Hockney Takes Over British Art Fair in London
A self-portrait once held in the collection of American actor Lily Tomlin will be priced at £65,000 when the British Art Fair opens on 24 September in London.
The fair runs from 24 to 27 September at the Saatchi Gallery in Chelsea, London. Hockney is the draw. A tribute display of 12 works, organised by Eleanor Ekserdijan, will appear as loans, works lent for display rather than sale, according to The Art Newspaper.
Dealer Christopher Kingzett will bring three Hockneys to his stand. Alongside the Tomlin self-portrait, he lists The Red Pot at £60,000. Provenance, the documented chain of ownership, is part of the sale information, with the self-portrait identified as coming from Tomlin's collection.
Hockney material will also be on the stands of Tanya Baxter and Blond Contemporary. The fair started in 1988 and ranks as one of London's oldest art fairs. This edition brings together more than 70 galleries and exhibitors.
The offer spreads wider than one name. The fair handles paintings, drawings, sculpture, photography, prints and ceramics, all in Modern and Contemporary British art. Advertised artists include Frank Auerbach, John Craxton, Mary Fedden, Howard Hodgkin, Tracey Emin, Terry Frost, Barbara Hepworth, Damien Hirst and Ivon Hitchens, alongside Albert Irvin, Gwen John, L.S. Lowry and Henry Moore, as listed by the Saatchi Gallery. New exhibitors for 2026 include Gallery Ten, Jonathan Soden, Ottocento, Sisters Grimm and Winsor Birch.
Organisers describe the event as the United Kingdom's only fair devoted solely to Modern and Contemporary British art, with a curated programme of events and conversations alongside the stands. Tickets for the 2026 edition start at £20 and must be booked in advance. The fair will take over the entire gallery space at the Saatchi Gallery's Chelsea address, SW3 4RY.
The 2025 edition drew more than 13,000 visitors to the same venue from 25 to 28 September 2025, the fair said. That year featured Unsung, a special display that put forward overlooked Modern British artists for re-evaluation. The fair was previously staged as the 20/21 British Art Fair before a move to the Saatchi Gallery and a change of name.
For visitors, this means loans and stock sit side by side. You can study the 12 borrowed Hockneys, then walk a few steps to ask the price of another.
