Frieze New York concluded its 12th edition on Sunday after five days at The Shed. Taking place alongside an ensemble of art fairs and gallery openings in Chelsea last week, Frieze welcomed 25,000 visitors from 66 countries during the course of the fair. Hosting 68 galleries, its fourth edition at The Shed is led by Frieze’s fair director of Americas, Christine Messineo, who said that the venue “continues to prove itself as the right home for Frieze New York.”
While last year’s fair concluded a fortnight of art fairs in New York, this year’s edition opened at the front end of events, with TEFAF New York and Independent concluding the city’s spring art fair calendar this coming weekend.
Much like its previous editions, this iteration of Frieze combined established blue-chip dealers with younger galleries in its Focus sector, dedicated to exhibitors that have been in business for 12 years or less. The section contained several galleries making their Frieze New York debuts, including Lisbon gallery Madragoa, which was awarded the Focus Stand Prize for its solo presentation of Sara Chang Yan.
Across the fair, attendance was busy throughout, with the number of visitors reported by Frieze remaining consistent with last year’s edition. Celebrity attendees included Anderson Cooper, Kesha, Jane Krakowski, Blake Abbie, Zach Braff, Bobbi Brown, Tunji Adeniyi-Jones, David Byrne, Maurizio Cattelan, Tiona Nekkia McClodden, and Chelsea Clinton. The fair also welcomed 135 local and international museums and institutions, with representatives from the likes of the Whitney, Tate Modern, and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum among the notable attendees.
Leading the reported sales from the fair was Doris Salcedo’s Disremembered XIV (2014), which sold for $1 million at White Cube’s booth. Other notable transactions across the fair included an $850,000 Ed Clark painting at Hauser & Wirth and a €725,000 ($776,610) Tony Cragg stainless steel work at Thaddaeus Ropac.
“Once again, Frieze New York confirms that New York is the center of the global art market—the city that magnetizes not only the business of art but its community,” said Hauser & Wirth’s president Marc Payot. “For Hauser & Wirth, there’s no place that combines the individual and the collective with such tremendous energy.”
Here, we run down the top sales reported by galleries at Frieze New York.
At White Cube’s booth, sales were led by Doris Salcedo’s Disremembered XIV (2014), which sold for $1 million. Frieze marks the gallery’s first New York fair appearance since it opened a gallery in the city last year. Additional top sales reported by the gallery included:
- Ed Clark’s painting Yin and Yang sold for $800,000.
- Antony Gormley’s concrete sculpture Retreat: Retreat (2022) sold for £500,000 ($629,300). The British artist currently has a solo exhibition at White Cube New York, “AERIAL.”
- A new Tiona Nekkia McClodden work sold for a price “in the region” of $100,000.
- Two paintings by Lynne Drexler sold for $100,000 and $375,000 apiece.
- Additional sales included works from artists including Tunji Adeniyi-Jones, Darren Almond, Tracey Emin, Theaster Gates, Jessica Rankin, and Ilana Savdie.
Hauser & Wirth’s booth was dedicated to the artists on its roster who have scheduled museum exhibitions throughout 2024. Top reported sales at the gallery’s booth included:
- A painting by Ed Clark sold for $850,000.
- A painting by Henry Taylor sold for $750,000.
- A canvas artwork by Glenn Ligon sold for $700,000.
- A bench by Jenny Holzer sold for $400,000.
- A wooden triptych by Nicolas Party sold for $350,000.
- Multiple editions from Charles Gaines’s “Charleston” series sold for $210,000.
- A painting by Nicole Eisenman sold for $150,000.
- A painting by Angel Otero sold for $100,000.
- A collage by Lorna Simpson sold for $50,000.
- Multiple editions of a bronze and wood work by Thomas J. Price sold for $32,000.
Thaddaeus Ropac reported robust sales from the beginning of VIP day. Founder Ropac said that the fair “has really shown the continued strength of the American market,” citing strong attendance from U.S. collectors. The gallery’s top reported sales included:
- A stainless steel artwork by Tony Cragg sold for €725,000 ($782,000).
- A painting by Daniel Richter sold for €420,000 ($453,000).
- Six works by Martha Jungwirth sold for €60,000–€350,000 ($64,700–$377,000).
- A painting by Joan Snyder sold for $130,000.
- An artwork by Alex Katz sold for $125,000.
- A work by Robert Longo sold for $90,000.
Chelsea stalwart 303 Gallery achieved significant sales across all five days of the fair. The gallery’s founder Lisa Spellman noted the “festive mood of the week” which she said led to more sales at the gallery’s brick-and-mortar only a few blocks away, where Tanya Merrill’s solo show “Watching Women Give Birth On The Internet And Other Ways Of Looking” is on view until May 18th. Top reported sales at 303 Gallery’s Frieze booth included:
