A new art fair with Dallas roots is due to open in a London landmark next year: the former US embassy on Grosvenor Square. Coinciding with Frieze week, the London Invitational is a spin-off of the Dallas Invitational, a boutique satellite fair that runs alongside the Dallas Art Fair. Organised by the British-born Dallas dealer James Cope and the local collector Jessica Nowitzki, the London edition will mirror its Texan counterpart by taking over an entire floor of a luxury hotel.
Around 15 galleries—from cities including London, New York and Los Angeles—will show at the Chancery Rosewood Hotel, newly opened in the mid-century Modern building designed by the US architect Eero Saarinen. The embassy vacated the site in Mayfair to move to Nine Elms in south London in 2018, paving the way for the building’s redevelopment into a luxury hotel. With such a small number of galleries, the London Invitational will be tightly curated and considered, explains Cope. “From talking to colleagues in London, there is a want and need for something like this,” Cope says, as “an alternative to the overwhelming feel of a large fair.”Carlie Porterfield