As mega-galleries adapt in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, they are shifting tactics and schedules — and, in some cases, rearranging the locations of entire shows.
As a result, New York will get unexpected visits from the works of two great painters this fall. A showcase of new art by Jenny Saville, originally planned for a spring opening in the Gagosian gallery’s Hong Kong space, will instead arrive in Manhattan in November. And a canceled exhibition of paintings by the late Jack Whitten, intended for Hauser & Wirth’s Zurich branch during Art Basel in June, will now be installed in the gallery’s new flagship space in Chelsea in November.
“The situation in New York is extremely fluid, and that could change our trajectory and our plans, but we are prepared for that,” said Andrew Fabricant, the chief operating officer of Gagosian. He’s been working with Ali Soufan, a risk strategist and former F.B.I. agent, to help manage the safe reopening of the gallery’s branches.
The impact of the virus on the gallery’s operations “has been enormous,” Mr. Fabricant added. “We have suffered, but not to a degree that’s going to really put us on our back feet.”