Sotheby’s modern and contemporary evening sale in London on June 25, 2025, achieved £62.43 million ($83.97 million), led by Tamara de Lempicka’s *La Belle Rafaëla* (1927) which sold for £7.47 million ($10.05 million). Other top lots included works by Pablo Picasso, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Claude Monet, Jenny Saville, and Elizabeth Peyton, with Saville setting a new auction record for a drawing. Eight lots failed to sell, including pieces by Egon Schiele and Pierre-Auguste Renoir.
The sale underscores the enduring strength of the modern and contemporary art market in London, with strong performances by women artists—who accounted for 30% of the total—and notable price increases for works by Saville and Peyton. The result also reflects the growing market momentum for Lempicka, following her first U.S. retrospective at the de Young Museum, and highlights the continued demand for blue-chip names like Picasso and Monet.