From the October 2026 issue of Apollo.

Frieze Masters
Regent’s Park, London
14–18 October

From ancient artefacts and Old Master paintings to modern British works and beyond, the fair returns with a range of works on offer by more than 140 galleries. Piano Nobile, a regular at the fair, is showing a commanding painting by Paulo Rego of a woman playing a harmonica (2003; pictured), while newcomer Gallery Isabelle from Dubai is presenting mixed-media works by Iranian artist Fereydoun Ave, a close friend and former assistant of Cy Twombly. 

Spotlight

Focusing on the 1950s–70s, this section homes in on lesser-known artists, as well as works by more established artists that have slipped under the radar. London-based Richard Saltoun gallery is among the 26 exhibitiors here, and is showing a selection of dreamlike works by the Austrian artist Manina (pictured), who was once referred to by André Breton as a ‘born Surrealist’. 

 Queering Modernism: Visual Languages of the 20th Century

Making its debut at the fair this year is a section exploring representations of queer experience, spanning early modern art to postmodern works from the 1980s. Highlights include Galería Elvira Moreno’s presentation of works by Colombian artist Luis Fernando Zapata, whose papier-mâché stelae (1980s; pictured) – inspired by funerary monuments the artist saw in Egypt – were created as Zapata grappled with his own mortality after an AIDS diagnosis. 

Sculpture

Sculptures by 11 artists are dotted through the park’s English Gardens for the annual public exhibition dedicated to the medium. Blending into its surroundings, Douglas White’s Black Palm is an amalgamation of exploded tyres and other scraps stitched together to resemble a tree (2026; pictured), while Carolina Aguirre’s monolithic sculpture Held (2026) juts out of the earth, two bronze halves connected by white quartz sourced from the artist’s family home in Uruguay.

From the October 2026 issue of Apollo.