San Francisco Frontiers - Ex-Tottenham owner sells art collection in blockbuster auction

They were collected by Joe Lewis, an 89-year-old British billionaire, who transferred his majority stake in the London football club to a family trust in 2022 and is now worth £5.8 billion, according to The Sunday Times Rich List.

A total of 48 works from the Lewis Collection will go on sale, including a once-scandalous nude painting by Amedeo Modigliani with an estimate of over £45 million and a bronze sculpture of a dancer by Impressionist artist Edgar Degas with an estimate of £18-25 million.

Lewis also bought paintings by artists of the Vienna Secession movement such as Gustav Klimt and Egon Schiele, and modernist and surrealist works by Rene Magritte and Pablo Picasso.

The most recent works are paintings by British artists Lucian Freud and Francis Bacon.

"There's never ever been a collection of this magnitude that's ever been offered (for sale), actually, either in the UK or indeed in Europe," Oliver Barker, chairman of Sotheby's Europe, told AFP.

The estimate of over £200 million is "the most valuable pre-sale estimate that's ever been put on a private collection offered anywhere in Europe", said the auctioneer.

- Public display -

The most highly valued works include Klimt's "Portrait of Gertrud Loew" from 1902 -- expected to sell for £20-30 million.

Modigliani's "Nu assis au collier" (Seated nude wearing a necklace), which scandalised Paris when it was unveiled in 1917, is anticipated to sell for over £45 million.

Other highlights include Picasso's "Buste de femme" (Bust of a woman) from 1938, depicting French artist Dora Maar, valued at £12-18 million.

Meanwhile "Sleeping by the Lion Carpet", painted by Freud in 1995-96, a nude depiction of his model and muse Sue Tilley, has been priced at £25-35 million.

This is "arguably... the greatest Lucian Freud painting ever to make its way to market", said Barker.

The lots are on display at Sotheby's until June 23, with free public access.

The 25 most valuable works will go under the hammer late on June 24, the others the next day.

Auctioning the collection will mark a "new beginning" for Lewis -- recently pardoned by US President Donald Trump after he pleaded guilty to insider trading in 2024 -- and his family, according to Barker.

Lewis's daughter, Vivienne Lewis, is also a collector and is "very committed to the young and avant-garde contemporary artists", he added.

- 'Great opportunity' -

The current auction sale record for a single private collection in Europe was set in 2009 by the art collection of the late fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent and his partner Pierre Berge.

It had an estimate of 200-300 million euros, but the works eventually sold at Christie's for 373.9 million euros (then about £333 million).

Regarding the Lewis Collection, Barker describes the figure of £200 million as "very moderately estimated", with hopes it could fetch more.

In March, four other paintings from the Lewis Collection by British artists from the School of London group, including Freud and Bacon, sold for £35.8 million in a packed Sotheby's saleroom.

In a return to blockbuster art sales, auctions in New York this spring set record prices for works by Jackson Pollock, Constantin Brancusi and Mark Rothko.

"You know there's been a great deal of wealth creation around the world at the moment and I think more of it has been driven to the art market," said Barker.

The upward trend follows a slump in sales, blamed by experts on economic uncertainty and a lack of high-value works on sale.

"The market has been so starved of true masterpieces, and so the opportunity to acquire works of this calibre truly is a great opportunity," Barker said.

K.Gray--SFF