A new boutique art fair is joining London’s increasingly busy Frieze Week, with London Invitational bringing 12 galleries from London and the US to the former American Embassy in Grosvenor Square.
Founded in Dallas in 2023 by British-born gallerist James Cope, London Invitational will make its European debut from 15th–18th October 2026 at The Chancery Rosewood in Mayfair.
Rather than attempting to compete with the scale of London’s established fairs, the new arrival is deliberately keeping things small. The inaugural edition will occupy a single floor of the former US Embassy, with a tightly edited group of galleries presenting contemporary and 20th-century art.
The line-up includes Andrew Reed Gallery, Bel Ami, Broadway, Charles Asprey, EUROPA, François Ghebaly, James Cope Gallery, James Kelly Contemporary, LOMEX, Marinaro, franklin parrasch gallery and Vardaxoglou. Together they bring galleries from London, New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Dallas and Las Vegas into Mayfair.
There are some significant names among the artists heading to London.
James Kelly Contemporary will present works by Ed Ruscha, Josef Albers, Edmund de Waal, John Chamberlain and Ken Price, while London’s Vardaxoglou will bring together 20th-century British artists including Howard Hodgkin, Robyn Denny, Prunella Clough and Roger Hilton.
New York’s franklin parrasch gallery will show Peter Alexander, Indivi Sutton and Ian Stanton, while Broadway will give Paris-born, New York-based painter Victoria Roth her UK debut with a solo presentation.
The setting could be one of the fair’s bigger attractions. The Chancery Rosewood occupies the former US Embassy designed by Eero Saarinen on Grosvenor Square — a very different proposition from the temporary tents and exhibition halls that dominate much of the international art-fair circuit.
For Cope, keeping the scale contained is central to the idea.
“London has always felt like a natural next chapter for The Invitational,”
he says.
“The city has an incredibly engaged collector and gallery community, and the scale and character of The Chancery Rosewood allow us to bring the intimacy and sense of discovery that define the fair in Dallas to a new audience during Frieze Week.”
London Invitational arrives at an interesting moment for Frieze Week, when the activity surrounding the main fairs has increasingly become part of the attraction. Smaller fairs, pop-ups, gallery collaborations and temporary projects now compete for attention across London, often offering a counterpoint to the scale and polish of Frieze itself.
London Invitational is betting on intimacy instead: 12 galleries, one floor and four days in Mayfair.
London Invitational, 15th–18th October 2026,
The Chancery Rosewood
Public opening: Friday 16th and Saturday 17th October, 11AM–6PM; Sunday 18th October, 12PM–4PM. Tickets are required.
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