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BRITISH ART FAIR 2026 | 35th Edition | 24 - 27 September | Saatchi Gallery London.

Founded in 1988, British Art Fair is the only fair dedicated to Modern and contemporary British art. Each year, fifty leading dealers exhibit paintings, drawings, prints and sculptures covering all the important artistic movements of the past 100 years: from the early modernists to the YBAs to contemporary street art. Most of the great names of 20th century British art are represented: Bomberg, F

reud, Frink, Frost, Hepworth, Hockney, Lowry, Moore, Nash, Piper, Riley, Spencer and Sutherland alongside contemporary names such as Grayson Perry, Banksy and many others of the 21st century.
Much of the work is privately sourced and fresh to the market and dealers keep work back for the fair. NEXT EDITION: 24-27 September, Saatchi Gallery, Chelsea, London

12/06/2026

A tribute to David Hockney, one of the great artists of his generation. British Art Fair has been honoured to showcase many of Hockney’s works over the past three decades from numerous exhibitors, including Tanya Baxter Contemporary, Christopher Kingzett, and Blond Contemporary, and we look forward to continuing his legacy in the years to come.

Born in 1937, Hockney studied at the Royal College of Art in London and first gained recognition with his depictions of gay life in the early 1960s, challenging a conservative society where homosexuality remained a criminal offence until 1967. He moved to the United States in the mid 60s, where his vibrant paintings of swimming pools and sunlit Californian residences helped define the Los Angeles aesthetic and earned him international acclaim. However, His six-decade career cannot be defined by one era, as he embraced a vast range of media from acrylic painting, to photo-collage, and more recently digital iPad works. He told Interview Magazine in 2013 “I’m interested in anything that makes pictures”.

David Hockney, A Bigger Jamie McHale 1, 2008, Inkjet drawing printed on paper, 2014, mounted on Dibond. Courtesy Tanya Baxter Contemporary
David Hockney, Self Portrait, 1986. Courtesy Christopher Kingzett
David Hockney, In Front of House Looking West, 2019. Inkjet print on paper. Shown at British Art Fair 2025 on the stand of Blond Contemporary

28/05/2026

OPEN CALL FOR ARTISTS ⁠
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We are delighted to welcome PensionBee as an Associate Partner for this year's fair, 24 – 27 September 2026. ⁠
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British Art Fair and PensionBee invite submissions for a special exhibition celebrating creativity later in life, curated by art historian, curator, and presenter, Jo McLaughlin (). ⁠
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We are particularly interested in artists who came to their practice later in life after another career, or whose longstanding dedication to their work is now receiving wider recognition. Applicants must have worked, lived, or studied in the UK at some point in their career, and may submit work in any medium suitable for wall display or plinth presentation. ⁠
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To apply, head to the linkinbio to check you meet the eligibility criteria and apply via the form. We would also be interested to hear about artists whose lived experience meaningfully informs their practice and story. ⁠
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Five selected artists will exhibit at British Art Fair, 24–27 September 2026, alongside established and represented peers, with significant exposure across British Art Fair and PensionBee platforms. ⁠
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Submission deadline: Sunday 21 June 2026 ⁠
Apply now via the link in bio. ⁠
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27/05/2026

Save the date for British Art Fair 2026.⁠
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The 2026 edition of British Art Fair takes place this autumn, 24 - 27 September with its annual showcase of the very best Modern and Contemporary British Art.⁠
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Elegantly installed throughout Saatchi Gallery, London, you will find a magnificent range of Modern British and Contemporary British art: paintings, sculpture, original prints, drawings and ceramics presented by over 70 of the UK’s leading galleries and dealers.⁠
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The 2026 edition will see the return of Spotlight: Contemporary, a section highlighting some of the UK’s most exciting contemporary gallerists and artists. Spotlight: Digitalism returns, presenting the very best digital art being created and exhibited in Britain today. ⁠
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Tickets for British Art Fair will go on sale next month.⁠
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Cover artwork: Howard Hodgkin, Put Out More Flags, 1992, signed with initials and numbered 47/75. Etching and aquatint, edition 47 of 75, 42 x 52cm⁠
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Artwork for sale and courtesy of ⁠
© 2026 The Estate of Howard Hodgkin. All rights reserved, DACS.

21/04/2026

This week, Portland Gallery opens their new major exhibition of works by John Piper.

