What Sold at Frieze London and Frieze Masters 2023

In a week where warm weather, rain, wind, and more rain swept across Regent’s Park, Frieze London’s 20th edition saw consistently strong crowds and busy booths across the course of the fair. Hailed as the most international edition of the fair to date, more than 200 exhibitors from six continents took part in Frieze London and Frieze Masters this year, with some 28 participants now showing for the 20th consecutive year.

For a London art market that is clouded in uncertainty, early nerves on the VIP day were abated by strong presentations by exhibitors across the concourse. A strong showing from celebrities and major collectors also helped to add a touch of star power, with names such as Emily Blunt, Kim Cattrall, Jarvis Cocker, Giancarlo Esposito, Bella Freud, Andrew Garfield, Dan Levy, Mabel, Rami Malek, Sam Mendes, Sienna Miller, Andy Murray, and FKA Twigs among those spotted across the fair.

“Twenty years in, Frieze London continues to be an epicenter of the European art market, consistently attracting collectors and galleries from all over the world,” said Isabella Icoz, newly announced London-based partner at Lehmann Maupin. “The long-time presence of Frieze has helped establish London as a top-tier destination for the global market.”

Notably, two of the biggest reported sales this year were sculptures by late women artists: Louise Bourgeois’s Knife Work (1949) for $3 million, and Louise Nevelson’s sculpture Model for Celebration II (1976) for $2 million. Living women sculptors were in the spotlight, too, with entire booths or significant works by Barbara Chase-Riboud, Leilah Babiyre, Arlene Shechet, and Teresita Fernández drawing interest.

As the European art world gears up for the second edition of Paris+ par Art Basel taking place this week in the French capital, it remains to be seen how the performance of Frieze shakes up against the broader continental art market.

Here, we run down the key sales reported from Frieze London and Frieze Masters 2023.

Top sales at Frieze London and Frieze Masters

Hauser & Wirth—one of Artsy’s best booths from the fair—reported a number of significant sales across both Frieze London and Frieze Masters, including:

• Louise Bourgeois’s sculpture Knife Work (1949) for $3 million.
• Two works on paper by Philip Guston: an untitled charcoal-on-paper work for $600,000; and an untitled ink-on-paper work for $200,000.
• Jack Whitten’s Atlantis Rising (1966) for $950,000.
• A pair of works on paper by Barbara Chase-Riboud for $120,000 apiece.

Thaddaeus Ropac reported a number of sales, including:

• A 1984 Robert Rauschenberg work for $1.35 million.
• A 2023 painting by Georg Baselitz for €1.2 million ($1.26 million).
• Four works by Mandy El-Sayegh for $115,000.
• Three works by Martha Jungwirth for €320,000 ($336,970).

Kasmin sold a number of significant works at Frieze Masters, including:

• Robert Motherwell’s Hollow Men No. VI (1988/1990) for $3.2 million.
• A Lee Krasner painting for $675,000.
• A Max Ernst work for $400,000.
• A Wassily Kandinsky work for $210,000.

White Cube’s notable sales included:

• A painting by Tracey Emin for £1.2 million ($1.45 million).
• A work by Anselm Kiefer for €1 million ($1.05 million).
• A sculpture by Antony Gormley for £525,000 ($637,770).
• A work by Mona Hatoum for £225,000 ($273,330).
• A work by Tunji Adeniyi-Jones for $80,000.

Pace Gallery’s notable sales included:

• Louise Nevelson’s sculpture Model for Celebration II (1976) for $2 million, which was featured outdoors in Frieze Sculpture.
• A work by Paulina Olowska for $250,000.
• A painting by Adam Pendleton for $150,000.

Sprüth Magers’s notable sales included:

• A 2023 George Condo painting for $2.6 million.
• A 2023 work by Anne Imhof for $150,000.
• A 2007 work by Barbara Kruger for $135,000.
• Two Rosemarie Trockel ceramics for €95,000 ($100,000) apiece.
• A Sylvie Fleury neon work for €80,000 ($84,240).

Xavier Hufkens’s notable sales included:

• A painting by Tracey Emin for £900,000 ($1.1 million).
• A Sterling Ruby work for $350,000.
• A Leon Kossoff painting for £250,000.
• Two paintings by Joan Semmel, with prices ranging between $150,000–$200,000 each.
• A Cassi Namoda work in the range of $55,000–$60,000.
• Two paintings by Constantin Nitsche, priced between €10,000 ($10,530) and €55,000 ($57,920).

