The opening of Frieze London is casting the world’s art market in a positive light and catching the eye of eager buyers.
The bright blue sky of a perfect autumn day hung over the white tents at Frieze this week, setting a picturesque scene for the UK’s premier gathering of contemporary and historic art. On Wednesday, the opening of the event was so packed with invite-only guests that it prompted a familiar question among attendees: where had so many very important people been hiding for the rest of the year? The art market, commentators are told time and again, is not what it once was, facing headwinds of economic uncertainty and shifting global buyer habits. Yet, as the crowds swarmed the sprawling white pavilions, the pressing question remained whether hope for the market could truly be found in Regent’s Park, or if the gathering merely offered the opportunity for some excellent people watching.
At one end of Regent’s Park, Frieze Masters—the section of the fair dedicated to works created before 2000—tells a fascinating story of craft and creation. There are some wonderful things to see, spanning millennia of human and natural history, including meteorite fragments, dinosaur skulls, and historic weaponry among them. It is a diverse and eclectic presentation that bridges the gap between traditional fine art and broader material culture.
"You could say that we’re telling the story of our universe—not just of mankind and of human creativity," Emanuela Tarizzo, the director of Frieze Masters, tells Monocle. "We see more people collecting art alongside natural history and it reflects a way of collecting that was already in existence at least 500 years ago—the so-called Kunstkammer [cabinet of curiosities]. It’s fun to see it come back today with different generations."
What makes Frieze Masters such a unique proposal—and what has been masterfully realised this year—is the savvy curatorial approach that underpins it. Galleries in this section do not merely display objects in isolation; they create immersive dialogues between different eras, mediums, and ideas. At the booth of rare books dealer Daniel Crouch, for instance, visitors can inspect a set of 10,000 satirical prints from the collection of the late British restaurateur Andrew Edmunds. The single lot is esoteric, yes, but extraordinary, shown alongside a 17th-century French printing press. For institutional buyers or dedicated private collectors, it represents a compelling acquisition opportunity, priced as a steal at £45,000 (€53,000).
Elsewhere in the historic section, a 17th-century still life by Jan Brueghel the Elder, which led early sales at about £5m (€5.9m), hangs in striking juxtaposition with an artwork by star British artist Flora Yukhnovich. This thoughtful placement creates the chance for fairgoers to see both historical mastery and contemporary vitality in a new light, proving that cross-generational curating continues to be a major draw for sophisticated collectors.
Across the park at Frieze London, which focuses squarely on contemporary work made after 2000, many of the booths belong to familiar commercial powerhouses and established names that anchor the international art circuit. However, for galleries making their debut at the fair, Frieze London has long served as a vital professional North Star.
"Frieze London has been my favourite fair internationally for as long as I’ve been in this industry," says Jennifer Carvalho of New York-based Carvalho gallery, which joins the fair for the first time this year. Carvalho is presenting new works by Corinna Gosmaro, Guillaume Linard Osorio, and Rachel Mica Weiss, bringing a diverse mix of sculptures, paintings, and installations to the British capital. These works make prominent use of unusual materials, with marble, thread, and polycarbonate among them, highlighting the tactile and experimental nature of contemporary artistic practice.
Carvalho seems well content with her sales so far, which included the swift acquisition of two works by Mica Weiss—an artist who already maintains a waiting list in the United States. These pieces sold within the fair’s very first hour for £22,000 (€26,000) each, an early indicator of strong buyer intent.
"I wasn’t necessarily expecting that," Carvalho says, reflecting on the brisk opening momentum. "I have always found the US market to be the most resilient, but I see now that the strongest works will find their collectors wherever they are."
Carvalho’s peppy sentiment is echoed by the palpable energy across Frieze this year, which has been matched by healthy sales sheets and confident transactions reported by galleries of all sizes. Early highlights from the fair include the significant sale of three paintings by Alice Neel for a combined $5m (€4.5m), demonstrating enduring demand for major 20th-century figurative works. Other notable transactions include a new painting by Michaël Borremans going for $1.5m (€1.3m), and a rare, second-century mottled red sandstone sculpture finding a buyer for just over $1m (€890,000).
These robust figures suggest that great works, as Carvalho contends, will consistently find their buyers regardless of broader economic jitters. At both Frieze London and Frieze Masters, international galleries have clearly brought their best inventory, refusing to hold back in a city that remains a cornerstone of the global art trade. In turn, collectors are proving willing to put their hands in their pockets, whether they are acquiring a contemporary bronze sculpture by William Turnbull or investing in a prehistoric sabre-cat skull. Those bright autumn blue skies over Regent’s Park might well have been something of a portent, demonstrating that, at least for this week, Frieze is painting London and the broader art market in a decidedly good light.
