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:
- Two Damien Hirst paintings, Lepe Beach and Rye Bay (both 2019), each for $550,000.
- Park Seo-Bo’s Ecriture No.220905 for $250,000.
- A Gabriel Orozco painting for $250,000.
- A work by Mona Hatoum for £150,000 ($197,634).
- A Tracey Emin sculpture for £120,000 ($157,479) and a neon work by the artist for £90,000 ($118,109).
- A Marina Rheingatz painting for $120,000.
- A Georg Baselitz ink on paper work for €65,000 ($71,700).
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:
- A sculpture by Marilyn Minter for $150,000–$200,000 to a collector based in China.
- A 2024 work by Mandy El-Sayegh for $60,000–$70,000.
- A 2024 work by Arcmanoro Niles for $55,000–$75,000.
- A 2019 painting by Chantal Joffe for $30,000–$40,000.
- A new painting by Tammy Nguyen for $35,000.
- A new painting by Loriel Beltrán, Soft Orange (2024), for $25,000–$35,000.
- A sculpture and six paintings by Kim Yun Shin.
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:
- Galerie Mitterrand—another one of Artsy’s best booths at the fair—sold Niki de Saint Phalle’s Nana Fountain (1967) for €600,000–€700,000 ($662,676–$773,122).
- Sprüth Magers’s sales included George Condo’s Self Portrait (2024) for $1.95 million and Anne Imhof’s Untitled (2024) for €250,000 ($276,115). The gallery also sold Hyun-Sook Song’s 7 Brushstrokes over 1 Brushstroke (2023) and 19 Brushstrokes (2021), for €55,000 ($60,745) and €60,000 ($66,268), respectively.
- PKM Gallery sold a work by Yoo Youngkuk for $1.5 million and a Chung Hyun bronze sculpture for $20,000.
- Jessica Silverman sold out its booth of 10 new oil stick-on-linen paintings by Hayal Pozanti. Prices ranged from $40,000 to $65,000.
Other notable sales at Frieze Seoul 2024
- Lisson Gallery’s sales were led by a work by Hiroshi Sugimoto for $406,800. Other sales included a Kelly Akashi sculpture for $55,000; “several” Sarah Cunningham paintings for prices ranging from $16,000 to $35,000; and a Leiko Ikemura painting for €90,000 ($99,495).
- Perrotin sold a Takashi Murakami painting for $600,000, a work by Jason Boyd Kinsella for $110,000, and a Mr. painting for $110,000.
- Jason Haam sold a Moka Lee painting for $100,000, a Linn Meyers work for $90,000, and an Amanda Baldwin painting for $45,000.
- Mazzoleni’s sales included an Agostino Bonalumi painting for around $100,000.
- Tang Contemporary Art’s sales included paintings by Von Wolfe for prices ranging from $45,000 to $75,000 per piece.
- Gana Art’s sales included a bronze sculpture by Choi Jongtae for ₩100 million ($74,602) and a work by Lee Sang Guk for ₩70 million ($52,221).
Installation view of Hakgojae Gallery’s booth at Frieze Seoul, 2024. Photo by Lets Studio. Courtesy of Lets Studio and Frieze.
- Gallery Hyundai sold seven works by Jeon Joonho for prices ranging from $38,000 to $230,000 apiece.
- DAG reported “successful sales” from its solo presentation of Sohan Qadri’s works, with prices ranging from $40,000 to $100,000.
- Robilant+Voena sold an early 20th-century sanguine work by Georges Braque for €55,000 ($60,739).
- In the Focus section of the fair, dedicated to Asia-based galleries opened in or after 2010, CYLINDER placed eight watercolor-engraved panels by Jonghwan Lee for prices between $1,200 and $5,700.
- Gagosian’s reported sales included works by Sabine Moritz, Cy Gavin, Hao Liang, Rick Lowe, Ewa Juszkiewicz, Derrick Adams, Urs Fischer, Takashi Murakami, and Ed Ruscha.
- David Zwirner’s reported sales included works by Gerhard Richter, Robert Ryman, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Lucas Arruda, Francis Alÿs, Oscar Murillo, and Katherine Bernhardt.
- Mendes Wood DM reported “notable sales” of works by artists including Lucas Arruda, Eunnam Hong, Laís Amaral, Pol Taburet, and Paulo Monteiro.
- Hakgojae Gallery—another one of Artsy’s best booths from the fair—reported that a work by Shing Sang Ho was acquired on the opening day of the fair by a “major international institution.”
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:
- Walton Ford’s The Singer Tract (2023) for $750,000.
- Diana Al-Hadid’s In a Twist (2024) for $85,000.
- Ian Davenport’s acrylic work Fra Study No. 2 (2024) for $65,000.
- A Tina Barney print, High School Band (2017), for $22,000.
- Works by Sara Anstis, Jan-Ole Schiemann, and Emil Sands for prices between $16,000 and $35,000.
