In the Before Times, the art world would be sunburnt and burned out after a weekend of Frieze New York festivities on Randall’s Island. These days, though, the only glare is from the blue light of computer screens as gallerists and VIPs peruse the digital booths in Frieze’s inaugural Online Viewing Rooms, which run through May 15.
As one might expect, some larger galleries reported sales in the early hours of the preview days, a good number of which were likely lined up in advance. Gagosian reported selling out its solo presentation of work by Katharina Grosse and Hauser & Wirth found homes for at least 16 works in the early hours of the fair, many of which were created by artists in response to their recent isolation.
For many market-watchers, this virtual fair—the second major one since lockdown began, after Art Basel Hong Kong’s virtual event—served as a valuable litmus test for how well the concept may be able to sustain galleries before large public gatherings become safe again.
“While the Frieze OVR is an improvement on Art Basel Hong Kong, the proof is in the pudding,” David Zwirner told Artnet News of his experience with the platform. “It’s what clients are doing and how they are reacting. For us, it was that most sales came through our own outreach” than through Frieze’s platform—though, he concedes, activity picked up after the first few days and resulted in sales of work by Isa Genzken, Raymond Pettibon, and Wolfgang Tillmans.
Zwirner reported that, on opening day, the gallery received “maybe 11 inquiries from Frieze and over 100 on our own site, which leads me to believe that creating a proper online environment is not something that you do overnight. The online art business model is not the online art fair model.”
Still, since Frieze offered dealers full refunds from the New York fair and the ability to participate in the online platform at no cost, it offered only upside—especially for those galleries without sophisticated online apparatuses of their own. Smaller outfits reported interest in works priced under $50,000, often a sweet spot for the physical fair as well. Zurich-based Galerie Maria Bernheim sold out of works by rising star Sarah Slappey priced between $2,500 and 10,000, while Fredericks and Freiser sold a number of pieces by Jocelyn Hobbie for between $24,000 and $60,000.
Below, we’ve assembled a list of reported sales from the fair, all converted to USD for ease of reading.
As always, keep in mind that some dealers occasionally offer inflated figures, while others prefer to report ranges or “asking prices” to obscure actual selling prices, or to cover up the favorable treatment they offer to some buyers, but not to others.
We did not include reported sales unaccompanied by a price or price range in our list, so the galleries that tend to disclose figures are disproportionately represented here.
PAINTINGS
Installation view of Kate Barbee’s In the Studio (2019). Courtesy of Kohn Gallery.
$2 million: George Condo’s Distanced Figures 3 (2020) at Hauser & Wirth
$1.8 million: Leon Kossoff, Study from ‘Minerva Protects Pax from Mars’ by Rubens (1981) at Piano Nobile
$550,000: Alice Neel, Veronica (1980) at David Zwirner
$480,000: Michael Borremans, Fire from the Sun (2017) at David Zwirner
$450,000: Oscar Murillo, manifestation (2019) at David Zwirner
$425,000: Simon Hantaï, Etude (1969) at Kasmin
$400,000: Suzan Frecon, untitled composition in four colors (2020) at David Zwirner
$380,000: Nate Lowman, Escalade (2005) at David Zwirner
$350,000: A painting by Thomas Houseago at Xavier Hufkens
$275,000: Rita Ackermann, Mama, Aftermath Leaving Neverland (2020) at Hauser & Wirth
$275,000: A painting by Zhang Enli at Xavier Hufkens
$250,000: A Loie Hollowell painting from 2019 at Pace
$250,000: Leon Kossoff, Study for Copy of ‘Cephalus and Aurora’ by Poussin No. 1 (1976) at Piano Nobile
$250,000: Nigel Cooke, Oceans (2020) at Pace
$225,000: Henry Taylor, I’m so full of doubt, but I must Hustle Forward, as my daughter Jade would say (2020) at Hauser & Wirth
$210,000: Miquel Barceló, Rentrer (2019) at Acquavella Galleries
$200,000: Charles Duback, Black and White (Anne Waterhouse) (1960) at Eric Firestone Gallery
$180,000: Damian Loeb, Lolita (2005) at Acquavella Galleries
$170,000: Rodney Graham, Untitled (2020) at Lisson Gallery
$150,000: A painting by Dorothy Iannone at Ortuzar Projects
$120,000: Marilyn Minter, Peak-a-Boob (2020) at Salon 94
$100,000: R.H. Quaytman’s Optima, Chapter 3 (2004-19) at Miguel Abreu Gallery
$95,000: Rodney Graham, Untitled (2020) at Lisson Gallery
$75,000: A painting by Sterling Ruby at Xavier Hufkens
$70,000: A painting by Torkwase Dyson from 2020 at Pace
$60,000: Mary Heilmann, Hermosa Sunset (2018) at Hauser & Wirth
$65,000–125,000 each: Four paintings by Gladys Nilsson at Garth Greenan
$65,000: Ian Davenport, Cadmium Yellow Hue (2020) at Kasmin
$65,000: Jane Freilicher, Untitled (Forsythia and Orange) (ca. 1970) at Kasmin
$55,000: Anj Smith, Flowerings of the Chocolate Cosmos (2020) at Hauser & Wirth
$45,000 each: Three paintings by David Robilliard at Ortuzar Projects
$30,000: Mimi Gross, Gertrude and the Secretaries (1974) at Eric Firestone Gallery
Henry Taylor, Man, I’m so full of doubt, but I must Hustle Forward, as my daughter Jade would say (2020). © Henry Taylor, courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth. Photo: Thomas Barratt.
