The FOG Design+Art Preview Gala Kicks Off San Francisco Art Week
Nearly 3,000 guests filled Fort Mason for the fair’s opening night, where blue-chip placements and a high-profile crowd signaled a confident start to the 2026 edition
San Francisco brimmed with creative energy this week as collectors, curators, artists, and cultural leaders from across the art, business, and technology worlds converged in the Bay Area to celebrate San Francisco Art Week. The citywide program opened on January 21 with the star-studded FOG Design+Art Preview Gala, which drew more than 2,700 esteemed guests to Fort Mason Center for Arts and Culture, marking the highest attendance in the event’s history. The glamorous evening welcomed an international audience for a celebratory start to the fair, with proceeds benefiting the education initiatives of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
Exhibitors reported brisk early sales and sustained engagement throughout the night, reinforcing confidence in the fair’s momentum and the Bay Area’s market. Hauser & Wirth led the evening with significant transactions, including Jack Whitten’s Solar Space (1971), which sold for more than $1 million, alongside works by Rashid Johnson at $750,000, Luchita Hurtado at $695,000, Charles Gaines at $595,000, and Avery Singer at $575,000. Gladstone Gallery reported a strong first day as well, with sales that included a Richard Mayhew painting placed for $350,000 and multiple Robert Rauschenberg Kyoto drawings at $110,000 each.
Among the standout performances was local gallery Jessica Silverman, which placed Loie Hollowell’s Ultramarine Brain Over Yellow Waters (2025) for $450,000. Additional placements included works by Rupy C. Tut, Clare Rojas, Davina Semo, Masako Miki, and Rebecca Manson, whose solo exhibition remains on view at the gallery’s Chinatown location. “One of the many great things about FOG Design+Art is that it grows the market,” said Silverman. “We always meet new clients, many of whom are new to art collecting. This year is no exception. Our curated booth ‘Out of the Blue’ has been a magnet for the tech community who are accustomed to blue-sky thinking.”
Strong momentum continued across the fair floor. Charles Moffett sold out its presentation of nine new paintings by Los Angeles–based artist Hopie Hill, with prices ranging from $8,000 to $16,000. Tina Kim Gallery reported multiple six-figure sales over the course of the evening, including paintings by Park Seo-Bo and Ha Chong-Hyun, each placed for $250,000, alongside works by Kim Tschang-Yeul, Lee ShinJa, Kibong Rhee, and Maia Ruth Lee. Additional strong results came from Night Gallery, Karma, Fraenkel Gallery, and Anat Egbi, each reporting multiple placements across the opening night.
“It was incredibly rewarding to see such enthusiasm and momentum at the Preview Gala as we opened the 2026 edition of FOG Design+Art,” said fair director Sydney Blumenkranz. “Each year the fair continues to evolve, deepening its commitment to both art and design while fostering meaningful connection within our community. The energy last night set a powerful tone for the days ahead.”
Throughout the evening, guests enjoyed wine from The Donum Estate—an official partner of FOG Design+Art and SFMOMA—alongside signature cocktails and mocktails, with catering by McCall’s that ranged from sushi to dim sum and bao carts. At the fair’s entrance, attendees explored a Zoox robotaxi installation before heading inside, where DJ Debut set the evening’s soundtrack.
The gala also marked the return of FOG Focus, the fair’s platform dedicated to galleries presenting artists at earlier points in their careers. Visitors encountered the reappearance of FOG MRKT at the entryway, a curated retail presentation highlighting local purveyors and artist-designed objects produced in limited editions.
The evening drew a notable crowd that included honorary chairs Sir Jony Ive, Lady Heather Ive, Tabitha Soren, and Michael Lewis; SFMOMA director Christopher Bedford; artists Rodney McMillian, Mildred Howard, Ana Teresa Fernández, Leo Villareal, Rio Kobayashi, Minjae Kim, Tiffany Shlain, Lava Thomas, Trevor Paglen, Sesse Elangwe, Arlene Correa Valencia, and Masako Miki; fashion designer Zac Posen; San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie; Monetta White, director and CEO of the Museum of the African Diaspora; and Ali Gass, founding director of ICA San Francisco. Scroll below for more images of the evening.
