What’s the mood like at one of the world’s top art fairs?

This autumn's Frieze fair is all set to opens (13–16 October 2011). But what’s the mood like at one of the world’s top art events? Here is a quick look at the news report that give us an insight:

“Collectors are being more cautious,” said the London-based adviser Tania Buckrell Pos, who has Russians and Asians among her clients. “A few indicated they thought prices may even come down a little. Nonetheless, Frieze will attract a lot of attention and there will be some solid buying activity.”

New works priced at less than $500,000 tend to be the main draw for collectors who fly in for Frieze and its satellite events. “My clients are ready and itching to buy work,” said the New York-based adviser Heather Flow, who will be visiting Frieze and its satellite events. “The majority are American and our focus is on works under $30,000.” Others are less confident about the outlook for contemporary pieces. (Bloomberg)

Will Chinese buyers ride to the rescue? Will the super-rich decide painting and sculpture is a better investment than volatile stocks or risky debt? Those are the big questions on the art world's lips as hundreds of galleries and collectors descend on London for the annual post-war and contemporary frenzy centred around the October 13-16 Frieze Art Fair in Regent's Park.

Matthew Slotover, co-founder of Frieze who is considered one of the art world's most powerful figures, conceded that concerns over slow economic growth and Europe's debt crisis could weigh on the fair. But he, like many others, argued that investors may prefer to put their money into a painting than a paper asset."It is something tangible and real," he told Reuters in a recent interview, stressing that personally he would not treat art as a financial investment alone. (Reuters)

Frieze grew up with the art world, too: like many of the artists who were young in the 1990s, it has grown from the improvisatory, homemade early days into an international business. The Masters fair, which will run next October alongside Frieze, with about 70 galleries, is a fascinating development.

When the world is deep in recession and economic uncertainty, it seems a curious time to be envisioning such rapid expansion. But Matthew Slotover and Amanda Sharp (the two who set up the fair) are confident, pointing out that all their previous developments came in economically gloomy times: the magazine in recession-hit 1991, the first fair in the aftermath of the dotcom crash. The art market, they argue, has not been as badly hit as other industries, with Frieze holding fairly steady in size. (The Guardian)