Frieze London 2026
News and analysis from on-the-ground at the fair and across London this week
News
Is the energy of the 1990s returning to London’s art market?
A fascination with Cool Britannia is evident at exhibitions, auctions and art fairs—though some question whether a revival of this era is possible or wise
Staff strike at Goldsmiths is now the longest in UK university history
Students say they are not receiving marks or feedback, as dispute over the institution's restructuring programme has dragged on for 130 days
New Abu Dhabi cultural district announced ahead of the emirate’s inaugural Frieze fair
The area, called Noma, will be near the site of the first Frieze Abu Dhabi, which launches next month in the Saadiyat Cultural District
Frieze Masters balance shifts towards Global South
More non-Western art is represented at this year’s edition, along with galleries from North Africa, the Middle East and South Asia
Modernists brought into the mix at 1-54 Contemporary African art fair
New historical strand responds to a wider surge of institutional attention
‘Artist-first’ Fair Play launches to strong attendance but slow sales during London Frieze week
The gallery-free fair takes a commission rather than charging a stand fee
At Frieze London, some buyers are taking risks—others are taking their time
The fair is adapting to changing buying patterns, but it seems to be paying off for galleries offering radical works
New London Invitational art fair moves into former US Embassy
The British outpost of the Dallas Invitational has taken over 12 rooms at the Chancery Rosewood hotel in Mayfair
At London’s new Latin American art fair Paraíso, a decade-in-the-making exhibition finally debuts
Previously unseen works by the late Mexican conceptual artist feature in Latin American fair’s inaugural edition
Version of nude faun sculpture torn down during Islamic Revolution appears at Frieze Masters
An edition of a work that was pulled down by Iranian government in 1979 is on show at Ab-Anbar gallery
Artists impacted by Stephen Friedman gallery closure out in force at Frieze London
After the gallery’s shock collapse, many of its artists are present at the fair under different representation
Okiki Akinfe wins inaugural £30,000 emerging artist prize at Frieze London
The Dasha Shenkman Focus Fund joins longstanding fair awards from Tate, Frieze, the Arts Council and others
Gallery Climate Coalition’s ‘10% Of’ fundraising initiative returns to Frieze London for a second year
Scheme will see 13 galleries pledge a tenth of proceeds from a work to the charity
Frieze Artist Award winner Theo Triantafyllidis’s spider sculpture aims to bring people together
The artist’s work at the London fair includes a multiplayer video game
From Belgian diesel tanks to Ivory Coast medallions, PAD London fair offers an eclectic mix
The design fair's 18th edition enjoyed strong sales on its opening day
Features
At museums across London, Old Masters cuddle up to the contemporary—what makes this curatorial approach so appealing?
From the National Gallery to the Wallace Collection, a wave of museum shows suggests the intergenerational hang is here to stay, despite lingering reservations
It’s a wrap: the art world implications of the EU’s new packaging regulations
The EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) is requiring art galleries, museums, studios, auction houses to report and improve the sustainability of their packing materials
Not just bricks and mortar: how can gallerists operate without a permanent space?
With a raft of galleries, including blue-chip names, forced to scale back physical spaces, innovative dealers are side-stepping the high overheads associated with a traditional gallery
It’s a wrap: the art world implications of the EU’s new packaging regulations
The EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) is requiring art galleries, museums, studios, auction houses to report and improve the sustainability of their packing materials
New kids on the block: the young dealers who are shaking up the Old Masters market
Whether they are joining the family firm or striking out on their own, a growing number of younger professionals are smashing the stereotype of what an Old Master dealer looks like
Frieze Masters presents Modernism, observed through a queer lens
A new curatorial thread at the 2026 edition of the fair presents a visual history of how LGBTQ+ artists across the globe, from Bahman Mohassess to Ruth Bernhard, contributed to Modern art
Interviews
‘I like to take time to understand the work and its maker’: collector Helen Sunderland-Cohen on what she has bought and why
The London-based lawyer, who oversees two cartography-based collections as well as her own personal art collection, tells us why she does not covet any museum works
‘Eventually everything, if you leave it long enough, will fall back into nature’: Michael Landy on the art of disintegration
The UK artist known for his searing critiques of consumer culture is showing a new series of drawings at the Sir John Soane’s Museum that imagine the future ruins of notable buildings