Celebrating one of Britain’s most prominent artists of the 20th century, the exhibition is comprised of oils, works on paper and prints. From sombre war-torn Britain through to tranquil landscapes full of colour and abstracted form, the works on display bring to life Piper’s exceptional blend of Modernist and Romantic art.

Bringing together over 60 artworks, the exhibition is a valuable opportunity for both collectors and admirers to view and acquire a vast breadth of Piper’s output.

The exhibition is open from 23 April - 8 May at Portland Gallery, 3 Bennet Street, London, SW1A 1RP.

High Street, Thame, 1948, watercolour, gouache, wax crayon and ink on paper, 36 x 48cm
Garn Fechan (Pembrokeshire), 1974, watercolour, gouache, wax crayon and ink on paper, 37.5 x 56.5cm
Foliate Heads II, 1975, screen print, 58 x 76cm

14/04/2026

Congratulations to Redfern Gallery who are launching their inaugural exhibition at their new location on Pall Mall after 90 years on Cork Street.

Then and Now is a group exhibition including all Redfern artists - new and old. It reflects on the Redfern’s enduring commitment to supporting artists at different stages of their careers, from early exhibitions to long-term collaborations and to fostering their development over time.

Early works are brought into dialogue with more recent ones, revealing a diversity of approaches in material, form, and subject, while remaining united by a strong and distinctive sense of individual artistic identity.

This dialogue extends throughout the exhibition. Paul Feiler’s progression from landscape-based abstraction to his exploration of ‘elusive space’; Margaret Mellis’ shift from Constructivist reliefs to driftwood sculpture; and John Carter’s movement across abstraction, Minimalism, and sculptural wall objects.

The exhibition situates the gallery between past and present, between Cork Street and St James’s, and between the histories it carried and those that continue to unfold.

Celebrate with Redfern Gallery at Then and Now, opening on 15 April at 11-12 Pall Mall.

1.Eileen Agar RA, Invisible Messages, 1972, Acrylic on canvas, 45.5 x 60 cm
2.John Carter RA, Red Column: Study, 2023/4, Acrylic on plywood, 70 x 35 x 4.2 cm
3.Margaret Mellis, Fisherman, 1990-91, Driftwood construction, 124 x 80 cm

03/04/2026

The latest edition of BLAST covers London’s international sales of Modern and Contemporary Art which have sent a positive message to the market, with buyers clearly in the mood for Modern British art.

Highlights of the sales included Leon Kossoff’s Children’s Swimming Pool, 11 O’clock Saturday Morning, August 1969, which stole the show at Sotheby’s. Bought by billionaire Joe Lewis for £209,000 in 1992, it was now estimated at £800,000 but romped home with a record £5.2 million after ten bidders.

In an effort to attract international bidding for lower value British art, Sotheby’s inserted a Modern British section into its day sale of Impressionist & Modern art with 63 Mod Brit lots carrying a combined estimate of £1.6 - £2.4 million, and all but ten sold. One exceptional result was a triple estimate £74,240 for a rare watercolour landscape by Ivon Hitchens, The South Downs near Midhurst.

Christie’s specialised Modern British sales was led by Lyn Chadwick’s large bronze, Back to Venice. Chadwick had experienced a rough ride at Sotheby’ss last Mod Brit sale in November, but his market has seemed to find its feet again as Back to Venice attracted two bidders above its £1 million estimate, selling for £1.6 million - pretty much the same price as another cast from the edition of nine sold for in 2016.

Although not the top price, the outstanding result of the Christie's sale was a record for the late pop artist, Peter Phillips whose graphically arresting Motorpsycho/Ace, with its references to playing cards, warning signs, and Hitchcock horror films was estimated at £100,000 and sold for £254,000. The price was assisted by the provenance, having belonged to the influential Italian art critic Enrico Crispolti who died in 2018.

Head to the link in bio to read the full report for further stand out sales.

30/03/2026

This is the last week to visit Osborne Samuel Gallery’s latest exhibition, Keith Vaughan: States of Tension.

While the gallery has previously staged multiple solo shows dedicated to this important modern British artist, this is the first held at their fantastic new location at 21 Cork Street, in the heart of London’s Mayfair.

We took a trip to meet Matthew Bradbury, a Director at Osborne Samuel, who gave us a detailed insight to the range of work included in the exhibition, from oils to works on paper. Together, they cover almost the entire chronological spectrum of Vaughan’s career; the earliest dating from 1935, the latest from 1975, the penultimate year of the artist’s life.

Keith Vaughan: States of Tension is open until Thursday, 2 April.

