Sotheby’s London: Joe Lewis and Modigliani Lead the Way in a £393.4 Million Double Auction

Sotheby’s London achieved total sales of 393.4 million pounds (456 million euros; 520.7 million dollars) in a double evening auction. The figure was recorded on Wednesday, June 24, at the New Bond Street location during two consecutive sessions: “Masterpieces from the Lewis Collection ” and the “Modern & Contemporary Evening Auction.”

As reported by Art News, the first sale, dedicated to the collection of British billionaire Joe Lewis, reached 296 million pounds (346.3 million euros; 390 million dollars), setting a record for a single collection sold in London. The second auction, meanwhile, totaled 97.1 million pounds ( 113.2 million euros; 128.1 million dollars), bringing the overall total to 393.4 million pounds (456 million euros; 520.7 million dollars). More than 70 percent of the works in the Lewis collection sold above the high estimates, while in the second auction, 85 percent of the lots found buyers, representing a 55 percent increase compared to last year’s equivalent sale, which totaled 62.5 million pounds (72.9 million euros; 82.3 million dollars).

The evening opened with fierce bidding on works of European modernism. Gustave Caillebotte’s *Portrait de Paul Hugot* (1978) fetched 10.2 million pounds (11.9 million euros; 13.5 million dollars), more than double the high estimate. René Magritte’s *La Belle Promenade* (1965) sold for 16 million pounds (18.6 million euros; 21.1 million dollars), against an estimate of 4 million pounds (4.6 million euros; 5.3 million dollars). Pablo Picasso fetched 23.8 million pounds (27.6 million euros; 31.4 million dollars) for *Buste de Femme* (1938), while Henri Matisse, on the other hand, totaled 3.75 million pounds (4.3 million euros; $4.9 million) for his 1935 work *Lydia (Étude pour “Portrait au Manteau Bleu”) *.

In the next segment of the Lewis collection, Edgar Degas’s *Petite Danseuse de Quatorze Ans* (1922) fetched 25 million pounds (28.8 million euros; 33.1 million dollars). Kazimir Malevich fetched over 3 million pounds (3.5 million euros; 4 million dollars) for *Head of a Peasant* (1911). Egon Schiele achieved 18 million pounds (20.8 million euros; 23.6 million dollars) with *Danaë* (1909).

Among the evening’s most notable results was Lucian Freud, whose portrait of Sue Tilley sold for 29.3 million pounds (34 million euros; 38.5 million dollars). Next, Amedeo Modigliani achieved 48.2 million pounds (56.4 million euros; 63.5 million dollars) for *Nu Assis au Collier* (1917–18), making it the highest-selling lot of the auction. Also from the Lewis collection, a work by Gustav Klimt fetched 36.2 million pounds (42 million euros; 47.6 million dollars) for *Bildnis Gertrud Loew (Gertha Felsőványi) * (1902), which was purchased by an Asian collector.

The second part of the evening proceeded at a slower pace than the start of the auction, though it still yielded significant results. Marlow Moss set a personal record with *White, Yellow and Black*, which sold for 1.2 million pounds (1.5 million euros; 1.5 million dollars). A 1959 work on paper by Mark Rothko reached 9 million pounds (10 million euros; 11.9 million dollars). The highlight of the session came with Claude Monet’s *Nymphéas* (1907), which sold for 40.8 million pounds (46 million euros; 54 million dollars), in line with the high estimate. The final part of the evening saw a slowdown in the pace of bidding. Banksy’s *Love Is In The Air* (2011) sold for 6.4 million pounds (7.1 million euros; 8.5 million dollars). The overall picture from the two-day auction thus confirms a phase of market selectivity, with demand concentrated on works with strong provenance, historical significance, and scarcity on the market.

Sotheby’s London: Joe Lewis and Modigliani Lead the Way in a £393.4 Million Double Auction

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