From bargains to bank-breaking masterpieces: inside Luxembourg Art Week

From drawings by international superstars to engravings by local artists, there’s something for everyone at Luxembourg Art Week, happening at the Glacis from 21 to 23 November. The contemporary art fair, currently in its 11th edition, has gathered 77 galleries and institutions from the grand duchy and 14 other countries.

A variety of works are on display, with the newly launched “Collecting 101” initiative aiming to encourage collecting among new generations.

Grand Duchess Stéphanie, pictured during a tour of Art Week on 20 November © Photo credit: Christophe Olinger

A variety of works are on display, with the newly launched “Collecting 101” initiative aiming to encourage collecting among new generations.

Only 3% of art buyers make a purchase solely for owning the work as an investment, according to the latest art and finance report by Deloitte, published earlier this month. More than half of collectors (59%) said they buy for both passion and investment while 37% said they purchase art solely for the joy of it.

But buying art doesn’t have to be a huge investment. Among the hundreds of works on display this weekend, there are plenty of options for art-lovers, both with small and big pocketbooks. “Don’t hesitate to ask questions,” Art Week director Mélanie de Jamblinne de Meux tells first-time buyers. “Being curious is the first step.”

Here are some of the most – and least – expensive artworks that are on public display at the fair.

Works starting at €70

Established in 1994, the Empreinte Atelier de Gravure is an artist-run printmakers’ collective. Members share the studio facilities, located in Rollingergrund, and organise and participate in exhibitions in Luxembourg and elsewhere in Europe.

Twenty-four artists are exhibiting framed and unframed prints in the collective’s booth – D04 in the Takeoff section.

A print by the artist Marie-José Dublin-Neys (titled “Escargot”) is available for €70, and is one of the least expensive pieces available. The catalogue also lists her works “Au pied de l’arc-en-ciel” and “Les arbres dansent” at €160.

Finnish-Luxembourg artist Jaana Antola is another of the atelier’s members, and this year has five framed prints on display (two of her pieces – “Peek from Backpack” and “Flowers in Her Hair” – are priced at €130). Nature, she said, is a major inspiration, and many of her artworks feature flowers and birds or abstract forms.

Antola creates prints using multiple techniques. One involves etching on copper plates, then placing the plate in an acid bath to create grooves (longer exposures to the acid result in deeper lines). After, the plate is filled with ink, a damp paper is placed above the plate, and the design is transferred to the paper by rolling the plate and paper through a press.

Multiple prints can be created using the same plate, she explains, but each work remains unique. The entire process can take anywhere from a few days to several weeks, depending on the complexity of the work.

Another technique involves etching onto Tetra Pak packaging – the same material used to produce milk cartons. “It’s quite direct. I love it,” she said. “You scratch the lines directly into the [Tetra Pak]; you can even make holes. With copper, it can take many hours. But here, you can make points, you can make the lines quite easily. It’s very quick.”

And because the material is not as expensive as copper, it’s easier to draw and experiment with different designs. “It’s very spontaneous.”

Diane Jodes is another artist who’s exhibiting at the contemporary art fair. She’s the co-founder of Empreinte Atelier and also served as president of the printmaking studio from 2012 to 2022.

“For this year’s edition of Luxembourg Art Week, I created a new series of six prints titled Cousins 1-6,” said Jodes, whose works are listed in the catalogue for €165. “They can be seen as homage portraits of species related to humans. The series invites viewers to reflect on their origins and on the ways we, as humans, continually reshape the world around us to meet our needs.”

“The works combine traditional mezzotint printmaking with textile crochet, transforming each portrait into a delicate doily,” explained Jodes. “This fusion of techniques highlights the tension between control and fragility, between the scientific and the handmade. I enjoy working across a variety of media – including printmaking, drawing, painting, collage, and textiles – and I almost always work in series, exploring themes connected to the human condition.”

Prices upwards of €300,000

Fernando Botero, Cabeza de Niña, 1984. Price: €240,000

The sculpture has “a particular warmth”, says Frederic Hessler, director of the gallery selling the work © Photo credit: Nader Ghavami / Galerie F. Hessler

Fernando Botero, Cabeza de Niña, 1984. Price: €240,000

“Cabeza de Niña, from 1984, brings together, in an intimate format, all the monumentality characteristic of Botero: amplified volumes, childlike gentleness and a sovereign presence,” said Frederic Hessler, director of Luxembourg City Galerie F. Hessler, which is exhibiting the work.

Botero is a Colombian artist and sculptor, who died in 2023. Sculptures in his signature style – Boterismo – have been exhibited around the world.

“Its brown patina, much rarer than the patinas usually used by the artist, lends it a particular warmth. The surface blends polished areas and fine textures, creating a rich and vibrant interplay of light,” said Hessler. “From a limited cast (4/6) and boasting an impeccable provenance, this head is clearly among Botero’s most sought-after sculptures.”

David Hockney, The Arrival of Spring in Woldgate, East Yorkshire in 2011 (twenty eleven) – 14 March 2011. Price: €300,000

This iPad drawing printed on paper, edition 9 of 25, measures 147 x 113cm and features a spring day in Yorkshire, a county in northern England. Displayed by Galerie Lelong, one of the four galleries worldwide that represent the British artist David Hockney, the focus of the drawing is a narrow road in pale yellow that winds its way through a forest of spindly tree trunks and bare branches, tinged with streaks of soft, lime-green.

The 88-year-old artist has created hundreds of these iPad drawings over the last 15 years, including several that showed the arrival of spring in Normandy, France at the start of the first Covid-19 lockdowns in March 2020. A collection of 17 of Hockney’s iPad prints of the Yorkshire Wolds sold at a Sotheby’s auction in London in October for £6.2 million (roughly €7 million).

Jaume Plensa, Minna, 2025. Price: €310,000

The sculpture stands over 1m tall © Photo credit: Studio Plensa / Courtesy Galerie Lelong

Jaume Plensa, Minna, 2025. Price: €310,000

This monumental sculpture by Jaume Plensa, measuring 121 x 48 x 48cm, is another one of the works exhibited by Galerie Lelong at Luxembourg Art Week. It depicts the head and throat of a young woman, eyes closed, forehead smooth, expression serene, her hair gathered at the nape of her neck.

“The bronze face, painted white, has a near ethereal presence,” explained gallery director Nathalie Berghege. “The material becomes symbolic of a state of being.”

Born in Barcelona in 1955, Plensa’s sculptures are installed in public spaces around the world, including the Millennium Park in Chicago, at the foot of the Shard in London, and by the Fubon Art Museum in Taiwan.

Find more information about Luxembourg Art Week on the fair’s website.