Last updated: 28 September 2026. I checked every price and date in this British Art Fair review against the dealers' labels and the fair's own pages.
By Tristan · Arts, exhibitions and creative culture
This is an opinion piece. Views expressed are the author's own and do not constitute professional advice.
Cool Factor: 2/5
This British Art Fair review comes from the last afternoon of the 2026 fair, Sunday 27 September, when I spent a little over an hour going stand to stand at the Saatchi Gallery, just off the King's Road in Chelsea. It was the first edition since David Hockney passed away in June, and the fair built a tribute display around him.
The work I rated highest, though, was a small study of a church front in Dieppe by Walter Sickert, but we'll get to the highlights.
What is British Art Fair?
British Art Fair describes itself as the only fair dedicated to Modern and Contemporary British art. According to the fair's own history, it started in 1988 at the Cumberland Hotel, moved to the Royal College of Art in 1991 and has filled the Saatchi Gallery since 2018. This year it ran from 24 to 27 September. More than 70 dealers took part, from established Modern British specialists to Spotlight: Contemporary, a section of solo booths for living artists.
So the range runs from the late 19th century to contemporary pieces by young artists living and working today. Meanwhile, the price labels run from a few hundred pounds to well into six figures. The fair's own £5,000 and under route guide picked out 40 works for people starting a collection. That makes it a useful way in if six figures is not your weekend budget.
Stop one: Craxton at Osborne Samuel
I went in in the early afternoon and started at Osborne Samuel. John Craxton's Man Drinking Ouzo hung on a grey wall there. It is a pastel and Conté crayon drawing from the early 1980s: a young man with his head tipped back, glass to his lips, outlined in yellow and turquoise against a sea-green ground. The label put it at £30,000. Like many of Craxton's figures, it is bold, homoerotic and confidently executed.
Then, amid a salon hang on Abbott and Holder's booth, was a sheet of Prunella Clough studies for Fishermen Hauling Nets from 1946, with six small groups of figures bent over nets in charcoal, pencil and wash. At £4,750 it was also one of the works in the £5,000 and under guide.
Stop two: the Hockney tribute
A few minutes later I reached the first of the Hockney stands. The fair's display, David Hockney: A British Eye, was curated by the artist and filmmaker Eleanor Ekserdjian and spread across three dealers' stands. At Christopher Kingzett there was The Red Pot, a 1986 print he made on a colour photocopier, listed on the fair's website at £60,000. Over at Blond Contemporary sat Red, Blue and Wicker, another home-made photocopier print from about 1986. It is from an edition of 39 and was listed at £22,000 plus taxes. The fair quotes Hockney on why the office copier appealed to him, from the 1988 retrospective catalogue:
"This is the closest I've ever come in printing to what it's like to paint."
David Hockney, on his home-made photocopier prints
The display ran from £16,000 for a xerox of a fax drawing up to £225,000 for Beuvron-en-Auge Panorama, a 2019 inkjet print. There is more on seeing his work in the capital in our David Hockney London exhibition piece.
Stop three: Sickert and Gwen John at Browse & Darby
Next I reached Browse & Darby, which had a small cluster of Walter Sickert. There was a pen and ink Bedroom, Camden Town from about 1909, a crayon street scene and two small oils of Dieppe. One of those is Dieppe, Chevet d'église, painted around 1903 on a panel about 24 centimetres tall.
Next to them hung The Facade of Saint Jacques, from about 1899 to 1900, in pencil, charcoal, ink and watercolour. It measures 21 by 17 centimetres. The church front rises out of a grey, rain-streaked street, with a few figures sketched in below. For me it was the real best in show.
Sickert returned to Saint-Jacques in Dieppe again and again around the turn of the century. Tate owns an oil of the same subject, Dieppe, Study No.2; Façade of St Jacques, from about 1899.
On the same wall were two small works by Gwen John. One shows a dark cat curled on a cushion. The other, Posy of flowers on an ochre background, is a gouache only 14 centimetres across.
Stop four: Hodgkin's Red Flowers at Middlemarch
Middlemarch Fine Art had Howard Hodgkin's Red Flowers. It is a 2015 silkscreen printed in 22 hand-pulled colours with torn, sponged edges, from an edition of 75. Tate published it and King & McGaw printed it. The label read £4,200 plus Artist's Resale Right, the royalty paid to an artist or their estate when a work is resold.
According to the label, Hodgkin based the print on a 2011 to 2012 oil on wood panel of the same name, and he gave larger prints of it to Tate in 2015. The label quoted him on the painting:
"My father loved small flowers - I was thinking about him."
Howard Hodgkin, quoted on the Middlemarch Fine Art label
Hodgkin turned up across the fair. His 1992 etching Put Out More Flags, at Portland Gallery, was the fair's cover image and filled the hoarding outside. Meanwhile, Eames Fine Art showed Moroccan Door at £18,000, and Gwen Hughes Fine Art had DH in Hollywood at £3,200. If you like the look but not the price, our Howard Hodgkin Indian Leaves print page covers a cheaper way in. I feel Hodgkin is long overdue a show in London, given that 2027 marks the tenth anniversary of his death.
