What Sold at Frieze Seoul 2026 https://ift.tt/i5tCfHg

Frieze Seoul wrapped up its fifth—and largest—edition on Saturday, September 5th, bringing 133 galleries to the COEX exhibition center in Gangnam. On the floor below, partner fair Kiaf SEOUL 2026 ran concurrently with 175 exhibitors.

Yet the more than 300 booths inside COEX represented only a fraction of the art activity unfolding across Seoul—and South Korea more broadly—during the week. Biennials in Gwangju, Jeju, and Busan coincided with the fairs, while the capital hosted a packed program of gallery events, museum exhibitions, and institutional openings, making for one of the most concentrated art weeks anywhere in the world.

Nightly neighborhood events centered on galleries and museums brought late openings, parties, and pop-ups to the city, often running well into the night. Major institutional highlights included a Yoo Youngkuk retrospective at the Seoul Museum of Art and the largest-ever survey of Do Ho Suh at MMCA Seoul, which is breaking attendance records, according to the museum.

Suh and Yoo were among several artists with major institutional moments who also had a strong presence at Frieze Seoul. Kukje Gallery’s sale of a 1971 painting by Yoo for ₩2.2–₩2.5 billion ($1.6–$1.85 million) marked the highest price recorded for a Korean artist at the fair since its launch in 2022 and the most expensive reported transaction at this year’s edition. Works by Suh at Lehmann Maupin (one of Artsy’s best booths from the fair), meanwhile, reportedly sold out quickly.

“Seoul’s art scene has its own momentum,” said fair director Patrick Lee. “This week, collectors and institutions came from more countries than at any previous edition, and galleries at the fair made sales across price points, from emerging artists to Korean modern masters.”

Across its four-day run, Frieze Seoul drew more than 70,000 visitors, alongside representatives from 178 museums and institutions across 25 countries—a record for the fair. Next year, Frieze Seoul will relocate to the Zaha Hadid–designed Dongdaemun Design Plaza while COEX undergoes renovations. Kiaf will remain at COEX.

Here, we round up the key sales reported by galleries during Frieze Seoul 2026, as well as the leading sales from Kiaf SEOUL 2026.

Top sales at Frieze Seoul 2026

Song of My Soul 2010-215, 2010
Kim Yun Shin
Kukje Gallery

Smoke Drawing - The Balance, 2026
Jung Yeondoo
Kukje Gallery

In addition to the Yoo Youngkuk sale, Kukje Gallery reported the following transactions:

• Three paintings by Ha Chong-hyun—Conjunction 25-30 (2025), Post-Conjunction 21-512 (2021), and Conjunction 23-125 (2023)—for $390,000–$468,000, $253,000–$303,000, and $230,000–$276,000, respectively.
• Park Seo-Bo’s Ecriture No. 220611 (2022) for $250,000–$300,000.
• Two watercolor-on-canvas works by Ugo Rondinone for $240,000–$288,000 and $60,000–$72,000.
• Kim Yun Shin’s Song of My Soul 2010-215 (2010) for $140,000–$168,000, and Song of My Soul 2007-20 (2007) for $30,000–$36,000.
• Gala Porras-Kim’s 16 Volcanoes (2026) for $120,000–$144,000.
• Three works by Kibong Rhee—The Mystery Tour, A slice of emptiness, and Thousand Signature A (all 2025–26)—for $90,000–$144,000 each.
• Two works by Suki Seokyeong Kang, Mat #24-10 (2023–24) and Mat #23-10 (2022–23), for $100,000–$120,000 and $35,000–$42,000, respectively.
• Two works by Julian Opie, Dance 2 figure 2 step 2. and Dance 5 figure 3 step 1. (both 2022), for between £45,000 and £54,000 ($61,000–$73,000) each.
• Jean-Michel Othoniel’s Precious Stonewall (2024) for €60,000–€72,000 ($70,000–$84,000), Wall Figure (2026) for €32,000–€38,000 ($37,200–$44,200), and Lampe Ambre Mica (2025) for ₩5.5–₩6.66 million ($4,090–$4,950).
• Haegue Yang’s Fertile Order (2026) for €26,000–€31,000 ($30,200–$36,000).
• Lotus L. Kang’s Synapse, 15:23 (2025) for $22,000–$26,400.
• The gallery also sold works by Lee Kwang-Ho, Seeun Kim, Jina Park, and Koo Bohnchang in the $3,000–$30,000 range.

Almine Rech’s reported sales were led by a Lee Ufan painting, which sold for between $1.25 million and $1.5 million, and a work on paper by George Condo in the same $1.25–$1.5 million range. Further reported sales included:

• A painting by Javier Calleja for €180,000–€200,000 ($209,000–$233,000).
• A painting by Mehdi Ghadyanloo for €150,000–€170,000 ($174,000–$198,000).
• A painting by Kim Tschang-Yeul for €100,000–€110,000 ($116,000–$128,000).
• A painting by Youngju Joung for $90,000–$100,000.
• A painting by Christopher Le Brun for £70,000–£75,000 ($95,000–$102,000).
• Two paintings by Gongkan for $50,000–$55,000 each.

