Frieze Masters bills itself as an art fair that brings attendees “face to face with millennia of art history,” and this year’s edition does not disappoint. With a coffin of an Egyptian princess from the 7th century B.C.E., a 19th-century Japanese tanto knife, and works by overlooked modern artists from the Middle East and Asia, the event in London’s Regent’s Park offers a fulfilling journey of cultural discovery.

More than 130 dealers have booths, and many told me during the VIP preview today that, while plenty of international buyers and institutions were on hand, few deals were getting done. Even in good times, the pace tends to be deliberate at Frieze Masters, which is devoted to works made before 2000, often at price points higher than those at the contemporary-minded Frieze London.

An Egyptian sarcophagus at the booth of David Aaron at Frieze Masters 2024. Courtesy of Frieze Masters.

“Most will agree, the art market is not easy at the moment, but Frieze Masters is always a great fair for us,” Stephane Custot, the co-founder of the London gallery Waddington Custot, said. “We’re on home ground, and with the gallery here, we have more room to experiment and be creative.” This year, the gallery is presenting works by Les Nabi painters who were active from 1888 to 1900 at prices from €28,000 to €750,000 ($30,647 to $820,927).

The Lay of the Land

Art advisor Liberte Nuti praised the fair’s floor plan this year, which mixes galleries of different categories more thoroughly than in the past. “It feels much more integrated,” she said. While blue-chip firms like Hauser and Wirth and Gagosian remain in prime spots facing the entrance, a quick trip down the aisle provides surprises.

Axel Vervoordt, which has spaces in Antwerp and Hong Kong, lured visitors to its near-the-entrance booth with a stunning white Anish Kapoor resin sculpture from 2000, which has a price tag of $750,000. Behind it was an abstract canvas work by the Turkish-born artist Fahrelnissa Zeid, priced at €75,000 ($82,100), and an abstraction by the Venice-born Ida Barbarigo at €55,000 ($60,200).

A few booths away, the London gallery Richard Green has a presentation fronted by Michael Craig-Martin’s colorful painting With red shoes (2000), priced at £550,000 ($718,580). (Craig-Martin just opened a solo show at the Royal Academy.) The gallery also has a selection of small paintings by L. S. Lowry with prices from £220,000 to £400,000 ($287,000 to $523,000).

Pace Gallery at Frieze Masters 2024. Courtesy of Frieze Masters.

Worlds of wonder await nearby, with dealers specializing in historical objects. Peter Finers, a London dealer of arms and armor, has a range of ancient weapons from Japan to India, including a circa 1867 tanto that has a pair of ritual chopsticks hidden in its lacquer saya (holder), priced at £58,000 ($75,800).

Across the aisle is another London dealer, David Aaron. The gallery has no dinosaur fossils this time, but it does have an Egyptian inner sarcophagus dating to 700 B.C.E. that is said to have belonged to Princess Sopdet-em-haawt, the granddaughter of the Pharaoh Rudamun. It is priced in the mid-seven figures.

Transacting Business

Despite the quiet market, some galleries managed to close sales by the end of the day. Hauser and Wirth sold an Édouard Manet, Pelouse du champ de courses à Longchamp (1865), which had an asking price of €4.5 million ($4.9 million). It also found a home for an oil on wood work by the French-Cuban Dadaist Francis Picabia for $4 million, a canvas work by Armenian American painter Arshile Gorky for $8.5 million, and a Lucio Fontana canvas for €520,000 ($569,000).

Lehmann Maupin’s presentation of Korean artist Kim Yun Shin at Frieze Masters’ Studio section, 2024. Photo: Vivienne Chow

The Australian gallery D’Lan Contemporary, which returned to the fair after its debut last year, hauled in $1.3 million from its presentation of Australian First Nations artist Paddy Bedford, selling nine works, including two paintings for $250,000 apiece—a record for the artist, the gallery said.

The Gallery of Everything has a solo booth devoted to the Czech painter and author Eva Švankmajerová (1940–2005), with works on paper from £15,000 ($19,600) and paintings for £30,000 ($39,200); it sold one work to Tate and had two more on hold.

In the fair’s Studio section, curated by Sheena Wagstaff and aimed at providing insights into artists’ creative process, Pace sold eight paintings by the French artist Nathalie Du Pasquier for €40,000 to €60,000 each ($43,800–$65,600).

Paintings by Eva Švankmajerová presented by the Gallery of Everything in Frieze Masters’ Spotlight section. Photo: Vivienne Chow

Hope Is in the Air

At a moment filled with political and economic uncertainties, dealers remained hopeful. Many said that, sales aside, they see the fair as a platform to draw attention to lesser-known artists from regions of the world that have been overlooked, offering alternatives to Eurocentric perspectives.

That effort was especially noticeable in the Studio sector and Spotlight, which features solo presentations by a diverse array of 20th-century figures.

In recent years, leading collectors have been “supporting artists who have gained recognition later in life, specifically women artists,” Isabella Icoz, a Lehmann Maupin partner, said. In the Studio area, the gallery is presenting wooden sculptures by octogenarian South Korean artist Kim Yun Shin, which are stars of the current Venice Biennale. Kim will have a show at its New York branch in 2025.

Some exhibitors said that collectors have become more cautious and selective, and are searching for time-tested works, which makes Frieze Masters a natural place to shop. (Here, one can find treasures that date as far back as the Paleolithic era.)

“Certain collectors prefer acquiring works by established artists with historical  significance, as they consider themselves true collectors rather than speculators focused on the fluctuating value or performance—a trend that has emerged among certain collectors in the ultra-contemporary market,” said London and Hong Kong dealer Ben Brown, whose gallery has works by Claude and François-Xavier Lalanne, Alighiero Boetti, Gerhard Richter, Luciano Fontana, and Sean Scully priced from £15,000 to £1.4 million ($19,600 to $1.8 million). “Investing in classic artworks with historical value tends to carry less financial risk over time,” he said.

Herlitzka and Co., on hand from Buenos Aires, brought a selection of geometric abstractions by the Argentinian artist Anita Payró (1897–1990) that are priced from $20,000 to $24,000. Mauro Herlitzka, a gallery partner, said that he is hoping to expand the audience for Latin American art in Europe.

Gana Art, from Seoul, was showing abstract works by Kim Kulim, an avant-garde artist pioneer in South Korea who had an acclaimed solo exhibition at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Seoul last year. The 88-year-old artist was at the booth, which has works on paper priced in the five-figure range, and paintings from the mid-1970s that are $300,000, intended for institutional collectors.

A work by Juliana Seraphim on view at Richard Saltoun’s booth in the Frieze Masters Spotlight section. Photo: Vivienne Chow

The Dubai-based Elmarsa Gallery displayed works on paper by the Algerian artist Baya Mahieddine (1931–98), priced between £24,000 and £120,000 ($31,400–$157,000). Myriam Louise Taleb, a gallery advisor, said that Middle Eastern collectors who are in their mid-30s to early 40s have an intense interest in documenting their region’s art history, seeing themselves as guardians of its cultural legacy.

Richard Saltoun, which has outposts in London, Rome, and New York, held the first U.K. solo presentation of Lebanese Surrealist artist Juliana Seraphim (1934–2005), whose colorful, feminine drawings and paintings are priced from £8,000 to £80,000 ($10,500 to $104,600).

“Women artists from the Middle East have long been overlooked,” Aloisia Leopardi, the gallery’s director, said. “We have been presenting women artists at Frieze Masters over the past 13 years, before this trend. It is important to give visibility to these artists and finally, there is a chance to focus on women. This trend is here to stay.”