The power on the opening day of Frieze London on October 15 felt much less like a post-Brexit correction and extra like town sliding again into its golden age. Christie’s confirmed it later that night with a £106,925,400 document outcome—the very best whole for a Frieze Week Night Sale in seven years. Regardless of fewer collectors from the U.S. and Asia, London grew to become a playground for British and European collectors, with Italians as current because the French, Japanese Europeans and even Africans, leading to a wholesome stream of gross sales throughout each tier of the market.
VIPs entered at 11 a.m.; by midday, the aisles have been already dense with kiss-and-check choreography and patrons desirous to transact earlier than lunch and champagne. It felt as if London had merely been ready to carry the occasion again to city, and everybody confirmed up of their greatest outfits, greatest smiles and greatest manners—staging a flawless spectacle of British and European opulence. Galleries throughout the principle and curated sections introduced unusually high-quality works: heavy blue-chip statements, sharp experimentation and, at Frieze Masters, art-historical gems.
Among the many advisors most visibly lively on the bottom was Philip Hoffman of New Perspective Artwork Companions and Tremendous Artwork Group, who confirmed that the environment at each Frieze and Frieze Masters was exceptionally vibrant. “Many sellers stated they exceeded their expectations. A number of Previous Grasp sellers talked about they’d a really sturdy day—three or 4 occasions higher than final yr. A lot of the huge galleries offered out their younger up to date shows, both absolutely pre-sold or gone on the primary day,” he famous once we spoke within the night. “Total, I’d say sentiment in London was far above expectations.” Whereas Hoffman acknowledged that the market could not but be again to the height of 5 years in the past, he emphasised that it already feels “considerably stronger than in the beginning of this yr.”
The temper at Regent’s Park was so buoyant that even Gagosian—sometimes allergic to reporting numbers—fortunately introduced a whole sell-out by midday of its Lauren Halsey solo presentation: collage murals and sculptural reliefs merging South Central L.A.’s visible reminiscence with historical Egyptian and Mesoamerican cosmologies, elevating neighborhood narrative and creativity right into a monument of historic document and a celebration of Black American tradition.
Close by, Zwirner’s sales space was anchored by a big, atmospherically summary {photograph} by Wolfgang Tillmans, with two works by the Swiss photographer promoting for costs between $115,000 and $250,000. Further highlights included a portray by Steven Shearer for $550,000, two work by Lucas Arruda within the $320,000-$350,000 vary, a piece on paper by Elizabeth Peyton for $300,000 and one other by Lisa Yuskavage for $180,000. Two important works on paper by Kerry James Marshall offered for $65,000 every on the primary day, coinciding with a significant survey on the Royal Academy of Arts in London. The gallery additionally positioned a portray by Victor Man, who opened his newest present there this week. Additional gross sales included two works by Christopher Williams within the $45,000-$50,000 vary, two works on paper by Huma Bhabha for $45,000 every, a portray by Sosa Joseph for $35,000 and 4 work by Frank Walter at $18,000 every.
Taking on a whole wall of Hauser & Wirth’s sales space was a big new portray by George Rouy, positioned instantly for $275,000. It was joined by different in-demand names from the gallery’s roster: a brand new portray by Avery Singer (impressed by Boccioni) offered for $800,000, and an Ellen Gallagher portray offered for $950,000 as one of many high gross sales of the day. The gallery additionally positioned a George Condominium portray for $200,000, works by Keith Tyson and Henry Taylor at $300,000 every, Angel Otero at $285,000, Lee Bul at $260,000 (following her main present at Leeum Museum), a Takesada Matsutani portray for $250,000, Anj Smith at $170,000, Lorna Simpson at $150,000 (following her Met present), Allison Katz at $45,000 (benefiting the Gallery Local weather Coalition), Jenny Holzer at $40,000 and two Christina Kimeze works at £40,000 every.