Hauser & Wirth placed Rashid Johnson’s Soul Painting “Interiors” (2025) for $1.2 million. The gallery’s other reported sales included:

• Louise Bourgeois’s Femme (2005/2016) for $600,000.
• Avery Singer’s Maria (v.1) (2026) for $575,000.
• Lorna Simpson’s End of Twilight (2026) for $425,000 and Perceived Sound (2025) for $400,000.
• Jeffrey Gibson’s Grace (2026) for $375,000.
• Angel Otero’s Buried in Blue (2026) for $30,000, The House Beneath the Sea (2026) for $40,000, and Cerulean Fire (2026) for $200,000.
• Jenny Holzer’s shipper (2026) for $185,000.
• Phyllida Barlow’s untitled: balconyvenice2016 (2016) for $50,000.
• Qiu Xiaofei’s Shade (2025) for $15,000.

Untitled (White Diamond with White Inner Band), 2025
Mary Corse
Pace Gallery

Recurrence PA93001, 1993
Kim Tschang-Yeul
Gallery Hyundai

Gallery Hyundai reported the sales of five works by Tschang-Yeul and three works by Seung-taek Lee. Prices for works by the artists were “as high as” $1.1 million and $700,000, according to the gallery, which added that its total sales were “more than $2.3 million.”

Pace Gallery’s sales were led by a painting by Yoo Youngkuk priced at $1.1 million. Other sales reported by the gallery included:

• Anicka Yi’s HLKR£Kþ§†MLJ (2026), for $225,000.
• Mary Corse’s Untitled (White Diamond with White Inner Band) (2025) for ₩305.55 million ($225,000).
• Marina Perez Simão’s Untitled (2021) for $220,000.
• Kohei Nawa’s sculpture Ether#96 (T) (2023) for ₩217.28 million ($160,000) and PixCell-Galah (2026) for $80,000.
• Robert Nava’s Two Kinds of Laughing (2026) for ₩203.7 million ($150,000).
• Two drawings by Robert Longo, Study of White Horse Head (2026) and Study of Low Dark Forest (2026), for $90,000 each.
• Lauren Quin’s Morning Fold (2026) for ₩122.22 million ($90,000).
• Kenjiro Okazaki’s They disappeared among the shadows below; Basilio stood speechless, listening, as the stairway dragged him on and gave no heed / The sounds of his brother's body striking against the steps; that noise, only the wind shaking raindrops from the wide banana leaves, carried among the shadows below and Basilio returned. (2026)—for $85,000. An additional work by the artist sold for $14,000.
• Works by David Hockney also sold for undisclosed prices.

Thaddaeus Ropac sold Adrian Ghenie’s Figure with Funerary Stele (2026) for $1.1 million and Antony Gormley’s cast-iron sculpture HOLD (2024) for £750,000 ($1 million). Further reported sales included:

• Ghenie’s charcoal work Study for “The Roman Road” 2 (2026) for €110,000 ($128,000).
• Martha Jungwirth’s Untitled (Berggasse 19) (2025) for €170,000 ($198,000).
• David Salle’s Blue Trunks (2025) for $220,000.
• Alex Katz’s Study for Emma (2015) for $150,000.
• Zadie Xa’s Reset (2026), an oil on stitched linen painting, for £80,000 ($108,000).
• Three mixed-media works by Heemin Chung—Siren Anemoia on the Wrecked Ship 6, Wetland Arising, and Arcadian Dusk 2 (all 2026)—for $24,000, $28,000, and $33,000, respectively.
• Two works on paper by Joan Snyder, These Days and And Then April (both 2026), for $25,000 each.

More key sales from Frieze Seoul 2026

White Cube’s sales were led by Georg Baselitz’s fire-gilt bronze De Koonings Hand (2019), sold for €800,000 ($930,000). The gallery also reported the following sales:

• Mona Hatoum’s sculpture Web (2025) for £450,000 ($609,000).
• Gerhard Richter’s painting Fuji (1996) for €625,000 ($723,000).
• Katharina Grosse’s painting Untitled (2009) for €260,000 ($302,000).
• Gormley’s cast-iron sculpture SMALL CLAIM for £250,000 ($338,000).
• Two Park Seo-Bo works—Ecriture No. 221121 and Ecriture No. 070909 (2022)—for $300,000 and $190,000, respectively.
• Klára Hosnedlová’s The Observer for €175,000 ($203,000).
• Tesfaye Urgessa’s Fiber of grace (Schutz) 2 (2025) for £120,000 ($162,000).
• Marina Rheingantz’s I love Vuillard (2026) for $180,000.
• Alia Ahmad’s Finood 5 (branches of a tree) (2025) for $120,000.
• Ibrahim Mahama’s Coffin for head of state (2013–22) for €85,000 ($99,000).
• Minoru Nomata’s Continuum-16 (2024) for $65,000 and ascending descending-7 (2018) for $50,000.
• Darren Almond’s Entropy VIII (2018–24) for £38,000 ($51,000).
• Tracey Emin’s Away From The Cross (2023) for £28,000 ($38,000).
• Two works by Salvatore Emblema, both Untitled (1978), for €40,000 ($46,500) and €26,000 ($30,200).
• Yoko Matsumoto’s watercolor Etude (2008) for $5,500.

