Art in transit

Lumas bucks the trend. Its arrival in the world’s ninth busiest international airport, which handled 63.2 million passengers in total last year, is an opportunity to test the waters of selling art in transit. Contemporary art editions are showcased in a store that is carefully curated so that travelers can, for the first time, discover, experience, and purchase art on the move, with worldwide shipping available to over 70 countries.

The project has been realized in collaboration with Media Frankfurt, the marketing partner for advertising and communication spaces at Frankfurt Airport, which brings expertise in high-traffic environment staging. The business has booked all the advertising spaces in T3 at launch, with companies such as DZ Bank, Mastercard, Europcar, Honda, Kia, and Lumas among the first to showcase their campaigns.

The new terminal is amplified the visibility and impact of art. For example, large, rotating donut‑like forms hang in the check-in hall, called The First, the Last, Eternity by German artist Julius von Bismarck; and post-security, at the entrance to the departure hall is a 3D-effect artwork from influential contemporary artist Tobias Rehberger.

Berlin-based Lumas is a more commercial embodiment of art’s presence in T3. With this concept, the company says it is “deliberately moving beyond the traditional slow-paced gallery model” and into a high-traffic space. Marc Ullrich, founder and CEO of Lumas Art Editions, said: “We are bringing art to a place where people from all over the world come together. Our goal is to remove art from the standard white cube and integrate it into everyday life—even in spaces primarily defined by transience and function.”

Among T3’s potential 19 million passengers, eventually traveling on 57 airlines including Qatar Airways, Emirates, British Airways, Delta, and Korean Air, the company believes that many of them “will encounter a hand-signed, limited-edition for the first time”, not hung on a gallery wall, but in a departure hall—and purchasable.

From cosmetic appeal to the cash desk

Artworks, particularly on a large scale, as seen at London Heathrow, Singapore Changi, and LaGuardia, are becoming the norm, and passengers have almost come to expect grand spectacles at airports—they become visual signatures tied to the gateway. Institutional collaborations and curated exhibitions have also become popular, with some sales taking place.

But selling art to passengers airside in a more structured retail environment is relatively new. Lumas argues that what distinguishes its concept is the convergence of installation and gallery space—it makes the art visible and physically accessible, while giving shoppers the option to buy and have it shipped. Media Frankfurt’s Head of Marketing, Angela Markovic, told me that prices would start at €250 ($290), but more collectible items are valued in the thousands. Lumas will be present for a year initially.

Studies show that art in public spaces can reduce stress and enhance well-being, useful in airport environments where de-stressed travelers tend to spend more during their dwell time. According to Airports Council International, a 1% increase in passenger satisfaction can lead to revenue growth of up to 1.5%.

To speed up the decision-making process, Lumas has deliberately selected works that are visually accessible but conceptually substantial, and compelling enough to resonate, even in passing. The initial curatorial approach is to focus on German artists in a German airport, but appealing to a global audience. QR codes allow for instant ordering, though art consultants are available for personal consultations.

Two of the artists displayed are Luc Dratwa, who captures aerial metropolitan landscapes—cities one is leaving or about to enter condensed into a single image; and Beatrice Hug, whose work explores abstract fields of color and light that shift depending on the viewer’s perspective. Both address themes of movement, transition, and perception.

Since its founding in 2004, Lumas has set out to lower the barriers to the art world and open up collecting to a broader audience. Today, it has a portfolio of more than 500 artists, among them some big names like Damien Hirst, Jeff Koons, Bert Stern, and Gavin Evans.

With more than 5,000 curated editions and over €33 million in artist royalties paid to date, it was perhaps just a matter of time before Lumas looked at the airport market, and its above-average income passengers. Frankfurt’s Terminal 3 now joins Lumas’s 19 galleries across Europe and the United States with a year to prove its model can work in the fast-moving travel shopping environment of the airport.