What Sold at Frieze Seoul 2024 and The Armory Show 2024

Art Market

Maxwell Rabb

Sep 9, 2024 3:59PM

Interior view of The Armory Show, 2024. Courtesy of The Armory Show.

The art world’s summer break is over. Last week, two major art fairs returned on opposite sides of the globe: The Armory Show at the Javits Center in New York (September 6th–8th) and Frieze Seoul at the COEX Center in Gangnam (September 5th–7th).

Both fairs are operated by Frieze, which launched its inaugural Seoul fair in 2022 and acquired The Armory Show last summer. This edition of The Armory Show—its 30th anniversary—marked its first under the full ownership of Frieze, as well as new director Kyla McMillan, who described the fair as taking place in an “exciting and transformative year for us.”

The fair takes place alongside several fairs in New York, including Independent 20th Century, VOLTA, and Art on Paper. In Seoul, Frieze takes place on the floor above the Korean International Art Fair (Kiaf) during a packed week of art world activity in the Korean capital.

Installation view of Mendes Wood DM’s booth at Frieze Seoul, 2024. Photo by Lets Studio. Courtesy of Lets Studio and Frieze.

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Galleries at Frieze struck an optimistic tone towards the atmosphere at the fair, which saw more than 70,000 visitors throughout its run, including representatives from some 130 museums. “We’re continuing to see interest from great collectors, despite all the chatter about the ‘market,’” said Pace Gallery president Samantha Rubell. “We also noticed a considerably more international group of visitors this year.”

While Frieze Seoul saw a higher number of reported six-figure sales compared to The Armory Show, the range and transactions at the latter reflected solid demand for works in the high five-figure price ranges. Indeed, as the art market at large gears up for a busy and uncertain fall season ahead, dealers at both fairs were keen to strike a positive note. “A lot of chatter about the market, but no doom and gloom here,” said Anthony Spinello, founder of Spinello Projects, which sold out its solo booth at The Armory Show.

Here, we share a rundown of the key sales from Frieze Seoul 2024 and The Armory Show 2024.

Top sales at Frieze Seoul 2024

Hauser & Wirth’s reported sales were led by Nicolas Party’s Portrait with Curtains (2021), which sold for $2.5 million to a private collection in Asia. Other sales reported include:

Installation view of Pace Gallery’s booth at Frieze Seoul, 2024. Photo by Sangtae Kim. Courtesy of Pace Gallery.

Pace Gallery—one of Artsy’s 10 best booths at the fair—reported that its sales were led by a Lee Ufan painting for $1.2 million. Other notable sales from the gallery included:

  • A small-scale “LOVE” sculpture by Robert Indiana—featured in a collateral exhibition at this year’s Venice Biennale—which sold for ₩736.73 million ($550,000).
  • An Adam Pendleton painting priced at $275,000.
  • A Robert Nava painting for ₩247.64 million ($185,000).
  • A Kylie Manning painting priced at ₩133.83 million ($100,000).
  • A Lee Kun-Yong painting priced at $250,000.
  • A mixed-media work by Mika Tajima priced at ₩127.1 million ($95,000).
  • A multi-paneled painting by Kenjiro Okazaki priced at ₩106.99 million ($80,000) and two “Zero Thumbnail” paintings by the artist priced at ₩16 million ($12,000) apiece.
  • A painting by Alejandro Piñeiro Bello, who joined the gallery this year, for $35,000.

Niki de Saint Phalle, installation view in Galerie Mitterrand’s booth at Frieze Seoul, 2024. Courtesy of Galerie Mitterrand.

Thaddaeus Ropac’s sales were led by a €1 million ($1.1 million) Georg Baselitz painting, Ein Pilgerort, die Hütte gibt es noch (2023). Other sales reported by Thaddaeus Ropac include:

White Cube’s sales were led by a sculpture by Antony Gormley for £550,000 ($721,780). The gallery’s other sales included:

Lehmann Maupin—another one of Artsy’s best booths at the fair—reported sales that were led by two works from Lee Bul’s “Perdu” series, which sold for $210,000 and $190,000, respectively. Other sales include:

Installation view of Kukje Gallery’s booth at Frieze Seoul, 2024. Photo by Sebastiano Pellion di Persano. Courtesy of Kukje Gallery.