$20,000–45,000 each: Six paintings by British artist Daniel Crews-Chubb in his solo presentation with Timothy Taylor Gallery
$25,000: Mimi Gross, The Men of Sears Roebuck (1973) at Eric Firestone Gallery
$23,000: Elliott Puckette, Untitled (2015) at Kasmin
$20,000–22,000 each: Two embroidered paintings by Kate Barbee at Kohn Gallery
$21,800: Kaye Donachie, Be Lost Forever (2020) at Maureen Paley
$20,000: Alake Shilling, Tickle Bug is Back in Town (2020) at Salon 94
$12,500: Alake Shilling, Untitled (2019) at Salon 94
$12,500: A painting by Caroline Kent at Kohn Gallery
$12,000: Paul P, Untitled (2017) at Maureen Paley
$8,500 each: Alake Shilling’s Turtle in Blue Jean Cap (2020) and Untitled (2019) at Salon 94
$6,000–20,000 each: Ten paintings by Jenna Gribbon at Fredericks and Freiser
$8,000 each: Three new paintings by Koak at Altman Siegel in the Focus section
$5,000–7,000 each: Eight (of nine on offer) paintings by Michelle Rawlings at And Now Gallery
SCULPTURES & MIXED MEDIA
El Anatsui, Metas III(2014). Courtesy the artist and Acquavella Galleries.
$1.5 million: El Anatsui’s Metas III (2014) at Acquavella Galleries
$650,000: Rashid Johnson, Untitled Anxious Men (2014) at Hauser & Wirth
$350,000: Lorna Simpson, Chicago (2020) at Hauser & Wirth
$245,000: Rashid Johnson, Untitled Broken Men (2020) at Hauser & Wirth
$225,000: Matthew Day Jackson, Still Life in Nature IV (2020) at Hauser & Wirth
$250,000: Isa Genzken, Nefertiti (2018) at David Zwirner
$200,000: Jenny Holzer, Selection from Truisms: A positive Attitude… (2015) at Hauser & Wirth
$125,000: Do Ho Suh’s Karma (single column) (2015) at Lehmann Maupin
$110,000: Simone Leigh, Village Series (2020) at Hauser & Wirth
$75,000: A mixed-media work by Kohei Nawa at Pace
$70,000: Chung Chang-Sup, Meditation (2000) at Axel Vervoordt Gallery
$60,000: One of Tracy Emin’s signature neon works at Xavier Hufkens
$20,000 each: 12 (of 15 offered) of Sadie Benning’s mixed media works at Vielmetter Los Angeles
$2,000; Tom Sachs, Shop Chair (2018) at Salon 94
PHOTOGRAPHS, PRINTS, & WORKS ON PAPER
Laurie Simmons, Country Road: Kentucky (1984). Courtesy of the artist and Salon 94.
$495,000: Paul McCarthy, A&E, Eva, HILDA, Santa Anita, session (2020) at Hauser & Wirth
$220,000: Wolfgang Tillmans, Lighter (passage) I-IV, 2019 at David Zwirner
$150,000: Avery Singer, untitled (study) (2020) at Hauser & Wirth
$100,000: Wolfgang Tillmans, paper drop (light) a (2019) at Maureen Paley
$75,000: Bernar Venet, Effondrement – Lignes indéterminées (2019) at Kasmin
$65,000: Leon Kossoff, From Rubens ‘Minerva Protects Pax from Mars (Peace and War)’ at Piano Nobile
$60,000 each: Two new watercolors by Nicolas Party, each titled Trees (2020) at Hauser & Wirth
$50,000: Raymond Pettibon, No Title (My mother taught me…) (2007) at David Zwirner
$40,000: Raymond Pettibon, No Title (The egg laid…) (2012) at David Zwirner
$45,000: Laurie Simmons, Country Road: Kentucky, (1984) at Salon 94
$45,000: Laurie Simmons, Birthday Cake (1984) at Salon 94
$32,000: A print by Eileen Quinlan at Miguel Abreu Gallery
$30,000: Catherine Opie’s Rainbow Falls #2 (2015) at Lehmann Maupin
$25,000: McArthur Binion, healing:work (2020) at Lehmann Maupin
$24,000: A print by Eileen Quinlan at Miguel Abreu Gallery
$22,000: Mika Rottenberg, Rr29 (2020) at Hauser & Wirth
$21,000: Chung Chang-Sup’s untitled work on paper at Axel Vervoordt Gallery
$21,000 each: Two photographs by Trevor Paglen at Altman Siegel in the Focus section
$10,000–12,000 each: Eight (of the 11 on offer) works on paper by Linda Stark at David Kordansky Gallery
$6,000–10,000 each: 11 photographs by David Hockney at Kasmin