British Art Fair
BRITISH ART FAIR 2025
Modern and Contemporary British Art
25 - 28 September
Saatchi Gallery, Duke of York HQ, King’s Road, London SW3 4RY
British Art Fair is pleased to report a successful 2025 edition with increased visitor numbers and good sales of both Modern and Contemporary British art.
Eric Ravilious (1903-1942), River Thames at Hammersmith, 1933. Watercolour on paper, 62.6 x 76.3cm. Sold by Liss Llewellyn at British Art Fair 2025
British Art Fair welcomed over 13,000 visitors to Saatchi Gallery, London 25-28 September 2025 with dealers reporting solid sales of both Modern and Contemporary British art.
Since 1988, the UK’s top galleries and dealers have come together for British Art Fair. This year they noted rising interest in Modern British Art, especially among younger and international collectors, and reported good sales of works from £1,000 to over £100,000 by artists including: Sybil Andrews, Edward Bawden, Vanessa Bell, Tracey Emin, Terry Frost, Duncan Grant, Patrick Heron, Ivon Hitchens, Clyde Hopkins, David Jones, Leon Kossof, David Hockney, L.S. Lowry, John Minton, Henry Moore, Paul Nash, Chris Orr, Victor Pasmore, John Piper, Eric Ravilious, Anne Redpath, Bridget Riley, William Scott, Stanley Spencer, Euan Uglow and Keith Vaughan.
A highlight of the Modern British sales was an Eric Ravilious painting sold by Liss Llewellyn, River Thames at Hammersmith, one of only two watercolour paintings the artist made depicting London. On loan to Towner Eastbourne by his estate for over four decades, this was its first market appearance.
Sir Stanley Spencer R.A. (1891 - 1959), Study for John Donne Arriving in Heaven. Courtesy Abbott and Holder
Abbot & Holder sold a very rare work from Stanley Spencer’s early period, made as he was just leaving the Slade. The painting is a study for his famous composition, shown at Roger Fry’s seminal ‘Second Post-Impressionist Exhibition’ and now in the Fitzwilliam Museum.
John Swarbrooke Fine Art, whose sales included a work by Duncan Grant, said that “there was a lot of love for Bloomsbury this year.” This theme ran throughout the fair with Gwen Hughes Fine Art selling Vanessa Bell’s 1938 painting The Schoolroom among others.
Guy Peploe, director The Scottish Gallery reported many sales from their Modern Masters XIX exhibition. Blond Contemporary sold the bronze Chinese Horse III by Elisabeth Frink and “a selection of Hockneys”. Christopher Kingzett also had red dots on work by David Hockney as well as two paintings by Graham Sutherland.
Image: Elisabeth Frink (1930-1993), Chinese Horse III (Standing), 1989. Bronze, 47.9 x 49.6 x 18. Courtesy Blond Contemporary
Patrick Bourne & Co sold Jake in Paris by Winifred Nicholson (1893-1981), a rare portrait of the artist’s son. This painting was part of a group of Nicholson’s work brought to the market for the first time, alongside still lifes and a portrait of her daughter, Kate Nicholson. Bourne also sold additional works including House of Birds, by Alfred Wallis and a striking work by Mabel Pryde.
Image: Winifred Nicholson (1893-1981), Jake in Paris, c.1936-7, Oil on canvas, 64.8 x 49.5 cm, Courtesy Patrick Bourne & Co
UNSUNG
Unsung, a special exhibition curated by Art Market Journalist, Colin Gleadell, featured work by over 30 Modern British artists whom dealers felt were due for reappraisal. Clearly collectors were impressed with the selection, with eight key works sold by artists Jean Patricia Tapress Clark, Henry Cliffe, Madge Gill, Leslie Moore, Hanna Weil, Arthur Wragg, Austin Wright and Nan Youngman - all priced under £10,000.
LEFT: Jean Patricia Taprell Clark (1930–1973), Whirlwind, oil on canvas board. Sold at Unsung courtesy Ottocento Gallery.
RIGHT: Esteban, Segovia 1960, oil on canvas by Hanna Weil, a work by a Jewish artist, who escaped the Anschluss and came to study in London was sold at Unsung courtesy Oriel Fine Art. Weil’s work is collected by the V&A and London Transport Museum.
SOLO CONTEMPORARY
Now in its fourth edition, SOLO Contemporary occupied a large dedicated space at Saatchi Gallery, with ten stands each held by a cutting-edge contemporary art dealer who presented the work of one star artist. GL Brierley, represented by A Modest Show, was the winner of the coveted 2025 SOLO Contemporary Artist Award. SOLO dealers reported sales ranging from £500 to £15,000, including a sell-out presentation from Guerin Projects. Curator Zavier Ellis said, “this year was the strongest edition to date. The dealers put on great presentations; many collectors attended; and sales were strong. This is great validation for contemporary painting in the UK today.”