Lehmann Maupin’s reported sales were led by Calida Rawles’s Feel Our Blues That Go Back And Black (2026) for between $200,000 and $300,000. It also sold three works by Kim Yun Shin, each in the range of $30,000–$80,000; Guimi You’s Us, on the Han River (2026) for between $20,000 and $50,000, and At Seonyudo (2026) for between $10,000 and $30,000.

Tang Contemporary Art reported total booth sales of approximately $1.49 million, selling out works by Woo Kukwon and Sunwoo Kim.

KOTARO NUKAGA sold a large-scale work by Tomokazu Matsuyama for between $250,000 and $300,000, alongside works by Nir Hod and Rember Yahuarcani.

Sprüth Magers sold a work by Cyprien Gaillard for $200,000, a work by Rosemarie Trockel for €270,000 ($314,000), and two works by Anne Imhof for between €90,000 and €190,000 ($105,000–$221,000) each.

Jason Haam sold a work by Moka Lee for $200,000.

Gagosian—one of Artsy’s best booths from the fair—placed an unspecified number of works by Damien Hirst to buyers including a museum in Asia, for undisclosed prices.

Mendes Wood DM—also an Artsy best booth—reported sales of works by Lucas Arruda, Kishio Suga, Amadeo Luciano Lorenzato, Paulo Monteiro, Josi, and Precious Okoyomon. Prices were undisclosed.

David Zwirner’s reported sales were led by a 2005 painting by Yayoi Kusama and a 1942 painting by Giorgio Morandi, alongside two paintings by Gerhard Richter, a 1983 work by Alice Neel, and a 1976 sculpture by Ruth Asawa. Prices were not disclosed.

Other notable sales from Frieze Seoul 2026

Further sales from galleries included:

• Sun Gallery sold a 1987 painting by 87-year-old artist Suk Ranhi for ₩88 million ($65,000).
• Make Room sold seven works on its opening day between $6,000 and $50,000 apiece.
• Soluna Fine Art sold works by Seungtaik Jang for $10,000–$15,000, as well as three works by Park Jong-Jin for $6,000–$40,000 each.
• David Kordansky Gallery sold the “majority” of its solo presentation of paintings by Chase Hall. Prices were not disclosed.
• CON_ sold “multiple” paintings by Minhee Kim for prices between $5,000 and $20,000 apiece, alongside a new commission request from a Seoul-based collector.
• MAĀT Gallery sold the majority of its booth, a solo presentation of Geoffroy Pithon, an Artsy Vanguard 2026 artist, for undisclosed prices.
• Gaa Gallery—another of Artsy’s best booths from the fair—sold more than 10 works by Johanna Seidel for undisclosed prices.
• Double Q Gallery sold four works by Djordje Ivačković for undisclosed prices.

Sales at Kiaf SEOUL 2026

Presented in partnership with Frieze Seoul at COEX, Kiaf SEOUL’s 2026 edition also generated a broad spread of reported sales. Some highlights include the following:

• Kukje Gallery sold Yoo Youngkuk’s 1979 painting Work, sold for a range of ₩600–₩720 million ($446,000–$535,000) and Kil Sung’s Moon Jar (2009) for ₩50–₩60 million ($37,200–$44,600) as well as works by artists including Korakrit Arunanondchai, Ahn Kyuchul, Kim Yong-Ik, Lee Heejung, Park Seo-Bo, and Han Youngsoo.
• Gallery Hyundai reported sales exceeding ₩1.2 billion (over $890,000), including works by Nam June Paik alongside Chung Sang-Hwa, Kim Bo-hee, and Kim Seong-yoon.
• Sun Gallery sold 25 works in total for approximately ₩600 million ($446,000), led by Kim Jung-soo’s Jindallae – Blessing at ₩150 million ($112,000), along with two works each by Jian Yoo and Cha Soong Koo at undisclosed prices.
• Gallery We’s sales across the fair totaled approximately ₩280 million ($208,000).
• Gallery Grimson’s sales totaled approximately ₩260 million ($193,000) across the fair.
• Kidari Gallery’s total sales were approximately ₩200 million ($148,700) across the fair.
• Obscura Gallery sold three gouache-on-paper works by Sol LeWitt for $37,000–$44,000 each, a painting by Suh Yongsun for ₩30 million ($22,300), and sold out its display of still-life paintings by Lee Chang-nam for ₩4 million–₩6 million ($2,970–$4,830).

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