These are the art fairs not to miss in September. Courtesy VOLTA

Industry elders will remember when summer truly was the slow season in the art world: a time for mounting group shows featuring interesting works by contemporary artists on the rise. But this year’s calendar of July art fairs and August art fairs was surprisingly packed—proof positive there’s no longer a slow season in the art world when you come at it globally, perhaps?

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That said, plenty of galleries spent the summer preparing for the big fall art fairs. September’s art fair calendar is absolutely packed with events, particularly for New Yorkers who have The Armory Show to look forward to in a month bookended by Salon Zürcher and Affordable Art Fair’s New York editions. Frieze Seoul is sure to be another September standout, along with the brand new Untitled Art Houston and the newly rechristened Hungry Eye Fair in Amsterdam.

Whether you’re hunkering down in New York for the Armory Show-adjacent fairs or hitting the road on an international odyssey of art, Observer’s monthly art fair calendars can help you put together the perfect itinerary.

Salon Zürcher 2025

September 2-7

New York City mini fair Salon Zürcher bills itself as an Armory Week oasis—a restful, non-intimidating space to appreciate art on a human scale. The thirty-second edition of the satellite art fair, titled “100 Women of Spirit , Part 3” (a continuation of the “11 Women of Spirit” series, which originally launched during the 2020 Armory Show) will present work brought by a distinguished group of just eleven women artists: Trissy Callan, Amy Chen, Marieken Cochius, Ellen Hackl Fagan, Roberta Fineberg, Anne Finkelstein, Cora Jane Glasser, Ali Ha, Kathy Levine, Andra Samelson and Jane Sangerman. Salon Zürcher is held each year in the Zürcher Gallery’s New York space on Bleecker Street, and admission is free, though the best reason to make time for Salon Zürcher is the chance to chat with the artists whose work is on show.

Frieze Seoul 2025

September 3-6

More than 120 of the world’s most recognizable art galleries from across thirty countries will participate in the fourth edition of Frieze Seoul, which takes place at COEX and runs alongside Kiaf SEOUL. On the program this year are several special projects that showcase the dynamism of Korea’s contemporary art scene, including a work by artist duo Moon Kyungwon and Jeon Joonho, which will unfold across the fair, and a new site-specific installation by Liam Gillick. This year’s Frieze Talks speakers include Gabriel Ritter (director of the UCSB Art, Design & Architecture Museum and associate professor, department of the History of Art & Architecture), Zoe Butt (founder, in-tangible institute), CHE Onejoon (artist, AfroAsia Collective), Gyeol Ko (artist, ikkibawiKrrr), Yoon Juli (curator, Ilmin Museum of Art), Jiseon Lee Isbara (president, School of the Art Institute of Chicago), Mami Kataoka (director, Mori Art Museum), Purat (Chang) Osathanugrah (chairman, Dib Bangkok), Jae Seok Kim (founder, Xlarge gallery) and Sohl Lee (associate professor, modern and contemporary East Asian art at Stony Brook University, State University of New York).

Kiaf SEOUL 2025

September 4-7

While it sometimes doesn’t get the attention of Frieze, Kiaf SEOUL was South........

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