'The challenge will be to sustain it': Was the autumn art market boom more than just a blip?

"A new positive mood at Frieze London. Impressive eight-figure sales at Art Basel Paris. Auctions 30% up at Christie's in London. A record-breaking €90m sale at Sotheby's in Paris. Maurizio Cattelan's $10m gold toilet headlining a much-improved offering at November's marquee sales in New York. For many involved in the business of selling art, this autumn's key trading moments represented a long-awaited upturn in a market that for more than two years has seen sales stifled by geopolitical volatility."

""It's great to be riding a wave. The challenge will be to sustain it," said Freddie Powell, the founder of the on-trend London contemporary gallery Ginny on Frederick, after it was announced that the Arts Council Collection had bought the 2025 mixed-media sculpture Accounts by Alex Margo Arden for between £20,000 and £30,000 at Frieze London. The talk of the October fair, Arden's work, consisting of a rope-bound bundle of defunct mannequins of tradesmen from a historic motor museum, was a telling metaphor for backward-looking Britain's struggle to adapt to new realities. "We're looking behind now. Looking forward is too horrific," added Powell."

Autumn produced a clear upturn across major art-market moments, with strong performances at Frieze London, Art Basel Paris and leading auction houses in London and Paris. Christie's London reported auctions up 30%, Sotheby's Paris achieved a record €90m sale, and Art Basel Paris posted impressive eight-figure transactions. Frieze London regained energy through emerging galleries and lower-price new works, and the Arts Council Collection bought Alex Margo Arden's 2025 sculpture Accounts for £20,000–£30,000. Arden's rope-bound bundle of defunct tradesmen mannequins embodied a backward-looking Britain grappling with adaptation. Dealers warn that sustaining the recovery will be the central challenge.

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