Sotheby's will auction a major collection of masterpieces by artists including Gustav Klimt, Henri Matisse, Lucian Freud, and Francis Bacon, consigned by Joe Lewis and his daughter Vivienne, whose family owns Tottenham Hotspur. The collection, expected to fetch over £150 million, is projected to become the most valuable ever offered in London, with highlights such as Klimt's 'Bildnis Gertrud Loew' (estimated £20-30m) and Egon Schiele's 'Danaë' (estimated £12-18m, potentially setting a new artist record). The works will be exhibited in New York and London before the June sales.
This auction matters because it represents a rare concentration of museum-calibre masterpieces, many unseen on the market for decades, and follows a recent surge in confidence in the global art market after Sotheby's sale of the Pauline Karpidas collection. The sale underscores the enduring appeal of figurative painting and the strength of single-owner collections built with a singular vision, potentially marking a historic turning point for London's auction scene.