Stop five: a Hockney for £800
When I reached John Iddon Fine Art, I found a very different Hockney. A Bounce for Bradford is a colour photolithograph printed for the Bradford Telegraph & Argus on 3 March 1987, in the city where Hockney was born. Arcs of red, yellow, blue and black bounce across a blue mesh towards a yellow ball. The handwritten label said £800.
So the fair offered two very different ways to own a Hockney: £225,000 for an inkjet panorama, or £800 for a sheet that came free with a regional newspaper. I have one of these in my collection.
Stop six: Spotlight: Digitalism
On the top floor of the Saatchi I reached Spotlight: Digitalism, the fair's digital art section, now in its third year. According to the wall text by its producer and curator, Rebekah Tolley, it brought together more than 80 artists working across moving image, AI-generated pieces, augmented reality, photography and sculpture. The wall text is clear about what it thinks the section is:
"Digitalism has never been about technology for its own sake."
Rebekah Tolley, producer and curator, Spotlight: Digitalism
What on earth is Digitalism, though? The fair presents it as an art movement it launched itself in 2024. Having walked through it, I found it terrible and lame. It was naff, and it pulled the fair down rather than pointing anywhere new. For a fair that calls itself the home of Modern and Contemporary British art, it felt bolted on. There was plenty of technical virtuosity, but the ideas were shallow. It was refreshing to walk back downstairs and see some paint on canvas.
Stop seven: Pippa El-Kadhi Brown at Ed Cross
I then reached Ed Cross Fine Art's solo booth in Spotlight: Contemporary, given over entirely to Pippa El-Kadhi Brown. She was born in 1996, studied painting at Brighton and then at the Royal College of Art, and took part in the Freelands Foundation Studio Fellowship in 2024.
According to the gallery, she made the new paintings during stays in Nairobi and on a residency at Palazzo Monti in Italy. The centrepiece was She comes in waves, a large diptych painted in Nairobi during the rainy season, a climate the artist describes as:
"wet and dry at once"
Pippa El-Kadhi Brown, via Ed Cross Fine Art
Around it hung a set of much smaller, more abstract canvases, some only 15 by 20 centimetres, which the gallery says she usually finishes in one sitting. The one that caught my eye was Mouth Wide, Heavens Open (2026), priced at £4,125, a haze of rust, pink and pale blue marks. Prices started at £1,045 for One Hundred Thousand Wings and £1,540 for Dodo. Mouth Wide, Heavens Open was her entry in the £5,000 and under guide, and Rainmaker, the most figurative painting on the booth, was £9,900. It was refreshing to see work by a young contemporary painter, and I'm keen to see more of El-Kadhi Brown's work.
Stop eight: Frink, Fedden and Peter Blake
I then worked along a run of Modern British stands. At Moore-Gwyn Fine Art, Elisabeth Frink's charcoal Birdman, signed and dated 1961, shows a thin figure leaning forward with one arm thrown over his head. The label read £5,800 plus Artist's Resale Right. A minute later, Kaye Michie had a 1981 Mary Fedden of two cats with a pineapple, a basket of pears, grapes and a lemon.
Then James Hyman Gallery showed Peter Blake's 2018 watercolour of Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex. According to the label, British Vogue commissioned it that year. It was price on application.
Stop nine: Gwen John at Crane Kalman
My last stop was Crane Kalman and a third Gwen John: La Rue Terre Neuve, a pencil and watercolour street scene from 1929. Lit windows glow in a brown facade while a single dark figure passes below. The label says it has been with one French family since the 1920s.
Living artists to watch at British Art Fair
The Modern British names get the headlines, but the Spotlight: Contemporary booths and the £5,000 guide are where the living artists sit. I did not reach all of these, so the prices come from the fair's own route guide.
- Michael Taylor, The Finch Project. A Cape Town painter of flamboyant, funny figures. Little Holland (2025), a small acrylic, was £2,200.
- Suzy Willey, Vestry St. An untitled 2026 oil, 40 by 50 centimetres, for £2,000.
- Bethany Holmes, Narrative Gallery. The Quiet Awakening of Everything (2026), in acrylic, pastel and oil stick on linen, 105 by 125 centimetres, for £3,800.
- Erin Hughes, Ruup & Form. Katherine's Base (2024), made from hand-cut marbled and screen-printed paper, for £2,200.
- Malene Hartmann Rasmussen, James Freeman Gallery. Angry Eagle (2025), a glazed stoneware bird with 24 carat gold lustre, in an edition of 10. At £600 it was the cheapest work in the whole guide.
- Jess Blandford, Kittoe Contemporary. Extra Screen Time (2025), a small oil and acrylic, for £990.
- Born To. A separate display of five artists, all over 50, who came to art later in life, chosen from more than 500 entries.
The Modern British side has a Tate hook too. Harry Moore-Gwyn had Duncan Grant's 1950 Abstract Design for Painted Cupboard at £3,250. Tate Britain opens Vanessa Bell & Duncan Grant: Inside Bloomsbury on 12 November 2026, with more than 300 works, painted furniture among them, and their Charleston studio rebuilt in the gallery.
