Frieze London 2024 Receipts: Steady Sales Despite Headwinds

Frieze London 2025 15–19 October 2025

While few reported sellout booths, there was nonetheless an air of confidence amongst gallerists sweeping through the redesigned tent.

‘The extraordinary arts ecosystem in London is an enduring draw for artists and collectors alike,’ said Austrian gallerist Thaddaeus Ropac, who has spaces in London, Paris, Salzburg, and Seoul.

‘Today we’ve met a surprising number of collectors who are new to us, as well as collectors who have been very important to us over the years... from India, Bangladesh, all across Europe, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, South America, and the smaller number who have come from North America have made a real impact today,’ he added.

Ropac reported sales of a Joan Snyder painting, Mud & Lace (2024), for U.S. $200,000; a watercolour on paper by Elizabeth Peyton for $225,000; and numerous works by Megan Rooney, Zadie Xa, and Martha Jungwirth.

Meanwhile, Stephen Friedman Gallery reported a sold-out booth of a dozen paintings by British artists Caroline Walker (with prices ranging from £35,000–175,000) and Clare Woods (£45,000–70,000), placed with collectors in the U.K., U.S., Europe, and Asia.

This year’s edition boasted redesigned spaces and artist-focused programming. Frieze director Eva Langret and her team commandeered the blue-chips to the back of the tent, giving greater prominence to the fair’s curated section. Notably, Focus—a section dedicated to galleries 20 years or younger—was planted at the centre of the floor plan.

‘I was ready to turn on my usual Frieze London auto-pilot,’ laughed one London-based collector. ‘But this year I actually have to think about what I want to see and where I want to go.’

It was a change well-received by most, not least the smaller galleries, who benefitted from the platform that this revised blueprint had given them. Freddy Powell of London gallery Ginny on Frederick reported a sold-out booth on day one with his solo presentation of works by Charlotte Edey, while his East London allies in Focus spoke of productive conversations with collectors who wouldn’t usually venture east of Mayfair—or in past years, any further back in the tent than Gail’s Bakery.

The blue-chips, in their retreated position, weren’t complaining either. Pace Gallery reported strong sales including two Emily Kam Kngwarray paintings titled After Summer and Alagura Awelye I (both 1994) for $150,000 each. A David Hockney iPad painting, a Pam Evelyn abstract painting, and a bronze Yoshitomo Nara sculpture, as part of Frieze Sculpture, all sold for an undisclosed sum.

Hauser & Wirth dedicated their booth to Charles Gaines ‘Shadow’ series (1978–ongoing) and reported half a dozen sales of the 20-odd inventory for just under U.S. $200,000 each. At their Frieze Masters booth, an exquisite late work from Francis Picabia sold for $4 million; an Arshile Gorky for $8.5 million; and a rare example of ​Édouard Manet’s racecourse pictures for $4.5 million.

David Zwirner placed paintings by Yayoi Kusama for $670,000 and $720,000; two paintings by Lisa Yuskavage for $160,000 and $2 million; and a new painting by their latest recruit: the 26-year-old Sasha Gordon.

However, for many it was Billy Childish over at Lehmann Maupin who brought in the crowds, painting on-site with his two children as apprentices. Within the first few hours of opening, the gallery had sold 11 paintings from the solo booth, all in the range of $50,000–100,000. One work titled river trees (2024) was produced on-site and sold later the same day.

For all the murmurings of gallerists holding back their best stock for Art Basel Paris, it seemed Ropac’s sentiments were shared: London’s still got it. —[O]

Main image: Billy Childish at Lehmann Maupin, Frieze London (9–13 October 2024). Courtesy Frieze and Linda Nylind. Photo: Linda Nylind.