Christie’s Presents its Modern British and Irish Art Sales

Christie’s will host its March 2025 Modern British and Irish Art sales in London as part of the renowned 20th/21st Century Art auction series. Scheduled for 19 March (Evening Sale) and 20 March (Day Sale), the auctions will present a remarkable selection of British and Irish art from 1900 to the present day.

The exhibition for the Modern British and Irish Art Sales will be open to the public at Christie’s King Street, London, from 13 to 19 March 2025.

Modern British and Irish Art Evening Sale – 19 March 2025

A key highlight of the Evening Sale is Lynn Chadwick’s Sitting Couple on Bench, conceived in 1990 (estimate: £1,200,000 – 1,800,000). This imposing work exemplifies Chadwick’s lifelong fascination with human relationships, formal dynamism, and material innovation.

Two significant paintings by Frank Auerbach will also be offered: Nude on Bed III (1961), estimated at £700,000 – 1,000,000, and Portrait of J.Y.M Seated (1976), estimated at £400,000 – 600,000. Nude on Bed III makes its auction debut, having remained in the collection of the late Hon. Moyra Campbell for over 60 years. A striking rediscovery, it showcases Auerbach’s distinctive approach to the female form and his sculptural use of paint. Portrait of J.Y.M Seated captures one of Auerbach’s key sitters, Juliet Yardley Mills, in a bold and expressive composition.

Three works by L.S. Lowry stand out in the sale: May Day, 1935 (estimate: £750,000 – 950,000), Old Church and Steps, 1960 (estimate: £350,000 – 550,000), and Old Houses, Wick, 1936 (estimate: £300,000 – 500,000). May Day was once owned by Jane Archer née Sissmore, Britain’s first female MI5 officer, and belongs to an important series depicting urban industrial life in the 1930s. Old Houses, Wick is among a small group of works Lowry painted in northern Scotland. Meanwhile, Old Church and Steps include a well-known artistic quirk: Lowry famously painted a five-legged dog at the centre of the piece. When questioned about it, he simply responded that the dog must have had five legs, he only painted what he saw.

Sculptural highlights include Barry Flanagan’s Six Foot Leaping Hare on Steel Pyramid (1990) (estimate: £500,000 – 800,000), Dame Barbara Hepworth’s Maquette (Variation on a Theme) (1958) (estimate: £120,000 – 180,000), and Dame Elisabeth Frink’s Protomartyr (1976) (estimate: £150,000 – 250,000), which has been in the same collection for over 40 years.

Sir Winston Churchill’s The Bay of Èze, circa 1950 (estimate: £500,000 – 800,000), captures the beauty of the Côte d’Azur, a region he greatly admired. The painting is set near the former home of his friends, Consuelo and Jacques Balsan.

Sir John Lavery’s The Hall, Argyll House - A Summer Day, 1925 (estimate: £100,000 – 150,000), belongs to a series of “portrait interiors” depicting rooms of notable figures. This particular painting showcases a view through Argyll House, once home to Sibyl Colefax, renowned for her exquisite taste and co-founder of the interior design firm Colefax & Fowler.

The sale also features notable works by two female artists: Bridget Riley’s Turquoise, Red, Blue, Yellow with Black and White, a 1981 gouache on paper (estimate: £80,000 – 120,000), and Franciszka Themerson’s Eleven Persons and One Donkey Moving Forwards, 1947 (estimate: £40,000 – 60,000). The latter, from the artist’s family collection, was the centrepiece of the 2022 Barbican exhibition Postwar Modern: New Art in Britain 1945-65 and is the most significant work by the Polish-born artist to come to auction. Franciszka Themerson’s work is also currently on display at Tate Britain (until 30 March 2025) and Ben Uri Gallery (until 23 May 2025).

Other artists represented in the sale include Sir Frank Bowling, Antony Gormley, Peter Lanyon, Ben Nicholson, Roderic O’Conor, William Scott, Sean Scully, and Sir William Nicholson.

Modern British and Irish Art Day Sale – 20 March 2025

The Day Sale offers a dynamic selection of paintings, works on paper, and sculptures by British and Irish artists from the 20th and 21st centuries, with estimates ranging from £700 to £120,000.

A key highlight is Ben Nicholson’s 1955-56 (umber + light red) (1955-56), estimated at £120,000 – 180,000. Created during his final years in Cornwall before moving to Switzerland, this piece exemplifies his mature abstract style and dedication to form, texture, and colour.

Samuel John Peploe’s Roses and Fruit (estimate: £100,000 – 150,000) has remained in the same private collection since 1928. This still-life composition reflects Peploe’s engagement with French Post-Impressionism, particularly the structured brushwork and tonal approach of Paul Cézanne.

Euan Uglow’s An Arc from the Eye (1998) (estimate: £70,000 – 100,000), appearing at auction for the first time, is a rare example of the artist’s exploration of a living still-life subject. Meanwhile, Graham Sutherland’s The Lamp (1944) (estimate: £80,000 – 120,000) marks a departure from his wartime industrial subjects, featuring a paraffin lamp from a cottage in Sandy Haven, Pembrokeshire, where he stayed in the summer of 1944.

A notable early work, The German Tankard (1907) by Scottish Colourist F.C.B. Cadell (estimate: £80,000 – 120,000), reflects his formative training in Munich and his emerging expressive style, later celebrated in his domestic interiors.

Additional highlights include works by Bridget Riley, William Scott, Edward Burra, Lynn Chadwick, Dame Barbara Hepworth, Walter Richard Sickert, Dame Lucie Rie, Hans Coper, Sir Anthony Caro, Ivon Hitchens, Eileen Agar, and David Hockney.