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The Miami Art Journal

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Frieze London Draws Celebrity Collectors and Old Masters

The Editors ·

Frieze London Draws Celebrity Collectors and Old Masters

The VIP preview at Frieze London opened with a steady stream of high-profile attendees, including Oscar-nominated actor Andrew Garfield and his girlfriend, actress Monica Barbaro. Other notable figures strolling through Regent’s Park included Tilda Swinton, Bianca Jagger, London-based designer Dilara Findikoglu, and Raf Simons. Simons, Prada’s Belgium-based co-creative director and a longtime art collector, told another outlet that he likes everything about London, particularly its people.

The evening before the fair, actor Damian Lewis was observed sizing up large canvases at the opening of Thaddaeus Ropac’s Georg Baselitz show. Nearby, Serpentine Galleries artistic director Hans Ulrich Obrist examined a Turner-inspired Rirkrit Tiravanija seascape at the Pilar Corrias gallery. The strong showing for London’s offerings this week suggested that the city’s art scene remains vibrant, even as some attendees skipped the event for Paris, where Art Basel opens next week.

A report this week noted that the London-versus-Paris debate was not a primary topic of conversation at the fair. The mega-galleries have been relegated to the back of the fair’s tent to give smaller players the spotlight near the entrance. Despite this placement, Hauser & Wirth sold most of its work by noon. Zoe Sperling, a partner at the gallery, reported seeing a lot of American and Asian collectors.

More than 20 pieces sold at Hauser & Wirth’s booths at Frieze London and Frieze Masters, totaling a sum of more than $11 million. Among the works sold were two Francis Picabia paintings, one untitled work from the 1940s. It is difficult to gauge the overall health of the art market at art fairs because overall sales data is not made public. Galleries self-report their sales, which makes them tough to verify.

The piece highlights the intersection of celebrity culture and serious collecting at one of the year’s most significant art events. The presence of major actors and designers alongside established collectors underscores the fair's role as a cultural hub. The strategic placement of smaller galleries near the entrance aims to shift attention toward emerging voices, even as established institutions continue to move significant volumes of work.

Source: ArtNews