FThe rieze art fair’s big tent in Regent’s Park should at least keep attendees dry as the art world descends on London this week for the annual event, which takes place during one of the wettest autumns on record. But outside the marquee, London’s art world faces strong headwinds.
Ahead of the 21st edition of the fair, which has now expanded to four cities around the world and features week-long celebrations and sales, there has been a sense of pessimism and gloom about the state of the capital’s art market over the past 12 months.
Several galleries, including the 80-year-old blue-chip Marlborough institution, have gone bankrupt, with layoffs following. Brokers have also struggled: Christie’s auction sales fell 22% in the first half of 2024, while the Financial Times reported that Sotheby’s core profits fell 88% (a spokesperson for the auction house told the Guardian that the report of the FT lacked “context”, including the substantial investments the broker made in its main locations in New York, Hong Kong and Paris).
This environment has led some commentators to say that “choppy waters” lie ahead, while the Wall Street Journal declared that “the art market is sinking”. A more discreet FT stated that there was a “chill in the market” before Frieze.
At the launch of this year’s fair at the Royal Academy, RA chief executive Axel Rüger was in a defiant mood. “London, despite what the newspapers write, is still an important art capital in the world,” he said. “We need to be proud and maintain this before, you know, these other art fairs and capitals in other places try to invade our land.”
Although the saber rattling was ironic, there was a serious point underlying his remarks.
Rüger didn’t mention the name of any other fair in his opening speech, but that was because it wasn’t necessary: everyone knew he was referring to Art Basel Paris.
Since its launch in 2022, the event has become a new contender among European art fairs. London currently represents around 17% of the art market, while Paris represents around 7%, both behind the US and China.
“I think there is room for two cities to be great together,” said Frieze director Eva Langret, who, along with Paris director Clément Delépine, denied any rivalry. “It’s a different offer, you don’t see the same artists when you go to Paris.”
When asked recently whether the emergence of Paris would harm any other European fair, Delépine said no, but that Brexit “has allowed the emergence of a second European capital”, as UK tax regulations have made it a less desirable location. to buy and sell works.
Gus Casely-Hayford, director of V&A East, who has attended all 20 previous editions of Frieze, says the Paris versus London narrative is misleading. “If you look at something like London Fashion Week and Paris Fashion Week, there are some designers who choose to do one or the other,” he said.
“But that helps shape each of these different fashion weeks with a particular kind of localized feel, and that will probably continue to happen as the kind of Paris offering strengthens.”
London’s cheerleaders regularly highlight its uniqueness (art schools like Central St Martins, established galleries, international perspectives), but it’s not just Paris and Brexit that present a challenge to the capital’s art sector.
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Clare McAndrew, founder of consultancy Arts Economics and author of the annual Art Basel and UBS Art Market Report, said the main reason for the market slowdown was the drop in sales of luxury goods: those multimillion-dollar deals for blue chip pieces that have become a constant presence in London auction houses.
She said: “If you talk to dealers, they would say that people were willing to spend five- and six-figure amounts quite easily at some of the larger shows, but when it got over a million, they were a little more cautious.”
This hesitancy has been seen across the market, with negative headlines and uncertainty caused by multiple conflicts around the world, high interest rates and a crucial US election giving buyers pause.
As one art dealer recently said: “It’s a psychologically stressful time and I think that permeates the psyche of the art world.”
But McAndrew believes some of the headlines about the decline of London and the art market are mostly premature. “I don’t want to sound like an old grandma, but I’ve seen a lot worse than this before,” she said, adding that it’s the lack of mega-sales that is affecting the overall market.
“Frieze has this wonderful balance of having a variety of price points and a variety of galleries between the fairs,” she added. “So it covers a lot of different values.”
Whether buyers are cautious or confident, Frieze looks like a much-needed shot in the arm for a market that has lost some of its feel-good factor after a year that was a bust for many.
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