Frieze Los Angeles 2026—the city’s flagship art fair and a bellwether for the top-end of the West Coast market—opened to VIPs on Thursday, February 26th, at the Santa Monica Airport. The fair’s first hours yielded a slew of major transactions across blue-chip and contemporary galleries, led by David Zwirner’s sale of a mixed-media work by Njideka Akunyili Crosby for $2.8 million.
There was a brisk pace to early sales and strong attendance from prominent collectors, museum leaders, and figures in the entertainment industry, with A-list actors including Emma Watson and Christoph Waltz spotted in the aisles. By late afternoon, blue-chip galleries reported sales from some of their top artists alongside clear demand for emerging artists in the Focus section dedicated to younger galleries.
“There’s been strong attendance today and a good energy. Largely collectors from the U.S., and institutional representatives in town too,” reported dealer Thaddaeus Ropac. “Our presentation has been well received, with sales happening in the first few hours and decisions still being made on other significant works.”
Taking place a year after the Los Angeles fires, the fair carried additional resonance for the city’s cultural community, many of whom are still rebuilding studios, homes, and neighborhoods. Against that backdrop, the strong opening-day sales and visible institutional support signaled not only market confidence but a broader commitment to sustaining Los Angeles’s creative ecosystem.
Here, we round up some of the leading initial sales reported by galleries at Frieze Los Angeles. Check back next week for a full market report from the fair’s run.
- In addition to its leading Crosby sale, David Zwirner reported selling a painting by Lynette Yiadom-Boakye for $1.5 million and a new work on paper by Lisa Yuskavage for $280,000. The gallery also placed a small painting by Yuskavage for $180,000, four new paintings by Louis Fratino for between $35,000 and $75,000 each, and four paintings by Emma McIntyre ranging from $24,000 to $38,000.
- White Cube reported the sale of three major sculptures from its solo presentation of Antony Gormley, priced between £500,000 ($673,787) and £800,000 ($1.07 million) each.
- Thaddaeus Ropac reported selling a painting by Alex Katz for $700,000 and a work by David Salle for $280,000. The gallery also placed a work by Liza Lou for $225,000, a Joan Snyder painting for $140,000, a work on paper by Georg Baselitz for €85,000 ($100,342), and a painting by Martha Jungwirth for €75,000 ($88,537).
- Pace Gallery sold a painting by Jean Dubuffet for $475,000 and a painting by Emily Kam Kngwarray for $450,000. The gallery also placed works by Robert Longo (a sculpture for $175,000 and two works on paper for $90,000 each). They also sold a new painting by Friedrich Kunath for $155,000.
- Almine Rech reported selling a painting by Ewa Juszkiewicz in the $800,000 to $850,000 range, followed by a sculpture by Aaron Curry for between $210,000 and $245,000 and a painting by Joe Andoe for $110,000 to $120,000.
- Garth Greenan Gallery sold a painting by Howardena Pindell for $875,000 and a work by Emmi Whitehorse for $150,000.
- Karma sold a work by Jonas Wood for $650,000 and placed additional works by Nicolas Party for $150,000 and Ann Craven for $140,000.
- Lisson Gallery’s reported sales include a painting by Carmen Herrera for $380,000, a sculpture by Hugh Hayden for $300,000, and a painting by Leon Polk Smith for $200,000.
- Gagosian reported “ brisk” sales from the day, with several works sold in the six to seven–figure range.
- Tina Kim Gallery sold two paintings by Ha Chong-Hyun for $180,000 and $250,000 each, as well as two textile works by Lee ShinJa for $70,000 and $180,000 each. Additional sales included a painting by Kim Tschang-Yeul for $70,000, two paintings by Maia Ruth Lee for $25,000 and $18,000, and a ceramic work by Jane Yang D’Haene for $25,000.
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