‘I’ve learnt I can enjoy a work without having to acquire it’: Dasha Shenkman on her approach to art collecting
The UK-based collector tells us about her new Focus Fund supporting young artists at Frieze, buying a Jean Arp in instalments and her love of Fra Angelico’s frescoes
‘Even an ugly thistle can be so beautiful’: painter Sabine Moritz on how nature informs her work
The German artist’s first major UK institutional show, at London’s Garden Museum, includes works that span 30 years
‘They’re not candid snapshots of me at all’: Issy Wood on her intimate self-portraits at London's National Portrait Gallery
The British-American painter discusses her complex relationship with her face
‘I see the Turbine Hall as a sound vessel’: artist Tarek Atoui on his Tate Modern commission
The Lebanese artist and composer has created a sonic installation incorporating bespoke instruments that respond to Tate Modern’s vast atrium
‘Sometimes the works you do not acquire stay with you just as strongly as the ones you do’: collector Irene Y. Panagopoulos on what she has bought and why
The Greek collector who heads her family’s shipping firm is showing works from her collection at the Hellenic Centre during Frieze London that reflect on perceptions of Greece past and present
Diary
Frieze London Diary: A dinner dance with a twist, Barbie gets the blues and Warhol’s feline showstoppers
Plus: artists educate at National Gallery and the hedonist returns
Frieze London Diary: fairgoers offered ‘15 minutes of fame’, ferocious Lego, and Queen Victoria as you have never seen her
Plus: perilous boulders at the fair, and a celebrity showing in Knightsbridge
Frieze London Diary: pirate-turned-artist Johnny Depp heads to London, an authentic Boer war experience and fake news at the fair
Plus, artist recreates his parent's home as a fair stand and just what London needs: more pigeons and graffiti
Frieze London Diary: have your toilet cake and (don't) eat it, dig out your pennies in Bloomsbury, and spot the fashion legends
Plus: the Riviera comes to the West End and Magritte's cowboy phase
Exhibitions
Tate Modern exhibition explores Pictorialism and the birth of soft-focus photography
The show challenges the movement’s reputation as outdated and narrowly Western, tracing its networks and influence beyond the birth of Modernism
Slow down and look: the simple complexity of Robert Ryman is revealed in Barbican exhibition
For the late American artist, whose Barbican show is his first in the UK for over three decades, the space in which a painting sat mattered as much as the work itself
London exhibition throws stark light on tragedy in Gaza
Curators of the show at Tramps gallery juxtapose news footage of the crisis with installations, photographs and sculpture
Salman Toor’s Courtauld Gallery exhibition hopes to move on from 'joyous communion'
The New York-based Pakistani artist’s first European solo exhibition positions him at the forefront of the revival of narrative painting
Artist Gabrielle Goliath brings cancelled Venice Biennale work to London
The private foundation Ibraaz is showing ‘Elegy’, which was barred by the South African government because of a suite commemorating the Palestinian poet Hiba Abu Nada
Gothic church hosts Bagri Foundation’s first London show
Organisation dedicated to promoting Asian culture branches out into exhibitions with Nomin Zezegmaa’s massive batik installation in church near Regent's Park
In pictures
In pictures: our pick of London’s Minor Attractions fair
We check into Frieze week's "transgressive" art destination in Fitzrovia's Newman hotel
In pictures: p(art)y people at the Frieze London VIP preview
Celebrities and art world glitterati descended on Regent’s Park today for an exclusive first look at Frieze London and Frieze Masters
In Pictures: the best of Frieze Sculpture 2026
Curator Fatoş Üstek guides us through 11 monumental works on show this year in Regent's Park
In pictures: boundary-pushing works in Frieze London’s Focus section
Our pick of the works from the fair’s section dedicated to solo presentations by young galleries
Frieze in London, Tarek Atoui at Tate Modern, Sienese sculptor Francesco di Giorgio—podcast
In this week's episode, Ben Luke speaks with art market editor Kabir Jhala in the Frieze London tent, visits the new Turbine Hall commission at Tate Modern, and discusses a Quattrocento bronze relief at the Frick Collection.
Collection of Monsoon founder Peter Simon becomes highest value single-owner collection ever sold at Christie's London
Led by a Nazi-looted Kandinsky, the heavily guaranteed 20/21 Century evening sale made £178m in total
‘You think you have a good radar and then you realise it’s full of holes’: collector Charles Asprey on what he has bought and why
The British collector, dealer and publisher on his craving for boutique fairs, his newest discovery and his favourite part of London—between Bloomsbury and Clerkenwell
Small is beautiful: boutique fairs bring fresh ideas to London’s Frieze Week
Several new fairs are debuting in the UK capital this year, while another changes venue