Frieze New York 2026 Opens With a $2.2 Million El Anatsui Sale
Frieze New York 2026 began its 15th edition with a brisk VIP preview at The Shed in Manhattan on May 13, and the first-day sales reports pointed to a market that was active across both blue chip and emerging names. White Cube led the pack with El Anatsui’s LuwVor I (2025), which sold for $2.2 million, followed by another work by the Ghanaian artist, MivEvi III (2025), at $1.9 million.
The fair, which runs through May 17, brings together 68 galleries from 25 countries. Its opening day drew a dense mix of collectors, museum directors, artists, and celebrity visitors, including Leonardo DiCaprio, Julia Fox, and Sharon Stone, alongside major patrons such as Don and Mera Rubell, Beth Rudin DeWoody, and Glenn Fuhrman. Institutional figures were also prominent, with Hans Ulrich Obrist of the Serpentine Galleries and Brooklyn Museum director Anne Pasternak among those in attendance.
Other galleries reported substantial sales as well. Thaddaeus Ropac sold Georg Baselitz’s Stunde der Nachtigall (2012) for €1.4 million ($1.63 million), while Almine Rech placed a James Turrell light work valued between $900,000 and $1,000,000. White Cube also sold Antony Gormley’s SET VII (2024) for £450,000 ($606,360), Howardena Pindell’s Deep Space 4 (2025) for $275,000, and a Julie Curtiss work on paper for $35,000.
Among the booths drawing particular attention, Public Gallery was reported as the only one to have sold out so far. Mendes Wood DM, Ortuzar Projects, and Marc Selwyn Fine Art each ended the day with only one or two works still available. At the same time, the fair’s institutional footprint was visible in the Sherman Family Foundation Acquisition Fund, through which the Brooklyn Museum of Art and the Baltimore Museum of Art acquired works by artists including Bettina, Reika Takebayashi, Joanne Burke, and Seba Calfuqueo. Each participating artist will receive an unrestricted $5,000 award.
Seba Calfuqueo’s solo booth with W-Galería also won the 2026 Focus Stand Prize, underscoring the fair’s continued attention to ambitious presentations as well as sales. With more reports expected as the fair continues, the opening day already suggests a market that remains selective, competitive, and willing to move quickly for the right work.