17/03/2026

Shape & Form at Blond Contemporary brings together a considered selection of contemporary British works that foreground structure, colour, rhythm, and spatial intelligence.

At the core of the presentation are works by Bridget Riley, David Hockney, Clyde Hopkins, Michael Craig-Martin, and Gillian Ayres. Each artist approaches form from a distinct position. Riley's optical precision activates perception itself, while Hockney's works explore line, colour, and modern technologies as tools for re-seeing the natural world. Hopkins' paintings sit between abstraction and landscape, using structure and surface to evoke memory and place. Craig-Martin reduces objects to their essential visual syntax, and Ayres' expansive canvases push colour and gesture to expressive extremes.

These established figures are shown alongside a small group of younger contemporary artists whose practices extend and challenge this legacy. Their works engage with form through new materials, digital processes, and personal narratives, demonstrating how contemporary British art continues to evolve while remaining rooted in formal experimentation.

Visit the exhibition until 28 March at Blond Contemporary, Piccadilly Arcade, London.

Gillian Ayres, Anadyomene, 1983, Signed and dated 'Gillian Ayres 83' (lower left), Oil on canvas, 152.4 x 152.4 cm

13/03/2026

John Swarbrooke Fine Art presents their latest exhibition, A Paradise Regained: Neo-Romanticism in Britain. Following recent exhibitions dedicated to illustration and Neo-Romantic artists John Minton, Keith Vaughan, and the first exhibition of Denton Welch’s art for over forty years, the gallery now positions these artists in the wider context of Neo-Romanticism.

A comprehensive survey of the Neo-Romantic movement including over forty paintings, works on paper, sculptures, first edition literature and photographs, the exhibition reveals how Neo-Romanticism pervaded the cultural fabric of Britain from the mid 1930’s, through the Second World War until the late 1950s.

The work of official war artists associated with Neo-Romanticism, including Henry Moore, Graham Sutherland and John Piper, is displayed alongside a younger generation such as John Minton, Prunella Clough, John Craxton, Keith Vaughan, Denton Welch and Robert Colquhoun. The exhibition stresses the importance of the q***r identity of this younger generation, who often used the Neo-Romantic style to represent their outsider status.

The work above by Denton Welch, Flowers and a Demon, a powerfully gothic picture, was included in the final exhibition of Welch’s art during his lifetimes at the Leicester Galleries in January 1948. The fantastical images of the demon and ruins in the background, all rendered in a stark yellow, conjure up the world of William Blake. In contrast is the colourful still life in the foreground. Welch depicts an angel’s trumpet in the foreground, a chandelier-like flower distinguished from the the devil’s trumpet, whose flowers point up. The opposition of ancient ruins and vitality, of the demon and the angel, has poignant overtones for Welch himself, who battled continuing physical decline during the final decade of his life.

Visit the exhibition at 11 Fitzroy Square, London, W1T 6BU, until Sunday 15 March.

Denton Welch (1915–1948), Flowers and a Demon, 1943–44, signed lower right Denton Welch, oil on board, 62 × 51cm

25/02/2026

Lucian Freud: Drawing into Painting is the UK’s most comprehensive museum exhibition to focus on the artist’s works on paper, including some work seen on display for the first time.

The exhibition explores Freud’s lifelong preoccupation with the human face and figure from the 1930s to the early 21st century, focusing on his mastery of drawing in all its forms - from pencil, pen, and ink to charcoal and etching. Alongside this, a carefully selected group of important paintings will reveal the dynamic dialogue between his practice on paper and on canvas.

The National Portrait Gallery acquired 12 new works from the estate of Lucian Freud ahead of the exhibition. Among these are 8 etchings, including a trial proof, which are the first of their medium by Freud to enter the gallery’s collection.

Visit the exhibition at The National Portrait Gallery until 4 May 2026.

1. Girl in Bed, 1952, Lucian Freud, Oil on canvas, © The Lucian Freud Archive. All Rights Reserved 2026 / Bridgeman Images. Photo © National Portrait Gallery, London. Lent by a private collection, courtesy of Ordovas.

2. Portrait of a Young Man, 1944, Lucian Freud, Black crayon and chalk on paper, © The Lucian Freud Archive. All Rights Reserved 2026 / Bridgeman Images, Lent by a private collection

3. David Hockney, 2002, Lucian Freud, Oil on canvas © The Lucian Freud Archive. All Rights Reserved 2026 / Bridgeman Images, Lent by a private collection

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