Exactly twenty years ago the Frieze art fair was born, conceived by the founders of the magazine of the same name with the ambitious aim of creating a platform of excellence for contemporary art that could bring together galleries, artists and collectors from every corner of the globe. The first chapter of this adventure took place in Regent's Park, in 2003, where it still resides today, and immediately established itself as an extraordinary success.
Characterised by a rigorous selection of participating galleries, the Frieze Fair has played a crucial role in consolidating London as a global hub for contemporary art. The importance of this event naturally led to a concentration of other major art events such as exhibition openings and exhibition spaces, high-calibre art events and auctions organised by the major houses.
This has given rise to a microcosm known as "Frieze Week," which serves as a faithful mirror of the health of the contemporary art market, offering an extraordinary overview of trends and market trends at a precise moment in time.
Given this premise, it is therefore easy to understand how important it is to observe the sales performance of the fair and also the auctions held at the same time as it.
Also driven by a weak pound sterling, sales at the fair were satisfactory, according to the participating galleries. Some of them even sold out their works before the public opening, as in the case of the Massimo de Carlo Gallery and Marianne Boesky. The latter chose to keep the prices of works at an affordable level, leaving the works on offer within the reach of institutions and thus encouraging young artists to enter museums.
It was not only a search for new names, however, at Frieze 2023; there was in fact a significant presence of older living artists, such as the 91-year-old Joan Sammel or the 81-year-old Sylvia Snowden just to name two. With this strategy, galleries are trying to acquire works by established but undervalued and little-known artists, unlike six months or a year ago when the focus was all on young artists. This reflects a change in the thinking of collectors, who are finally recognising that younger artists do not have the exclusivity of revolutionary thinking and radical risk-taking.
Nevertheless, it is worth noting that sales during Frieze Week were lower than the previous edition, as well as a decidedly slower pace that permeated the dynamics of the fair.
A quiet pace was also evident in the auctions of the major auction houses. In the case of Christie's, after a promising start with the work of Salvo "Il giorno fu pieno di lampi la sera verranno le stelle" (1991), which sold for £550,000 against an estimate of £80/120,000, the pace slowed considerably. Despite some sales above estimates, a cautious attitude was evident during the 20th and 21st Century auction on 13 October, with some works by artists such as Basquiat, Kusama and Warhol remaining unsold.
However, the second auction, focusing on Sam Josefowitz's collection, significantly exceeded estimates, contributing to a positive result with a total of £42.3 million.
Instead, Sotheby's conducted two auctions on Thursday 12 with the first, 'The Now', devoted to ultra-contemporary art and comprising 21 lots, followed by an evening sale of 21 lots of Contemporary art. While the first auction slightly exceeded expectations, the second one was decidedly weak.
In the first auction, several works exceeded initial estimates, including records for artists such as Lynette Yiadome-Boakye, whose work 'Six Birds in the Bush' sold for £2.95 million. Overall, the 21 lots just surpassed the pre-sale target, which ranged between £9.3m and £13.6m, realising a total of £15.5m including commission.
However, the situation changed quickly with the second auction, which opened uncertainly due to some last-minute withdrawals, which led to a revision of the pre-auction estimates shortly before the start, from a high of £63.3 million to a revised estimate of £39.9-57.9 million.
The most critical moment was the failure of the main lot, the work 'Abstraktes Bild' (1986) by Gerhard Richter, which had the highest estimate of the evening: between £16 and £24 million and no guarantee. In spite of the auctioneer's invitation to bid, the auction stopped at £14.5 million. This greatly affected the sale total, which ended at £30.1 million, well below the target.
From the data collected, a worrying picture clearly emerges when comparing the current state of the market with that of the previous year. Taking Phillips' results into account, and even though around 80% of the proposed works have been sold, there is still an 18% drop in the collective value of artworks: from £232m in 2022 to £192m in 2023, a figure on par with 2016 levels.
It is clear that the art market in London seems to have retreated to where it was at the time of the Brexit vote.
While the competition for art market dominance between London and Paris remains open, it is inevitable to wonder whether London will be able to regain its positive momentum before the next Frieze Week. In the meantime, the art world is starting to set its sights on Paris+ par Art Basel in anticipation of a new chapter.