What is everyone talking about this week: Why do art's insiders skip Frieze — and where do they go instead?

As the glitterati readies itself for Frieze London in October, a more discerning chorus of collectors will gather from 24–27 September at the Saatchi Gallery. The occasion? The 36th edition of the British Art Fair, which this year welcomes 72 dealers in total — 65 of whom are specialists in modern and contemporary art.

Works by two of the most covetable painters on the market — Bridget Riley and the late David Hockney — are on display and available to purchase. ‘His work feels all the more poignant now that he's gone,’ the fair's founder, Gay Hutson, tells me of the Bradford-born painter. Having hosted the fair's inaugural edition in 1988, she has presided over it for nearly 40 years. Somehow, it has never felt more relevant. As fatigue and oversaturation continue to befall the high-profile Frieze (held from 14–18 October), true connoisseurs are flocking to more discreet outlets such as hers in the hope of forging more personal relationships with dealers.

What should one look out for at this year's fair in particular? Sculpture, Hutson says, ‘is clearly having a moment’. Among the works available to purchase are several by Henry Moore (with Osborne Samuel) and Lynn Chadwick (with Pangolin London). ‘These shifts in the market seem to happen almost by osmosis,’ says Hutson, nodding to this year’s installation of Chadwick’s work at Houghton Hall and Moore’s at Kew Gardens. ‘When I started out, all anyone wanted to collect was Victorian watercolours. Art creates its own momentum.’

Besides these notable names are also those of living artists, whose works will be exhibited on the Saatchi Gallery’s second floor. ‘The British Art Fair has always been about having more established artists in dialogue with more nascent and emerging voices,’ Hutson notes. With prices ranging from £1,000 to the high-six figures, the show is open ‘to connoisseurs of all kinds’. Hutson stresses the word ‘connoisseurs’: ‘This show has always been for the insider,’ she concludes. Tickets are now on sale for general admission (£23), concessions (£20) and the collectors' preview (£70).

This feature originally appeared in the September 9, 2026, issue of Country Life. Click here for more information on how to subscribe.