In the meantime, at Frieze Masters, the Swiss mega-gallery gave Nicolas Occasion carte blanche to assemble a sales space of historic gems—and each important piece offered on the primary day: Gabriele Münter for CHF 2,400,000, René Magritte for $1,600,000, Paul Klee for €1,450,000, Marcel Duchamp for $1,350,000 and an uncannily sensual Alina Szapocznikow sculpture for $1,200,000. Additional placements included Jack Whitten at $750,000, Man Ray at €380,000, Francis Picabia at €325,000 and Meret Oppenheim at CHF 225,000, together with works by Louise Bourgeois, Alberto Giacometti, Sonia Delaunay, Hans Arp and Hans Emmenegger. As Iwan Wirth famous, these gross sales show that true connoisseurs stay unbiased thinkers—impervious to developments and noise.
Thaddaeus Ropac additionally had a blockbuster day: a Robert Rauschenberg mixed-media work at $850,000, one sculpture by Gormley at £500,000 every, a Daniel Richter portray at €420,000, a Tony Cragg wood sculpture at €360,000, an Erwin Wurm aluminum work at Frieze Sculpture for €330,000, a Gilbert & George 15-panel work for $225,000, a Liza Lou for $225,000, a Joan Snyder for $175,000, two Megan Rooney work at £90,000 every, a ZADIE XA portray at £90,000, an Oliver Beer pigment on canvas for £55,000, a Hans Josephsohn brass work at CHF 60,000, an Antony Gormley ink on paper at £50,000 and a Joan Snyder work for $15,000, with 10 p.c donated to the Gallery Local weather Coalition.
Wrapping a whole wall of Lisson’s sales space was a monumental tapestry by Otobong Nkanga—an extension of the interspecies symbiosis and ecological storytelling she just lately introduced at MoMA. Though the gallery additionally introduced extra bold, institution-level works, it reported strong early gross sales on the primary day, together with a sculpture by Ryan Gander for £85,000 and two works by Sarah Cunningham for $26,000.
Museum-profile artists have been additionally in excessive demand at Lehmann Maupin, which positioned over fifteen works by Korean artist Do Ho Suh along with his main solo survey, “Do Ho Suh: Stroll the Home,” presently on view at Tate Fashionable by way of October 26. “This yr marks our twenty first time taking part in Frieze London and our sixth yr working a gallery area within the metropolis, and over time, we’ve been in a position to see the artwork market’s consistency and resiliency right here up shut. Total, this week has actually felt like a celebration of the success of our London-based artists, together with Do Ho Suh,” Isabella Icoz, companion at Lehmann Maupin, stated, noting that different artists of their roster even have a robust presence within the metropolis. Gilbert & George simply opened their solo exhibition “twenty first Century Footage” on the Hayward Gallery, and Teresa Photo voltaic Abboud, who just lately joined the gallery, debuted a brand new site-specific fee there as effectively.
Clearly concentrating on museums and curators was the two-person sales space of Peter Blum, presenting important works by institutionally acclaimed artist Nicholas Galanin alongside work by Rebecca Ward. The gallery offered 5 of Ward’s works for a complete of $125,000 to personal collections within the U.S. and the U.Ok.
A transparent development at Frieze this yr was the prominence of spiritually attuned works proposing extra harmonious, cosmological relationships with nature. White Dice captured this power most powerfully, pairing Marguerite Humeau, Howardena Pindell and Sara Flores—three artists exploring the human–pure world connection by way of materials, ritual and power. Collectors responded instantly, leading to a number of gross sales: Humeau’s large-scale bronze offered for £200,000, extra bronze sculptures offered for £65,000 and £50,000 and three works on paper positioned at £65,000, £65,000 and £40,000. Pindell’s mixed-media portray offered for $150,000, whereas massive work by Flores have been positioned at $115,000 and $70,000.
Tempo devoted its whole sales space to William Monk, whose luminous kaleidoscopic portals into gentle and nature drew collectors into well mannered territorial negotiations relying on dimension, funds and proximity. Seven work offered inside hours, priced from $30,000 to $295,000, going to outstanding non-public collectors throughout Asia and Europe. At Frieze Masters, the gallery shifted registers with a full sales space of Peter Hujar’s backstage portraits of Seventies and Eighties New York, inserting six works with European and American collectors forward of his upcoming 2026 present on the Morgan Library in New York.
Sean Kelly echoed the same tone, presenting a three-person sales space that includes Julian Charrière, Sam Moyer and Laurent Grasso. “We’ve had a wonderful first day,” companion Cécile Panzieri instructed Observer. “We’ve positioned a number of works by Moyer, a significant portray by Grasso, an necessary sculpture by Charrière, and a number of other extra conversations are ongoing.”
