Five Works That Stole the Show at Frieze New York

Spare a thought for the many people in the art world who touched down this week fresh from a magnificent time in Venice and then, somehow, found themselves in the Shed. The jolt is a little like when Neo wakes up from the Matrix for the first time, yanking from his throat the tube that had been sustaining him via a steady diet of spritzes and cicchetti. But Frieze New York is not so different from Venice. Everything here is for sale, too, and, for all its faults, the Shed is not much bigger than a palazzo, so the fair tends to be manageable in size. Dealers focus on quality over quantity and can bring ambitious works, since they don’t have to ship them very far. Meanwhile, collectors feel like they have the time to linger, whether they’re hunting for gems or masterpieces.

Shoul...