production and as a market venue, with the range of prices reflecting the breadth of the work on view.
Emmanuel Mir, listed as the exhibition director on the 'DIE GROSSE' website, wrote that he was delighted by the festive opening and thanked the team and Kunstpalast staff for contributing to what he called a successful inauguration. The same text notes that the exhibition remains open until 9 August 2026 and invites visitors to see it before the end of its run.
'GROSSE SOIRÉE' events are scheduled on Thursdays during the run, and the exhibition website also lists Sunday matinees as part of an extensive accompanying programme. The Kunstpalast newsletter notes that the show is traditionally hosted at the museum and, since recent years, also at the NRW-Forum, with this summer’s edition continuing that multi-venue format.