Not removed from his father-in-law—and now confidently coming into the mega-gallery lane—Matthew Brown delivered a flurry of early gross sales: a four-part pencil work by Kenturah Davis for $80,000; a Carroll Dunham portray for $60,000 plus two drawings at $6,000-$17,500; a Mimi Lauter work for $60,000; three Julie Beaufils work (costs undisclosed); two Uri Aran works at $22,000-$28,000; two Kent O’Connor work at $8,000-$12,000; two Michelle Uckotter works at $9,500-$12,000; an Omari Douglin portray for $10,000; and an Olivia van Kuiken portray for $4,500.
Additionally sustaining its blue-chip facet, the previous Kasmin—now Olney Gleason—offered a Robert Indiana for $200,000, a Diana Al-Hadid for $90,000, three Sara Anstis works between $10,000 and $50,000, two Cynthia Daignault items, two Alexis Ralaivao work, a piece by vanessa german and one by Lyn Liu.
In the meantime, on the up to date facet, London-based vendor Timothy Taylor noticed success, almost promoting out his whole sales space devoted to London-based artist Daniel Crews-Chubb, with costs starting from £70,000 to £95,000. GRIMM additionally reported a robust opening day, inserting 15 works with a number of extra on maintain. Highlights included a big portray by Louise Giovanelli positioned with a U.Ok. museum for £80,000, a Gabriella Boyd work at £33,000 and a number of gross sales by the gallery’s latest addition, Anna Ruth, who had 4 works positioned within the €5,000-14,000 vary forward of her first solo present with the gallery in Amsterdam in April 2026. Further gross sales included a Daniel Richter for €120,000, a Tommy Harrison for £25,000, an Angela Heisch for $45,000, a Jonathan Wateridge for £7,000, a Ciarán Murphy for €9,000, a Rafał Topolewski for €12,000 (acquired by a London-based public assortment) and a Fischer Mustin for £3,850. Additional placements included an Anders Davidsen for €13,000, two Liza Jo Eilers works at $6,000 every and one other Tommy Harrison for £25,000.
Demand for Korean artwork stays sturdy. Tina Kim Gallery reported a sturdy opening day, inserting a Ha Chong-Hyun portray for $550,000, two work by Kibong Rhee for $100,000 and $80,000, a textile work by Lee ShinJa for $70,000, a multimedia work by Pacita Abad for $35,000 and a Maia Ruth Lee portray for $24,000. In the meantime, her mom’s gallery, Kukje, additionally offered throughout the board: two Ha Chong-Hyun work starting from $230,000 to $313,600, a Kibong Rhee between $90,000 and $108,000, a Kim Yun Shin work for $20,000-24,000, a Park Chan-kyong portray for $2,500-3,000 and a Heejoon Lee for $5,000-6,000. At Frieze London, Johyun Gallery paired Lee Bae with the luminous abstractions of Kim Taek Sang, whereas at Frieze Masters, it introduced a full black sales space of later Park Website positioning-Bo work alongside a Sixties instance—drawing sturdy curiosity and gross sales at each ends of the market.
Area for discoveries and experimentation
Frieze London stays particularly definitely worth the go to for its world vary at each degree—and this yr, the perfect discoveries as soon as once more greeted guests close to the doorway, when power and a spotlight have been nonetheless excessive earlier than navigating the total sweep of 280 exhibitors throughout Frieze London and Frieze Masters.
Close to the doorway, ATHR Gallery from Saudi Arabia introduced a two-artist sales space that includes Daniah Alsaleh and Basmah Felemban, each exploring the Kingdom’s pure and cultural landscapes as websites in flux—constantly reshaped by the motion of individuals, ecologies and tales. The presentation attracted worldwide collectors, with 5 works by Daniah Alsaleh positioned, together with one for £5,500, two for £4,700 every and three at £2,400 apiece, together with a piece by Felemban for £2,515 and a photographic print by Mohammad Alfaraj for £1,900.