Artist GL Brierly, winner of the SOLO Contemporary award 2025, with curator Zavier Ellis. Photo credit Daniela Luquini
DIGITALISM
There was a great response to British Art Fair’s pioneering digital art section, which first launched in 2024 as ‘Pivotal: Digitalism’ and coined the term ‘Digitalism’ as an art movement. The 2025 edition, curated by academic and interdisciplinary artist, Rebekah Tolley, presented over 60 digital artists working across robotics, VR, AI, AR, moving image, photography and painting. Good sales were made across the board, particularly by artists Jack Keido, cited by Christie’s as being at the forefront of the digital art movement, Mr Relative whose reach on instagram tops 87 million, Cristina Schek (also sold by Cynthia Corbett), and VitaliV, a Soviet-born artist living in London and represented by MA Gallery. Digital art platform, Sedition launched a new three-piece digital art collection by Nick Fudge, one of the original voices of the YBA generation. “The response was extraordinary, the entire collection sold out within hours.” said CEO, Dyl Blaquiere.
Digitalism 2025 at British Art Fair. Photo credit Daniela Luquini
HOSPITAL ROOMS
British Art Fair’s Charity partner this year was Hospital Rooms, the charity transforming NHS mental health hospitals through contemporary art. The charity presented an installation featuring a calm interior and artist-decorated furniture, alongside their launch and sale of a new series of three limited edition prints by celebrated artist, Sutapa Biswas. Biswas signed a selection of works, and funds were raised to support new projects and a programme of creative workshops for patients.
Hospital Rooms’ Installation at British Art Fair. Photo credit Guy Bell
SPONSORS AND PARTNERS
British Art Fair’s partners for 2025 included: Riverstone Living (Associate Partner); Plowden and Smith (Collectors’ Preview Partner); The Prince Akatoki (Hotel Partner); and Gusborne (Food & Drink Partner), The London Essence, Axia, Prime Time, The Macallan and Chelsea Arts Festival. Media Partners included Apollo Magazine, The Burlington Magazine and ROSA Magazine. Fair Partners were The British Shop, Togather, Aubury’s, Winsor & Newton and the Contemporary Art Academy.
NOTES TO EDITORS
Ramsay Fairs
British Art Fair is owned by Ramsay Fairs. In 2024 the company, which runs 20 fairs worldwide, celebrated its 25th anniversary. Affordable Art Fairs can now be found in 15 cities including Amsterdam, Berlin, Brisbane, Brussels, Hamburg, Hong Kong, London, Melbourne, New York and Singapore. VOLTA Art Fair takes place annually in Basel. With over 250,000 visitors a year, Ramsay Fairs has earned a global reputation for hosting stylish art fairs at all levels of the market, as well for introducing art to generations of collectors.
The 2025 British Art Fair Team
British Art Fair Co-Founder, Gay Hutson, and Will Ramsay CEO, Ramsay Fairs, are advised by a committee which includes dealers: Jamie Anderson, Jenna Burlingham, Colin Gleadell, Zavier Ellis, James Hyman, Peter Osborne and Richard Selby. The fair also has a vetting committee to authenticate the works shown.
BLAST and British Art News
British Art Fair publishes news on all areas of Modern and Contemporary British art in public and commercial galleries in a column edited by author Alex Leith. The fair sponsors BLAST | Art Market Report, a monthly and independent report by Colin Gleadell with exclusive content on the British art market. Read and sign up for free at www.britishartfair.co.uk/blast
British Art Fair 2025 Associate Partner: Riverstone Living
Riverstone creates vibrant later living communities in prime London locations, where culture, wellbeing and connection are at the heart of everyday life.
British Art Fair 2025 Collectors’ Preview Partner: Plowden & Smith
Since 1966, Plowden & Smith has provided specialist conservation, restoration and mount-making services to the world’s most discerning collectors, fine art market professionals and the global museum sector.
Saatchi Gallery
Since 1985, Saatchi Gallery has provided an innovative platform for contemporary art. Exhibitions have presented works by largely unseen young artists, or by international artists whose work has been rarely or never exhibited in the UK. This approach has made the Gallery one of the most recognised names in contemporary art. Since moving to its current 70,000 square feet space in the Duke of York’s Headquarters in Chelsea, London, the Gallery has welcomed over 10 million visitors. The Gallery hosts thousands of school visits annually and has over 6 million followers on social media. In 2019 Saatchi Gallery became a registered charity, beginning a new chapter in its history.
www.saatchigallery.com Registered Charity Number: 1182328
BRITISH ART FAIR
Modern and Contemporary British Art
25 - 28 September 2025
Saatchi Gallery, Duke of York HQ, King’s Road, London SW3 4RY
www.britishartfair.co.uk
office@britishartfair.co.uk
Instagram: @britishartfair | Facebook: @britishartfair
Press Contact: Jessica Wood, Head of Communications
Email: jessica@britishartfair.co.uk
Tel: + 44 (0)7939 226988