Sold-out booths

A handful of galleries across the two tents boasted sold-out booths, including:

• Gagosian sold out its solo presentation of 12 paintings by Damien Hirst at Frieze on the fair’s opening day.
• Pace sold out its Frieze Masters display of sculptures by Arlene Shechet, priced between $65,000 and $90,000 per piece.
• MASSIMODECARLO sold out its solo presentation of Xiyao Wang, with works priced between €40,000 ($42,120) and €70,000 ($73,710).
• London gallery Harlesden High Street—making its Frieze debut this year—sold out its booth, which included multiple paintings by Hamed Maiye for £7,500 ($9,109) each, and several paintings by Mattia Guarnera-MacCarthy for £5,000 ($6,070) each, which sold within the first 10 minutes of the fair.

• Carl Freedman sold out its solo booth featuring paintings by Vanessa Raw, priced from £16,000–£30,000. The booth was part of the Artist-to-Artist section, in which prominent artists selected artists to present solo booths. Raw was chosen by Tracey Emin.
• Praxis sold out its solo booth of works by Simonette Quamina.
• Marianne Boesky sold out its standout booth featuring paintings and works on paper by Danielle Mckinney. Prices ranged from $45,000–$55,000 for paintings and $16,000 for works on paper.

More key sales at Frieze London

• David Zwirner’s reported sales included a painting by Gerhard Richter for $650,000; a pair of bronze sculptures by Josh Smith for $600,000 and $250,000 each; a work by Rose Wylie for $400,000; a painting by Oscar Murillo for $350,000; a work by Shio Kusaka for $75,000; and multiple works by Frank Walter for prices ranging from $35,000–$55,000.
• Timothy Taylor made “significant” sales from its solo presentation of Eddie Martinez works—one of Artsy’s best booths from the fair—including 22 framed drawings and painted works on paper priced from $12,000–$40,000.
• Stephen Friedman Gallery sold “several” pieces from its solo presentation of works by Leilah Babirye, including a sculpture for $250,000 and a work on paper for $15,000.

• Kukje Gallery’s notable sales included a work by the recently deceased Park Seo-bo in the range of $430,000–$516,000; a Ha Chong-hyun painting in the range of $223,000–$268,000; a Suki Seokyeong Kang in the range of $75,000–$90,000; a Kibong Rhee work in the range of $60,000–$72,000; a work by Alexander Calder in the range of $250,000–$300,000; a work Jean-Michel Othoniel work in the range of €67,000 ($70,550)–€80,000 ($84,240); a work by Daniel Boyd in the range of $32,000–$38,000; and multiple works by Julian Opie in the range of £22,000 ($36,730)–£31,200 ($37,900).
• Lehmann Maupin’s reported sales were led by a 2018 painting by David Salle for $425,000 and a new sculptural work by Teresita Fernández for $300,000. Other sales included a work by Nari Ward for $250,000; a new work by Tammy Nguyen for $100,000; a work by Loriel Beltrán for $75,000; and a work by Mandy El-Sayegh for $70,000.

• Tina Kim Gallery’s sales included a painting by Park Seo-bo priced from $200,000–$250,000; a painting by Ha Chong-hyun priced from $300,000–$400,000; and a work by Kim Tschang-Yeul priced from $200,000–$250,000.
• GRIMM sold a number of works including a painting by Daniel Richter for €420,000 ($442,910); a painting by Caroline Walker for £175,000 ($213,440); and a work by Francesca Mollett for £35,000 ($42,690).

• Almine Rech reported a number of six-figure sales on the first day of the fair including a Jonathan Gardner painting for between $190,000–250,000; two Javier Calleja paintings for between $300,000–350,000 and $ 350,000–380,000; and a Mehdi Ghadyanloo work for $100,000–110,000.
• In the Focus section, dedicated to galleries opened in the past 12 years, London gallery Nicoletti sold four works by Josèfa Ntjam for €10,000 ($10,530) each.
• Also in Focus, Copperfield sold “multiple” paintings from its solo booth of Larry Achiampong priced at £19,000 ($23,100) each.

Key sales at Frieze Masters

• Gallery Hyundai sold “multiple” paintings by Shin Sung Hy in the range of $23,000–$150,000.
• Vintage Galéria placed four works by Vera Molnár—including two into an institutional collection—for €30,000 ($31,590) each.
• Lagos gallery kó’s sales included a painting by Ben Enwonwu in the range of £180,000 ($218,660)–£250,000 ($303,700).
• BASTIAN sold a work by Gerhard Richter for €610,000 ($642,350) and a set of three photographs by Cy Twombly for £50,000 ($60,740).
• Galerie Mitterrand’s sales included a drawing by Francisco Sobrino for a price in the range of €25,000 ($26,320)–€30,000 ($31,590); two sculptures by Marta Pan for a price in the range of €30,000 ($31,590)–€35,000 ($36,860); and drawings by Agustín Cardenas for €15,000 ($15,790).