A number of galleries from India made a notable impression at Frieze this yr, underscoring the nation’s accelerating position within the world artwork market. Main the cost, Vadehra Artwork Gallery reported a number of gross sales starting from $7,500 to $40,000 throughout each established and rising names from India and its world diaspora. Among the many highlights, a piece by Ashfika Rahman was positioned with an establishment for $27,000, alongside works by Anju Dodiya—signaling continued confidence within the depth and variety of South Asian artwork. The gallery additionally positioned works by Leela Mukherjee, Astha Butail, Shilpa Gupta, Biraaj Dodiya and Faiza Butt with a mixture of non-public and public worldwide collections. As a part of their solo presentation, “Ancestral Log” within the Studio part—reimagining the studio as an inside theatre of the psyche, the place reminiscence, delusion and selfhood collide—Vadehra offered three massive works by Anju Dodiya for £37,000 every. In the meantime, Mumbai- and Kolkata-based Experimenter offered works by each artist of their presentation, additional confirming the momentum of the Indian scene.
This yr, the Focus part featured a number of the most fascinating discoveries and experimental shows with a world breadth. Beirut-based Marfa delivered one of the vital quietly arresting cubicles, with a solo by Omar Fakhoury, whose intuitive, painterly visions have been hauntingly introspective and psychologically dense. Recent off the momentum of Liste, his works additionally stood out for his or her accessibility, priced between $2,000 and $7,000.
Cairo-based Gypsum additionally obtained a robust response for its two-person sales space spotlighting two rising younger Egyptian feminine artists. By way of fractured sculptural ceramic reliefs and hand-stitched tapestries, each artists discover intertwined themes of labor and leisure by inspecting the commercial and socio-political heritage of the port metropolis of Alexandria—and the nationalist representations it produced. On the primary day, the gallery positioned each of Marianne Fahmy’s hand-stitched tapestries with London- and Turkish-based collections at €15,000 every.
Bought out by the night was El Apartamento’s two-person presentation of Cuban artists Ariamna Contino and Alex Hernández, that includes mixed-media works priced between $6,000 and $55,000—all positioned with European non-public collectors. Contino and Hernández’s work interprets scientific ideas and statistics into artwork to look at pressing points shaping up to date society, from environmental well being and social equilibrium to human mobility and the complexities of human conduct.
Close by, in its fourth look at Frieze, Shanghai-based Emptiness debuted the nuanced, dreamlike work of younger Chinese language expertise Xingzi Gu—poetic meditations on the porous boundary between sensory expertise and its emotional or psychological afterimage. Working in diluted washes of pastel and jewel-toned acrylics, her atmospheric canvases unfolded like visible emotional murmurs and delicate fading recollections.
Some of the compelling cubicles within the part got here from Public Gallery, presenting a solo by London-based Xin Liu, who continues her investigation into exchanges between human and non-human realms by way of a particular mix of cutting-edge expertise, scientific rigor and futuristic creativeness. Centered on her idea of “cosmic metabolism”—which attracts parallels between human conduct and microbiotic techniques—Liu reworked the sales space right into a lab-like ecosystem: an oblong metal tank cultivating fast-replicating duckweed, an invasive species usually blamed for choking ponds but now studied as a possible meals and gas supply for outer area, flanked by two towers dripping steady streams of viscous liquid. This residing set up phases the strain between overproduction and renewal, utilizing duckweed as a metaphor for fertility beneath social and technological stress. Her accompanying encaustic works, fabricated from beeswax, resin and embedded silk threads, evoke root techniques, capillaries and genetic maps, extending the identical inquiry into a cloth and sensual kind. Impressed by Han Kang’s The Vegetarian and filtered by way of a techno-feminist lens, Liu hyperlinks botanical transformation to feminine id, prompting a well timed reflection on how the physique is biologically and culturally constrained—whereas questioning how the very notions of id, ecology and social constructions could must be radically reconfigured to endure in fast-changing ecosystems.
The Focus part additionally made area for video installations and digital artwork, together with an interesting video by Korean London-based artist Eunjo Lee, introduced by Niru Ratnam, which explored interspecies relationships by way of poetic and visionary digital creativeness. Close by, Mexico Metropolis-based LLANO made a robust Frieze debut with a multimedia work by Enrique López Llamas that, combining parody, humor and sociological critique, examines repetition and failure because the core mechanics of each maturity and art-making—a Sisyphean cycle of trial and error, threat and reward, disgrace and assurance, swinging between impostor syndrome and full main-character power.
