Art reigns supreme in London this week with the return of Frieze London (contemporary art) and Frieze Masters (dedicated to art made before 2000) — both of which take place in Regent’s Park. The two shows see more than 160 galleries coming together to exhibit artwork spanning 6,000 years, from antiquity to present day. There are also a myriad supporting exhibitions, sales and events taking place across the capital.
It’s a lot to keep track of, so here’s what you need to know — and don’t want to miss.
The Mount Street Neighbourhood Arts Festival
The Mayfair festival — organised to coincide with Frieze — has returned for a second year (until October 18) This year’s iteration shines a spotlight on the world of books with a series of talks and performances designed to explore the relationship between art and literature.
Highlights include a Fitzcarraldo Editions pop-up at 95, Mount Street (above), selling limited edition books, contemporary fiction, long-form essays and exclusive merchandise, a chance to meet Métier founder Melissa Morris at Farm Shop Wine Bar (64, Audley Street) and the launch of Nordic Knots’s six month pop-up residency at 130, Mount Street.
In Chelsea, Sloane Street, the art fair’s first-ever ‘Destination Partner’ has unveiled an outdoor sculpture trail — mere months after work finished on major pedestrianisation works.
Sotheby’s live auction of exceptional and rare works
Francis Bacon's 'Study of Self-Portrait', from 1980, is estimated to fetch between £5-7 million.
More than three quarters of the works going under the hammer in Sotheby’s London Frieze auctions have never been exhibited before. They include four works by Francis Bacon and Auguste Rodin, held together in the same private collection for nearly a half century.
Seventeen of David Hockney’s iPad drawings — last shown together at the Royal Academy in 2012 — are currently on display in one of the auction house’s New Bond Street galleries and will go up for sale on October 17.
The combined value of all of the masterpieces going up for sale this week is more than £200 million.
dunhill’s Curator and Speakers Programme
Tracey Emin stands in front of her photographic series titled ‘Insomnia’, in 2019.
The third iteration of dunhill’s Curator and Speaker Programme — which unite artists, curators, writers and more in conversation with one another — might be their best yet.
Tonight (Wednesday, October 16), writer and historian William Dalrymple is joined by Susan Stronge, senior curator of the V&A Museum’s Asian Department; on Friday, October 17 Tracey Emin, who needs little introduction, will sit down with Nicholas Cullinan, director of the British Museum; and on the Saturday, Antony Gormley will strike up a conversation with Arturo Galansino, director of the Fondazione Palazzo Strozzi in Florence, Italy.
Each conversation is going to be recorded and released in podcast format, starting in November.
The fair itself
A trip to the gargantuan white tents covering Regent’s Park is obviously a must. There is: ‘Focus’, the section of the fair dedicated to young galleries and ‘Artist to Artist’, solo presentations of works by artists selected by their peers, plus, one of our favourite stands of 2025: Ben Brown Fine Arts who are exhibiting a flock of François-Xavier Lalanne’s famous, life-size sheep sculptures.
While you’re in London…
There are lots of other exhibitions on right now in the capital that have nothing to do with Frieze.
If you catch anything this week it should be The Hayward Gallery’s exhibition ‘21ST CENTURY PICTURES’. The celebration of duo, and couple, Gilbert & George’s work is truly unmissable.
The pair have been working together for over 50 years and are trailblazers when it comes to British contemporary art. Drawing on themes such as homosexuality, politics and London’s East End, their large-scale works provoke awe, surprise, laughter and, at times, melancholy.
No one does it better, or in a bolder fashion, than Gilbert & George. One of the pieces on display is titled: ‘Ha-ha’ and another ‘White Bastards’, making the show worth a visit for this alone — especially considering that the two artists are now in their later years and look hilariously ordinary when compared to their extraordinary works.
Nicknamed the ‘The King of Vogue’, Cecil Beaton was renowned in the 20th century for his illustrations, costume designs and portrait photography, but ‘Cecil Beaton’s Fashionable World’ at the National Portrait Gallery, is the first solely dedicated to his contributions to the world of fashion.
It features portraits of some of the biggest names in show business including Elizabeth Taylor, Marlon Brando, Audrey Hepburn and Marilyn Monroe. Oh, and Elizabeth II.
‘Peter Doig: House of Music’ at the Serpentine gallery is free to visit and explores the role music and film have played in the artist’s practice. The gallery has been transformed into a listening space, forcing sound and artwork to interact which makes for an immersive experience. Music selected by the artist, to match his landscapes, plays out on vintage sound systems. It looks — and sounds — fabulous.
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