- Daniel Gordon’s Light Study (Grater and Knives) (2024) for $7,500.
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 Miro—one 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.
- A Lighthouse called Kanata sold 15 works, including Ayane Mikagi’s Garden (2024), a Japanese pigment on paper and mounted panel; Joseph Walsh’s ash, bronze, and patinated plate work; Satoru Ozaki’s hammered and polished stainless steel sculpture; and a work by Kentaro Sato for $50,000–$250,000.
- DAG—another one of Artsy’s best booths—sold Natvar Bhavsar’s PR-KRITEE (2012) for $225,000.
- Axel Vervoordt Gallerysold two works by Raimund Girke for €65,000 ($72,145) and $66,000 apiece.
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:
- Two paintings by Lita Albuquerque for $95,000 and $75,000, respectively.
- A painting by Nir Hod for $98,000.
- A painting by Alicia Adamerovich for $55,000.
- A painting by William Brickel for $10,000.
- A work on paper by Kate Barbee for $6,500.
- Two additional paintings by Hod for $28,000 and $26,000, respectively.
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:
- Nature Morte sold a painting by Tanya Goel for $100,000–$120,000. A work by Theo Pinto sold for $15,000–$18,000. A laser etching on intumescent paint on MDF by Martand Khosla sold for $5,000–$8,000.
- Templon sold a painting and a sculpture by Chiharu Shiota for €120,000 ($132,500) and €100,000 ($110,400), respectively. The gallery placed a large painting by Alioune Diagne with a U.S. museum for €85,000 ($93,000). Multiple works on paper by Omar Ba sold for $18,000 each, while works by Jim Dine reported sold for prices between $50,000 and $150,000.
- Roberts Projects reported the sale of a painting by Daniel Crews-Chubb for $85,000, a Lenz Geerk painting for $75,000, a work by Collins Obijiaku for $20,000, and a work by Luke Agada for $16,000. Additionally, the gallery sold two works by Mia Middleton for $11,000 each and two works by Wendy Red Star for $8,000 each.
- Larkin Durey’s sales were led by an Aboudia work for $110,000. Additionally, the gallery sold Marc Padeu’s Les gardiens de la prairie (2024) for $70,000, and mixed-media works by Anders Sunna for $45,000 and $40,000 apiece.
- Harper’s sales included Marc Dennis’s Once Upon a Time (2024) for $60,000, Iria Leino’s Explosive Thunder (1970) for $40,000, and Sung Hwa Kim’s StillLife with Jar and New York Sour (2024) for $20,000.
- Nara Roesler reported the sale of a work by Vik Muniz for $65,000 and a work by Marco A. Castillo for $60,000. The gallery also sold an Elian Almeida painting for $22,000, a work by Thiago Barbalho for $20,000, and a work by Manoela Medeiros for $13,500.
More reported sales from The Armory Show:
- Blue Velvet reported selling eight works by Chryssa, for prices between $14,000 and $100,000.
- Anat Egbi sold works by seven artists in its booth for prices between $20,000 and $70,000.
- ACA Galleries—one of Artsy’s best booths—sold the majority of its works by Kandy G Lopez, which were priced between $35,000 and $45,000.
- Almine Rech reported the sales of two works by Sasha Ferré in the range of €35,000–€40,000 ($38,654–$44,176) apiece, and one work by Gwen O’Neil sold for $35,000–$40,000.
- Wooson Gallery sold a painting by artist Byung-So Choi for $44,000.
- Library Street Collective sold three works by Akea Brionne for $22,000–$36,000 apiece. The gallery also sold four works by Paul Verdell for $7,000–$9,500 each.
- Cob—one of Artsy’s best booths—sold seven oil paintings by Tomo Campbell, ranging in price from £17,500–£30,000 ($23,000–$39,500) each.
- The Hole sold half its presentation of works by Andy Dixon by the end of VIP day with prices in the range of $10,000–$32,000 each.
- rosenfeld sold a painting by Ruozhe Xue for $30,000.
- Edwynn Houk Gallery sold a Ron Norsworthy work for $28,000 and an Erwin Olaf print for $18,000.
- Richard Saltoun sold a work by Fathi Hassanfor $25,000, and “multiple” works on paper by Jan Wade for $2,500 each.
- Half Gallery sold 11 of its 15 works, including a work by Maud Madsen for $26,000.
- Galerie Ron Mandos sold five paintings by Katinka Lampe for prices ranging from $8,000–$26,000 apiece.
- Yancey Richardson Gallery sold prints by Zanele Muholi and Mickalene Thomas for $25,000 and $12,500, respectively.
- DIMIN sold three works by Michael Berryhill for prices ranging from $8,000–$24,000 apiece.
- El Apartamento sold a painting by Orestes Hernández Palacios for $20,000.
- Saenger Galería sold three works by Scott Reeder for prices ranging from $12,000–$1,000 apiece.
- 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.