Equally immersive and experimental was Gathering’s solo sales space by Christelle Oyiri, who conceived a whole multimedia setting fusing playful acid-green visuals with a club-like aesthetic. Beneath its seductive floor, the work delivered a pointy critique of the long-term results of chlordecone contamination in Martinique and Guadeloupe—a poisonous pesticide scandal nonetheless impacting native our bodies and land—whereas drawing a pointed parallel to a brand new type of colonial extraction: the vacationer economic system’s ongoing exploitation of the identical islands. The presentation follows her current fee at Tate earlier this yr.
Different standout shows appeared in “Echoes of the Current,” a brand new themed part on the heart of the truthful curated by Jareh Das, exploring an intergenerational dialogue between up to date artists from Brazil, Africa and their diasporas. Quite than a geographic grouping, the part traced shared histories and aesthetic affinities rooted within the pressured motion of African individuals throughout the Atlantic and sustained by way of ongoing cultural change—leading to parallel narratives of reminiscence, ritual and resilience.
Among the many most compelling contributions, São Paulo-based Simões de Assis introduced rising artist Diambe, whose egg tempera and oil on linen work echo the natural patina of their fantastical bronze types—creating surfaces that really feel each historical and intensely current, primordially grounded in nature but visionarily attuned to a symbiotic future. Rooted in emotional intelligence and an alchemical transformation of supplies, the works carry a votive cost, as if holding traces of formality or choices celebrating pure cycles. “Diambe’s work, deeply rooted within the materials and religious experiences of the African diaspora, displays the worldwide resonance of Brazilian artwork at this time,” gallery director Guilherme Simões de Assis instructed Observer. “Presenting her in London situates Brazilian up to date artwork inside a transnational context that embraces ecology, ritual and the poetics of transformation.” The gallery reported sturdy curiosity within the modestly priced works because the artist prepares for his or her forthcoming exhibition at Kunsthalle Basel in January.
Close by, Mitre Galeria introduced Afro-Brazilian artist Aline Motta, whose stereoscopic 3D pictures layer household archives with the current—embodying ancestral presence whereas confronting the erasure of slavery’s historical past. In her arms, espresso crops change into each reminiscence and metaphor.
Recent off her just lately closed exhibition at MoMA PS1, Luanda-born artist Sandra Poulson introduced one other politically and memorially resonant set up with Jahmek Up to date. Poulson’s follow attracts on familial and social information to dissect up to date Angolan realities by way of semiotic research of on a regular basis objects—comparable to home utensils—that perform as lively brokers in ongoing political and cultural transformation, inherently positioning her work inside a decolonial framework.
Museum choices and rediscoveries at Frieze Masters
This yr, Frieze Masters genuinely rivaled Artwork Basel and TEFAF Maastricht when it comes to encyclopedic ambition, with museum-quality shows, historic rediscoveries, uncommon antiques and manuscripts, in addition to 5 to seven blue-chip masters anchoring the truthful.
Bought throughout the first hours for £650,000 was a triceratops head dated to the Late Cretaceous Interval (circa 68 million years in the past), introduced by David Aaron proper on the entrance. The gallery reported a dozen different gross sales of artifacts starting from completely preserved Cycladic collectible figurines to an entire skeleton of a saber-toothed Nimravidae dated to the Oligocene (circa 33.7-23.8 million years in the past), which offered for a big six-figure sum. “Frieze Masters at all times attracts collectors and curators from all over the world. This yr had a wonderful opening day of the truthful,” gallery director Salomon Aaron instructed Observer.
In the meantime, on the fashionable and up to date facet, the New York gallery recognized for rediscovering and relaunching artist estates spotlighted American painter Janice Biala (1903-2000) within the Highlight part of Frieze Masters 2025. The presentation featured seven necessary work from the Fifties and Sixties, exemplary of Biala’s signature melding of types and cultures as she lived and labored between the U.S. and Paris. By night, the gallery had positioned 4 works, with costs starting from $18,000 to $55,000.
