This autumn’s fair season has felt like a true turning point for the art market.

From London to Paris, there is a sense that momentum is returning. Collectors are active again, and our galleries across Europe are regaining confidence in a market that has felt hesitant for much of the past year.

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Frieze London: Local Strength and Early Sales

Frieze London opened the season on a positive note.

Strong sales early in the week set the pace, and there was a clear sense that collectors were back and ready to buy.

The crowd this year felt largely domestic, with UK collectors buying from UK galleries, but that local strength created a steady foundation for the weeks that followed. For many of our gallery clients, it marked one of the strongest Frieze editions in recent memory, both in terms of sales and the quality of conversations taking place across the fair.

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Art Basel Paris: Confidence on a Global Stage

That momentum continued into Art Basel Paris, but on a different scale.

For the first time, the fair truly felt like a five-day event. In previous years, the energy would peak during the VIP previews before slowing quickly. This year, activity was spread evenly across the week, a promising sign for the fair’s long-term health and for Paris’s growing importance as a global hub.

The mood was far more confident than what we saw in Basel earlier this year. The top of the market is clearly moving again.

Several of our clients, including major international galleries, reported having to rehang their booths multiple times due to sales, something we have not heard for quite some time. Works in the six- and seven-figure range sold within the first few days, setting a decisive tone.

Alongside these sales, we are also hearing that more collectors are arriving prepared for AML checks, something we always love to see. Compliance is becoming a more natural part of the sales process, reflecting a growing awareness that trust and transparency are now integral to how the art market operates.

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Changing Collector Behaviour

One of the most interesting trends from both fairs was a shift in what collectors are drawn to.

Buyers are gravitating towards visually immediate works, pieces that are beautiful, bold, and instinctive. As soon as the conversation becomes, “this is an important work because…”, buyers tend to switch off.

Collectors are buying with their eyes and intuition rather than relying on long explanations or heavy context. This instinctive approach highlights a desire for immediacy and confidence in decision-making, which mirrors the broader sentiment of the market itself.

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The New Balancing Act for Galleries

For galleries, this shift is shaping how presentations are curated.

The most successful booths this season combined highly sellable works with curatorial-level pieces that maintain institutional relationships, alongside a few new or experimental additions. It is a balancing act, and for those staging solo presentations, that curatorial focus can limit commercial flexibility.

However, the fairs made clear that galleries able to blend both commercial strength and curatorial ambition are best positioned to thrive. And increasingly, that success is also tied to operational trust. Collectors expect the same level of professionalism and diligence from a gallery as they do from any other industry. This is where strong compliance processes, supported by platforms like Arcarta, play an important role in helping galleries build and maintain those trusted relationships.

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Looking Ahead

Across both Frieze and Basel Paris, the message is consistent. Confidence is back at the top of the market, even if the mid-tier has yet to fully catch up. Collectors are active, conversations are flowing, and there is a renewed sense of optimism that has been missing for some time.

It is not a full recovery yet, but it is a meaningful step in the right direction.

All eyes now turn to Miami, where we will see whether this renewed confidence continues to build and how galleries continue to balance creativity, commerce, and compliance in an evolving market.

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Bethany Woolfall, VP of Customers at Arcarta.