Next October, a week before the opening of the 13th edition of Frieze Art Fair, Gagosian will launch its third gallery space in London, bringing the total number of gallery branches to 15, spread across seven countries (see Larry Gagosian Has $925 Million Worldwide Revenue And Plans New Los Angeles Gallery).

According to the New York Times, Gagosian’s new London joint will be located at 20 Grosvenor Hill and will span 18,000 square feet. The new space will be based around the corner from his existing “shop window” on Davies Street in the well-heeled district of Mayfair, and in much better company than his existing 12,500 square-foot flagship on Britannia Street.

Gagosian’s “shop window” in Davies Street, Mayfair, London
Photo via: Caruso St. John Architects

After a few years in which areas like Bethnal Green in east London, or Fiztrovia and King’s Cross in central London were all the rage, Mayfair has recently re-asserted itself as the ultimate destination for blue chip galleries. David Zwirner, Victoria Miro, Hauser & Wirth, Sadie Coles HQ, PACE, Michael Werner, Skarstedt, Dominique Lévy, and Sprüth Magers are all Mayfair residents.

Mayfair is also the place to be for auction houses. Christie’s and Sotheby’s both have sales rooms in the area, and last October Phillips launched its London flagship on the exclusive Berkeley Square (see Phillips Opens Massive New Flagship in London).

Larry Gagosian

Gagosian’s new London space will officially launch on October 8, with a solo exhibition by Cy Twombly. This seems to have become a tradition of sorts for the über-dealer: the opening shows at his spaces in Athens, Rome, Paris, and his Brittania Street space in London were all devoted to Twombly.

‘‘The endgame of Gagosian is bigger and better,’’ Thea Westreich Wagner, founder of the New York-based art advisory firm Twaas, told the NYT. ‘‘It’s a way of attracting artists. And the better artists you represent, the more sales you make. It could be anyone. It could be an estate, or it could be a young artist who’s getting a lot of attention. It’s a broad position to take,’’ she said.

It seems that Gagosian’s stauch support of the late abstract painter has paid off, as Twombly’s market has been on a steady rise since the mega-dealer first started showing him in 1994. The spike culminated with the $69.6 million fetched by a 1970s ‘‘blackboard’’ painting at Christie’s New York last November (see Cy Twombly’s Blackboard Painting May Set New Auction Record).

‘‘The market for Twombly is now at a different level,’’ Westreich Wagner said. ‘‘Larry has helped make this happen.”

Cy Twombly, Untitled (1970)
Photo: Courtesy Christie’s.