Some of the memorable shows got here from San Francisco-based gallerist Wendi Norris, who debuted an exquisitely carved cradle within the type of a sailboat by Leonora Carrington—its floor coated in a densely symbolic painted narrative tracing the cycle of life as a fantastical hero’s journey impressed by fairytales, delusion and the artist’s personal boundless creativeness. Initially made for her goddaughter, that is the second-largest sculpture Carrington ever produced, following the record-setting work offered at Christie’s final season and, as Norris subtly hinted, it carries a equally six-figure worth. “It’s a singular masterpiece—I don’t assume it’s hyperbole to say there may be nothing else in her oeuvre prefer it. Like a monumental portray within the spherical,” Norris commented. La cuna showcases Leonora’s singular items for storytelling, legendary synthesis and the delightfully surprising. “We’re thrilled to current it at Frieze Masters in England, the place Leonora was born, as an everlasting testomony to her outstanding artistry and boundless creativity.”
This particular piece was paired with an untitled tapestry by Carrington that merges symbolic references to the Mesoamerican god Quetzalcoatl with fabrication by a household of grasp weavers from San Miguel Chiconcuac, proven alongside works by Wolfgang Paalen, Alice Rahon, Remedios Varo and Peter Younger—artists whose practices have been profoundly formed by their time in Mexico. Notably, Norris, one of many first gallerists to champion Surrealist and visionary girls artists, has lengthy been Carrington’s vendor, working along with her throughout her lifetime and effectively earlier than the institutional and market surge that adopted her celebrated Venice Biennale inclusion. Since 2004, the gallery has additionally been the principal steward of Remedios Varo’s equally imaginative universe, mounting a number of solo exhibitions that helped reignite consideration to her fantastical work.
Among the many artists price discovering at Frieze Masters was Mozambican artist Teresa Roza d’Oliveira, introduced by Portugal’s Perve Galeria—a pioneering African feminist and activist whose work has lengthy been missed. Born on the Island of Mozambique to Portuguese dad and mom, d’Oliveira developed a fiercely expressive visible language: archetypically symbolic, emotionally uncooked and unafraid to confront the “demons” of society—patriarchy, oppression and inner battle. Residing on the fixed crossroads of African and European id, she resisted all makes an attempt at straightforward categorization and spent her life struggling to “match”—a white lady born in Africa throughout independence, and one of many few artists of her era to brazenly embrace a same-sex relationship within the Seventies. The ensuing work and drawings from the Sixties to the late Seventies—many proven publicly for the primary time—merge poetic reflections on feminine expertise with intuitive symbolism and radical political cost, forming a physique of labor that feels traditionally pivotal and urgently up to date.
Among the many blue-chip names, Gagosian introduced a solo sales space of virtuosic new work by Glenn Brown impressed by artwork historical past, whereas Ben Brown paired works by Lucio Fontana and Alighiero Boetti with creations by the extremely in-demand design duo Claude Lalanne and François-Xavier Lalanne, promoting numerous items with costs starting from $300,000 to $800,000.
Rising worldwide curiosity in Aboriginal artwork was unmistakable, particularly as Emily Kame Kngwarreye prepares for her main retrospective at Tate Fashionable this fall—a milestone confirmed by D’Lan Up to date, which noticed fast market response in London. The gallery reported sturdy first-day gross sales for main Western Desert artists of the era that adopted Kngwarreye and have been notably formed by her legacy. A number of works by Makinti Napanangka offered steadily at AUD 60,000, 120,000 and 150,000, culminating in a record-breaking AUD 280,000 ($182,000) sale for a 2008 Lupulnga portray to a personal New York collector. The gallery additionally positioned two works by Naata Nungurrayi for AUD 140,000 ($91,000) and AUD 280,000 ($182,000), each acquired by a New York non-public assortment—underscoring the surging world demand for traditionally important Aboriginal girls artists.
The record of noteworthy gross sales and shows at each festivals might go on, reaffirming that the historic London version stays a major worldwide platform—strategically important to each the market and the broader artwork world. Removed from being overshadowed, Frieze London not solely coexists with the newly empowered Artwork Basel Paris however proves it may possibly nonetheless compete on the highest degree—and maintain its floor.
Extra in artwork festivals, biennials and triennials
