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London’s Frieze fairs opened in characteristic style this week, with VIP visitors ranging from actress Florence Pugh to the UK’s former chancellor of the exchequer George Osborne (now chair of the British Museum). Exhibitors were pleased by the quality of institutional and collector attendees — and that the fairs’ organisers had managed the flow of visitors better than last year’s opening crush.

Reported early sales were mostly at the relatively low end of the art market scale (under £100,000) — though bigger hits included El Anatsui, who opened in Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall this week and whose new work sold for $1.9mn (Goodman Gallery). Meanwhile Louise Bourgeois’s “Knife Couple” (1949, cast in 1990) sold for $3mn (Hauser & Wirth) and Georg Baselitz’s “Besuch in Dinard” (2023) for €1.2mn (Thaddaeus Ropac).

Much of the art on view is less experimental than at previous iterations, a reflection of a softer art market and with the backdrop of events in the Middle East lending an appropriately weightier feel to both the Frieze London event for contemporary art — marking its 20th year — and its Frieze Masters sibling for older art.

Highlights include Ella Kruglyanskaya’s “Lamentation” (2022) — a 2.1-metre-high painting of two women with their heads in their hands (Thomas Dane Gallery, $65,000); a series of ceramic handbags stuffed with sea creatures and underwater trash by Lindsey Mendick (Carl Freedman Gallery, £13,500-£15,000); a series by Rirkrit Tiravanija in which extinct animals are viewable only through a UV light (STPI, $25,000-$35,000); and a solo booth of work by Danielle Mckinney, showing solitary women, an instant sellout at Marianne Boesky Gallery ($45,000-$65,000).

An image of two women crying, heads in their hands, painted in shades of red and magenta
‘Lamentation’ (2022) by Ella Kruglyanskaya, on sale for $65,000 © Courtesy of the artist, Thomas Dane Gallery and Bortolami Gallery

At Frieze Masters, Marlborough brings a booth of 20th-century female artists who changed their names to gender-ambiguous or male monikers, including Gluck and Michael West, thoughtfully curated by Anke Kempkes; Lyndsey Ingram has a bon à tirer set (artist-approved proofs) of Matisse’s paper cut-out Jazz portfolio (20 plates, priced at more than $10mn); and Arario Gallery brings work by the Korean activist and performance artist Jung Kangja as part of the fair’s new Modern Women section. The Frieze fairs run until Sunday.

As London’s museums face a £50mn cut in Arts Council England funding over the next three years, opportunities within the commercial sector become increasingly necessary. Seven of the capital’s public institutions comprise Allied Editions, which offers limited-edition works by well-known artists and has a booth at Frieze London (£80-£15,000). This year, two institutions join the Frieze offering — London’s Gasworks and Nottingham Contemporary as a regional partner.

The word ‘Welcome’ in coloured letters above a yellow half sun, painted on a checker-patterned plastic laundry sack
Alvaro Barrington’s ‘Welcome’ (2023 is on offer at £50,000-£70,000

“We are all exploring new collaborations and models to help raise crucial funds,” says Serpentine Galleries chief executive Bettina Korek. “The power of not-for-profits coming together is so important.” Her institution offers a gold-plated pendant of a foot by Georg Baselitz (edition of 20, £5,400 each), marking the artist’s exhibition of sculptures that opened at the museum last week.

South London Gallery — which receives a third of its funding from the Arts Council — has a print by London-based interdisciplinary artist Chiizii (edition of 50, £200-£250 each). Meanwhile, also this week, four artists have donated work to SLG to be offered at Christie’s: these have a combined high estimate of £131,000 and are led by Alvaro Barrington’s “Welcome” (2023), a work painted on polyester laundry bags, which opens Christie’s evening auction with a £50,000-£70,000 estimate.

Outside of the art fairs, two London gallerists are exploring new business models. Marisa Bellani, who founded Roman Road in 2013, will close her gallery space in January to move towards what she describes as a “community” offering. There are two planks to her strategy — a “Studio” programme, which Bellani began earlier this year to hold workshops and seminars that help artists build their careers, and a “Curation” platform, which will host about two shows a year in different venues. “I can and will sell work, but that isn’t the focus. I don’t want to be reduced to being a shop,” she says.

A painting of an American suburban street crossing shows a man holding large crucifix and a couple pushing a stroller. A traffic light hangs over head against a cloudy orange sky
‘Huntingdon Drive South’ (2023) by Adam de Boer © Courtesy of the artist and Taymour Grahne Projects

Bellani admits that funding for her new project is still an issue — “there is no money yet in my plan”. But she says she can charge per hour for coaching and is also sounding out private collectors for support. Her artists, she adds, are fully behind the shift.

Meanwhile, Taymour Grahne has announced that he is stopping his six-weekly gallery exhibition programme in favour of running about five, one-week-long “nomadic exhibitions” per year and relaunching his art advisory business. “The truth is, you get a busy opening and first and last Saturday, but the time between has become a bit of a dead zone,” he says. The nomadic programme “has an element of surprise” that appeals more to “this age of short attention spans”. His first showing outside of his space will be in Cromwell Place, with separate exhibitions of Adam de Boer and Luey Graves (January 16-21).

A abstract painting of kaleidoscope-like images, with shafts of bright green and blue shining through a backdrop of translucent gold and brown
‘Whilst I whimper, I hope I can become whimsical on a whim’ (2023) by Jadé Fadojutimi

“This isn’t like the meat raffle in Wigan,” summarised broadcaster Vernon Kay, master of ceremonies at this year’s Art of Wishes gala auction, which kicked off Frieze Week in the recently opened luxury Raffles hotel in London. Glamorous attendees included Princess Beatrice and Edward Enninful, outgoing editor of British Vogue. Bidding on the 12 lots offered live by Christie’s global president Jussi Pylkkänen came from some of the market’s big-name participants and demonstrated a rare camaraderie between the world’s leading auction-house specialists.

This live sale alone made a total £1.2mn — with Christie’s fees waived. The event as a whole raised £2.6mn for Make-A-Wish UK, a charity for children with critical illnesses, one of whose patrons is the collector Batia Ofer, incoming chair of the Royal Academy Trust. The top lot of the evening was a new painting donated by Jadé Fadojutimi, also among the evening’s guests, which sold for £320,000.

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