Local stalwart Kukje Gallery’s reported sales were led by a Jean-Michel Othoniel sculpture priced from €93,000–€111,600 ($102,836–$123,403). Other sales reported by the gallery include:

  • A Haegue Yang work for €41,000–€49,200 ($45,312–$54,374).
  • A Sungsic Moon work for ₩54 million–₩64.8 million ($40,286–$48,342).
  • A Julian Opie work for €45,000–€54,000 ($49,732–$59,679).
  • Three Ugo Rondinone watercolors, each for $50,000–$66,000.
  • Another sculpture by Othoniel for €70,000–€84,000 ($77,389–$92,867).

Installation view of Perrotin’s booth at Frieze Seoul, 2024. Photo by Lets Studio. Courtesy of Lets Studio and Frieze.

Other top sales from Frieze Seoul 2024 included:

Other notable sales at Frieze Seoul 2024

Installation view of Hakgojae Gallery’s booth at Frieze Seoul, 2024. Photo by Lets Studio. Courtesy of Lets Studio and Frieze.

Top sales at The Armory Show 2024

While there were fewer sales at higher price points at The Armory Show compared to Frieze Seoul, sales within the upper five-figure price ranges were reported by galleries across the fair.

Kasmin led sales with Robert Motherwell’s Apse (1980–84), which sold for $825,000 on the fair’s VIP day. Other notable sales included:

Berry Campbell reported a string of sales, including:

Tang Contemporary Art reported several sales, including:

  • A bronze casting by Ai Weiwei for $450,000, and one of the artist’s “Lego Brick” works for $140,000–$160,000.
  • An oil painting by Jonas Burgert for $90,000.
  • Two oil paintings by Zhu Jinshi for $80,000 each.A painting by Suntur for $22,000.

Lurdoff sold works including:

Other top sales from The Armory Show 2024 included:

  • Victoria Miroone of Artsy’s 10 best booths from the fair—reported selling five out of six editions of Isaac Julien’s Once Again… (Statues Never Die) (2022) for $350,000–$450,000. The gallery also sold several photos by the artist for prices between $40,000 and $80,000.
  • Catharine Clark Gallery sold two major works by Masami Teraoka to a private foundation in Asia, including an “AIDS” series work, for $175,000. The gallery reported selling two historical works that debuted at the Whitney Museum of American Art for $150,000 each. Four additional works sold for prices between $8,500 and $125,000.

Other notable sales at The Armory Show 2024

Sean Kelly Gallery reported several sales, including:

  • Sam Moyer’s Compound Fern (2024) for $70,000.
  • Jose Dávila’s archival pigment print Untitled (Cowboy) (2023) for $65,000.
  • Ilse D’Hollander’s Untitled (1995) for $61,000.
  • Hugo McCloud’s paintings, including Blessing of the Hands 1 and Untitled (both 2024), for $45,000 and $30,000, respectively.

Michael Kohn Gallery made a notable string of sales, including:

Eric Firestone Gallery’s sales included:

  • A painting by Paul Waters for $100,000 and another for $50,000.
  • Three monumental ceramic works by Cybele Rowe for $50,000 each.
  • Three paintings by Huê Thi Hoffmaster for prices between $25,000 and $50,000 each.

KOTARO NUKAGA placed several works from its group presentation, including a mixed-media work by Tomokazu Matsuyama, which sold for $100,000. Other works sold included:

Southern Guild made several notable sales, including:

Jessica Silverman sold a diptych by Rupy C. Tut for $75,000 and a multi-panel work by Sadie Barnette for $70,000. Other sales included:

Other notable sales reported by galleries at The Armory Show 2024 included:

More reported sales from The Armory Show:

  • G Gallery sold two paintings by Choi Yoonhee for $8,000 and $2,500, respectively.
  • Hollis Taggart sold a painting by Teruko Yokoi for $65,000; a pair of Dana James paintings for $40,000 and $18,000, respectively; a work by Hayoon Jay Lee for $24,000; and a Leatrice Rose painting for $12,000.
  • WHATIFTHEWORLD sold four works by Chris Soal in the range of $16,000–$55,000 apiece. Two works were placed with U.S. institutions.
  • Spinello Projects—another of Artsy’s best booths—sold out its solo presentation of Esaí Alfredo. The gallery placed works with the likes of the Hort Family Foundation, the Jasketa Foundation, and the Pérez Art Museum in Miami for prices in the range of $9,000–$35,000 apiece.
  • Charles Moffett sold 15 paintings by Keiran Brennan Hinton for prices between $5,000 and $20,000.

Maxwell Rabb

Maxwell Rabb is Artsy’s Staff Writer.

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