Building on the sense of shared purpose and community support that characterized the 2025 fair, Frieze Los Angeles 2026 has closed amid reports of strong sales at all tiers, committed engagement from collectors and significant institutional acquisitions.

‘This year’s fair was brimming with optimism and activity,’ said Los Angeles gallerist Susanne Vielmetter. ‘Sales were stronger than anything we have seen in the last year and it truly felt like we are turning a corner. People are excited to see and buy art again, and we are thrilled to participate in this new surge of energy and enthusiasm!’

Returning to the Santa Monica Airport campus, the seventh edition of the fair attracted more than 32,000 visitors from 45+ countries, including prominent collectors, curators and museum groups. The gallery presentations were shown in tandem with the Frieze Projects programme, curated by Art Production Fund, the annual Deutsche Bank Frieze Los Angeles Film Award, and wider creative community initiatives, including the Frieze Impact Prize.

Christine Messineo, director of Americas, Frieze, said: ‘From the opening morning, it was clear that this year’s edition marked a new level of confidence. Collectors engaged with conviction across every section of the fair, and institutional participation was sustained. The strength of Focus, alongside the activity of our acquisition funds and prize initiatives, reflects a fair that has reached real maturity within the global calendar.’

In addition to major collectors, artists and museum curators from around the world, this year's fair saw notable attendees from entertainment, technology, and fashion industries including Andre 3000, François Arnaud, Lake Bell, Julie Bowen, Connie Britton, Camille Brown, Christine Chiu, Danny Comden, Tim Cook, Katie Couric, Marina de Tavira, Lisa Edelstein, Erik Feig, Jodie Foster, Erin Foster, David Alan Grier, Brian Grazer, Jon Gries, Jeremy O. Harris, Alexandra Hedison, John Hillcoat, Mark Hoppus, Victoria Jackson, Anthony Kiedis, John Legend & Chrissy Teigen, Damon Lindelof, Rami Malek, Maria Manow, Christopher Meloni, Joe Montana, Neal Moritz, Ryan Murphy, Jordan Murphy, B.J. Novak, Chiké Okonkwo, Timothy Olyphant, Piper Perabo, Chris Perfetti, Todd Phillips, Chris Rock, Jane Seymour, Fiona Shaw, Abigail Spencer, Christoph Waltz, Dorothy Wang, Diane Warren, Emma Watson, Kelly Wearstler, Steve Wilson, and Jason Wu.

The 2026 fair saw several significant institutional acquisitions, with museums in attendance from the West Coast, the wider United States and internationally. The second year of the Mohn Art Collective (MAC3) – a joint initiative between the Hammer Museum, LACMA and MOCA – acquired works by Clarissa Tossin from kaufmann repetto, Zenobia Lee from Sea View and Sharif Farrag from Jeffrey Deitch’s solo stand. The City of Santa Monica Art Bank x Frieze Los Angeles Acquisition Fund purchased work by Erica Mahinay from Make Room’s presentation. The California African American Museum Acquisition Fund acquired works by Jessica Taylor Bellamy from Anat Ebgi and Zenobia Lee from Sea View.

Hauser & Wirth sold out its presentation of new paintings by Conny Maier on the opening day. ‘It’s a pleasure to introduce the work of Conny to Los Angeles,’ said gallery president Marc Payot. ‘The welcome has been incredibly warm.’

Gagosian’s notably California-themed stand saw sales of Ed Ruscha, Frank Gehry and Alex Israel, and new works by Jonas Wood and Mary Weatherford. ‘The response to our booth has been incredibly enthusiastic,’ said senior director Deborah McLeod. ‘The crowded aisles are a testament to the resilience of the city and the strength of its cultural community.’

Among numerous seven-figure sales at the fair, David Zwirner sold a work by Njideka Akunyili Crosby for $2.8 million to a European foundation and a painting by Lynette Yiadom-Boakye for $1.5 million, Thaddaeus Ropac sold a painting by Georg Baselitz for €1 million and Michael Rosenfeld Gallery placed Sam Gilliam’s Cut (1969) at an asking price of over $1m.

Nudging the million mark were Almine Rech, with the sale of an Ewa Juszkiewicz for $800,000–$850,000, Garth Greenan Gallery, with a Howardena Pindell for $875,000, and Gladstone, with a Keith Haring sculpture for $700,000 (alongside an Ugo Rondinone for $260,000, and multiple Robert Mapplethorpe editions in the $200,000 range). ‘We are thrilled by the enthusiastic reception our presentation has seen this week,’ said Gladstone Gallery’s senior partner Max Falkenstein. ‘We achieved significant sales for our artists. The sustained energy and high turnout underscore the strength of the market and continued enthusiasm for top-tier works.’

Karma sold a work by Jonas Wood for $650,000, alongside works by Nicolas Party for $150,000 and Ann Craven for $140,000, and there were significant sales at White Cube, whose solo stand of Antony Gormley saw three works placed, each in the region of £500,000–£800,000. Alexandra Sterling, director, sales, White Cube said: ‘Frieze brought exceptional energy and optimism, with strong sales and sustained interest. It was a privilege to showcase Antony Gormley’s focused presentation in dialogue with Los Angeles’s dynamic arts and collector community.’