Honest critical observations
There was some great stuff at this year's fair, but you had to walk past a lot to find it. Between the strong stands sat a fair amount of naff, Etsy-type art: decorative, safe and forgettable.
The other problem was familiarity. Plenty of the secondary market pieces on show, meaning older work being resold rather than new work from the artist, have been doing the rounds at London art fairs like the Treasure House Fair at the Royal Hospital Chelsea. If you go to these fairs regularly, a good share of the walls will look like reruns.
Then there was Digitalism, the weakest part of the whole visit.
Why British Art Fair matters now
Hockney's death in June gave this edition a clear focal point, and the tribute showed how wide his market runs, from newspaper prints to six-figure editions. At the same time, the Bell and Grant show at Tate Britain in November will put Bloomsbury back in front of a large audience. If you are thinking about buying rather than just looking, our feature on the Soho Home and Rise Art collection covers limited editions against one-off originals.
Value for money
Tickets started at £20 on the Saatchi Gallery listing, with pre-booking required. For comparison, the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition is another big London show where much of the art is for sale. The RA show, however, is mostly new work by living artists, while this fair leans towards Modern British names from the last century. If you go regularly to the big museum shows, the National Art Pass is worth a look.
Practical info
- Venue: Saatchi Gallery, Duke of York Square, London SW3 4RY.
- Nearest Tube: Sloane Square (District and Circle lines), a three to four minute walk.
- Access: ramp access at the main entrance, wheelchairs on request and all three floors accessible. Two blue badge bays at the rear must be booked on 020 7811 3070.
- Dates: the 2026 fair ran from 24 to 27 September. See the fair's visitor page for next year's dates.
British Art Fair review: the verdict
The best of British Art Fair is very good, but there isn't much of it. A small Sickert study, Gwen John at two stands, an £800 Hockney and Pippa El-Kadhi Brown's solo booth stood out. Around them, though, sat too much naff, made-for-Instagram-type art, secondary market pieces that have already done the London fair circuit, and a digital section that did the fair no favours.
Cool Factor
★★☆☆☆
2 out of 5
Overall, a 2/5 Lukewarm. The Sickert and Gwen John wall at Browse & Darby and a handful of strong living artists are the reasons I would not write the fair off completely. However, they were the exception. Too much of the fair was forgettable decorative work, reruns from other fairs or Digitalism, and that is why it scores a 2. If you go next year, take the £5,000 route guide and a short list of stands, and skip the rest.
FAQs
Is British Art Fair worth visiting?
Only if you know what you are looking for. A few Spotlight: Contemporary booths showed strong living artists. However, much of the fair was decorative filler, resold work regulars will recognise, and an underwhelming digital section, so plan your stands in advance.
How much are tickets to British Art Fair?
Tickets for the 2026 fair started at £20 and had to be booked in advance.
Can you buy art for under £5,000 at British Art Fair?
Yes. In 2026 the fair's £5,000 and under guide listed 40 works, from a £600 stoneware eagle by Malene Hartmann Rasmussen to a £5,000 oil. Prints by Alan Davie, Barbara Hepworth and Ben Nicholson also came in under that line.
Where is British Art Fair held?
At the Saatchi Gallery on Duke of York Square in Chelsea, a few minutes' walk from Sloane Square station. It has been there since 2018.
What does "+ ARR" mean on a price label?
ARR stands for Artist's Resale Right, a royalty paid to the artist or their estate when a work is resold through a dealer or auction house. Labels marked "+ ARR" add it on top of the listed price.
More from CoolCuration
- Whistler at Tate Britain: our review of the Whistler exhibition.
- William Nicholson at Pallant House: another Modern British painter, seen in depth in Chichester.
- David Hockney Serpentine tray: a small, everyday piece of Hockney to own.
- Gifts for artists: our edit for the creative people in your life.
- theprintspace discount code: for getting your own work printed and framed properly.
Cover image: detail of Howard Hodgkin, Red Flowers, 2015 © The Estate of Howard Hodgkin. All other photographs taken at the fair by CoolCuration.
What's trending
Recent posts
- British Art Fair 2026 Review
Art fairsSaatchi Gallery A Sickert study best in show, a Hockney for £800, and naff AI art Last updated: 28 September 2026. I checked every price and date in this British Art Fair review against the dealers' labels and the fair's own pages. By Tristan · Arts, exhibitions and creative culture This is an opinion… Read more: British Art Fair 2026 Review - Quentin James McCaffrey at Alison Jacques ReviewLast updated: 6 October 2026 By Tristan · Arts, exhibitions and creative culture This is an opinion piece. Views expressed are the author's own and do not constitute professional advice. Cool Factor: 3/5 Quentin James McCaffrey's first UK solo show was on at Alison Jacques from 3 September to 3 October 2026. Comprising fifteen small… Read more: Quentin James McCaffrey at Alison Jacques Review
- Premium Bonds Alternatives UK 2026: Prize Savings Accounts ComparedFour Premium Bonds alternatives open to new savers, with each provider's published odds, prize tables, access rules and protection.
No Comments.