London’s Regent’s Park is a 19th-century gem in central London that’s home to Queen Mary’s Gardens and a smattering of neoclassical villas, including The Holme, arguably the most covetable address in London. It makes a fitting location for Frieze London, the city’s premier art fair. Held every year in October, it’s the most prestigious stop in Frieze’s annual circuit of art shows in Los Angeles, Seoul and New York, and the biggest art fair in the UK.
This year’s event attracted more than 280 exhibitors from over 45 countries and tens of thousands of visitors, including VIPs Leonardo DiCaprio, Mick Jagger, Helena Bonham Carter and Madonna. As much of a social scene as an art marketplace, the event was described by The Guardian as “the art world at its most brazenly commercial, its most avaricious and capitalistic… with all of its champagne, ludicrous outfits and obscene excess on display.” While that may well be true (and there were plenty of six-and seven-figure sales to prove it), there’s also no shortage of beautiful and important work to be seen.
Frieze London 2025
Garth Greenan Gallery, Frieze London 2025. (Photo by Linda Nylind. Courtesy of Frieze.)
Frieze London 2025
Gagosian, Frieze London 2025. (Photo by Linda Nylind. Courtesy of Frieze.)
Frieze London 2025
Lisson Gallery, Frieze London 2025. (Photo by Linda Nylind. Courtesy of Frieze.)
Frieze London 2025
Hot Wheels, Frieze London 2025. (Photo by Linda Nylind. Courtesy of Frieze.)
Frieze London is divided into several sections including Focus (where up-and-coming galleries show work by rising artists), Artist-to-Artist (which features young artists selected by established names, including Abraham Cruzvillegas, Amy Sherald and Bharti Kher this year), Frieze Masters (work created before the year 2000, including antiquities), and Frieze, where the world’s biggest galleries – from Hauser & Wirth to Gagosian – set up shop. There are also various other curated areas, including this year’s Echoes in the Present, a show that explores the intergenerational dialogue between contemporary artists from Brazil and Africa.
Of the countless works on display, the Gagosian booth dedicated entirely to LA-based artist Lauren Halsey received particular attention for its colourful works inspired by the Black culture and history of South Central L.A. On the more whimsical side of things was a flock of life-sized sheep created by Claude Lalanne and François-Xavier Lalanne on display for Ben Brown Fine Arts, priced at $800,000 to $900,000 each. One of the standout booths at Frieze Masters featured a set of delicate and colourful ancient Roman vessels dating from the 1st to 4th centuries, filled with flower arrangements by British florist Shane Connolly.
Frieze London is a wonderland for art lovers containing more art than it’s possible to admire in just five days—and that’s to say nothing of the many satellite events concurrently taking place in and around the city. As usual, some of the world’s top fashion brands took advantage of Frieze week to put on a range of shows, including Rick Owens’ Rust Never Sleeps, an exhibition of patinated metal furniture curated by his wife, Michèle Lamy. Frieze also coincided with the arrival in London of Prada Mode, a touring members-only club of site-specific events. The London stop was curated by Berlin-based Elmgreen & Dragset (of the famed Prada store installation in Marfa, Texas) and featured of a purpose-built cinema sparsely occupied by an audience of hyper-realistic human figures.
Frieze London 2025
Xxijra Hii, Frieze London 2025. (Photo by Linda Nylind. Courtesy of Frieze.)
Frieze London 2025
Echoes in the Present, Frieze London 2025. (Photo by Linda Nylind. Courtesy of Frieze.)
Frieze London 2025
Harlesden High Street, Frieze London 2025. (Photo by Linda Nylind. Courtesy of Frieze.)
As ever, there were plenty of notable sales, including blue-chip pieces like René Magritte’s Le domaine enchanté (1953) for $2.2 million, Paul Klee’s Befestigter Ort (1929) for $2.3 million, and Gabriele Münter’s Der blaue Garten (1909) for $4.2 million. On the other side of the fair (and the millennium), George Condo’s Head Composition (2025) sold for $280,000, Cindy Sherman’s Untitled #650 (2023) for $280,000, and Avery Singer’s Lost Boccioni (2025) fetched $1.2 million. These figures represent just one facet of Frieze London, of course, but as an indicator of the fair’s relevance and the vitality of the art world, they speak volumes.
For all its spectacle, Frieze London remains more than an art fair—it’s a snapshot of culture in motion. Each year, it captures the tension between commerce and creativity, the past and the future, the local and the global. And as the tents come down in Regent’s Park, the conversations, collaborations and inspirations it sparks continue to ripple across the art world long after the last sale is made.
Feature image Johyun Gallery, Frieze London 2025. Photo by Linda Nylind. Courtesy of Frieze.