Bank sold a painting by Michael Lin in the range of $70,000–$100,000, and Fort Gansevoort sold several fabric works by Yvonne Wells for $50,000 to $60,000 each. Adam Shopkorn, founder of Fort Gansevoort, said: ‘We’ve been thrilled by the reception to Yvonne Wells’s first presentation in Los Angeles. There’s a beautiful parallel between her craftsmanship and the behind-the-scenes artistry that makes film, television and music magic happen in this city. We’ve seen strong engagement from both new and longtime collectors, as well as continued institutional interest.’

Sprüth Magers sold two David Salle paintings for $375,000 and $130,000; Kukje Gallery sold a Ha Chong-Hyun work in the range of $253,000–$303,600, two paintings by Park Seo-Bo ($250,000–$300,000 each); and two works by Haegue Yang ($80,000–$108,000); galerie frank elbaz placed a sculptural textile by Sheila Hicks for $350,000; and François Ghebaly sales included two Kathleen Ryan sculptures for $175,000 and $100,000.

Lisson Gallery also saw a strong response, placing a painting by Carmen Herrera for $380,000, a sculpture by Hugh Hayden for $300,000, a photograph by Hiroshi Sugimoto for $250,000 and a painting by Leon Polk Smith for $200,000. ‘This was a strong fair across the board,’ said Lisson CEO Alex Logsdail. ‘Sales were robust, the booth saw consistent activity throughout the weekend, and the quality of collectors coming through was great. That kind of broad, sustained engagement is a meaningful indicator. The mood was notably high.’

303 Gallery’s solo stand of Alicja Kwade saw several sales of her sculptures for €74,000 to €95,000 each, while Southern Guild placed numerous works, including a Zizi Poswa sculpture for $130,000, a sculpture by Zanele Muholi for $110,000, a Romeo Mivekannin painting for $57,000, and a Gus Monday painting for $24,000.

Strong sales were not restricted to the blue-chip and mid-tier galleries. In the Focus section for emerging US galleries less than 12 years old, curated again this year by Essence Harden, business was brisk from the opening morning. Anthony Gallery’s presentation of Andrew J. Park sold out, with works ranging from $5,500 to $17,000; Hannah Traore Gallery’s presentation of Turiya Adkins also sold out, with prices in the range of $5,000-$18,000. In its solo presentation of Erica Mahinay, Make Room sold all the wall works ($5,500–$35,000) and sculptures ($14,000–$20,000); and Lyles & King placed all their new paintings by Ren Light Pan. The gallery’s Isaac Lyles said: ‘This has been our best Frieze Los Angeles. The energy, the calibre of collectors and curators, and the depth of engagement have been exceptional. We brought vital, sensuous and challenging work by Ren Light Pan, and the community embraced it. Closing the fair by placing her painting with a major museum is the perfect culmination.’

Superposition placed multiple works from their solo presentation of Greg Ito, including sculptures sold between $12,500-$13,500 each, and three paintings for $8,000 each. Storm Ascher, the gallery's founder, said, ‘Working with Greg Ito has been one of the most rewarding collaborations since I founded Superposition in 2018. As an Angeleno, it was deeply meaningful to present work rooted in family history here at home... The response was overwhelming and moving. I’m so grateful to Frieze for championing our nomadic gallery model and creating space for this story on such an important stage in our hometown.’

Across the section, sales and engagement were strong, with PATRON selling five works by Jamal Cyrus for $20,000 to $40,000, Minneapolis gallery dreamsong placing nine works from its solo presentation of Tamar Ettun in the range of $2,600 to $20,000 apiece, and LA’s Sea View selling out of its sculptures by Zenobia Lee for $7,000 to $20,000 each, including the major museum acquisitions by the CAAM Fund and MAC3 Fund.

Curated by Art Production Fund and titled ‘Body & Soul’, this year’s Frieze Projects saw public artworks installed on the Samta Monica Airport, with site-specific installations by Los Angeles-based artists Dan John Anderson, Polly Borland, Cosmas And Damian Brown, Kohshin Finley, Shana Hoehn, Amanda Ross-Ho and Kelly Wall, presenting works that explore the human form across corporeal, temporal and spatial dimensions.

In what has become the defining image of this year’s edition, Amanda Ross-Ho conducted her durational performance Untitled Orbit (MANUAL MODE) every day during the fair’s opening hours. Rolling a 16-foot inflatable earth around the perimeter of the Airport Park Soccer Field, she performed a total of 32 hours of revolutions.

Frieze Projects expanded off the fair campus to a former Westwood Village newsstand with Kelly Wall’s installation Everything Must Go, which featured glass magazine works with skyline covers on lightbox shelves.

Frieze hosted a dedicated booth for the 2026 Frieze Impact Prize winner, Napoles Marty, whose presentation fully sold out. The award, launched in collaboration with WME and presented in 2026 in partnership with NXTHVN, reflected Frieze’s commitment to supporting artist-led practice beyond the commercial sphere. Other social initiatives at this year’s edition included AMBOS (Art Made Between Both Sides), who returned to the fair for the second year with ‘botánica AMBOS’, supporting LGBTQ+ migrants and the Frieze Library. The fair’s 2026 identity, featuring anti-ICE slogan works by LA artist Patrick Martinez, attracted a lot of attention from visitors and press. Martinez’s gallerist Charlie James commented: ‘We’re so proud to have Patrick’s neon installation at the entrance of the fair, which has been the focus of major stories in local and international media.’