LONDON.- Christie's presents its Modern British and Irish Art Sales as part of its flagship 20th/21st Century Art auction series. Taking place on 22 (Evening Sale) and 23 (Day Sale), the auctions will showcase the very best of British and Irish art from 1900 to the present day, and include artists such as Dame Barbara Hepworth, Lynn Chadwick, Bridget Riley, L. S. Lowry, Sir Winston Churchill, Sir Stanley Spencer, Ben Nicholson and Sir William Nicholson, among others.

Leading the Modern British and Irish Art Evening Sale is Dame Barbara Hepworth's The Family of Man (Figure 8, The Bride) (conceived in 1970; estimate: £3,000,000-5,000,000), a landmark work epitomising her exploration of human relationships and the cycle of life. Monumental yet intimate, this dynamic three-part abstraction affirms Hepworth's status as Britain's foremost modernist sculptor. Cast in an edition of four - with other examples at the Art Institute of Chicago and Yorkshire Sculpture Park- the present cast belonged to the artist herself and has remained in a private collection for fifty years. It now comes to auction for the first time.
Three further Hepworth sculptures will also be offered in the auction: Vertical Wood Form (1968; estimate: £1,500,000-2,500,000), from the Collection of Dr Oscar and Rose Norwich, a unique rediscovery carved in the rare wood lignum vitae and unseen since its 1970 acquisition, exemplifying Hepworth's mastery of direct carving; Figure (Chûn) (1959; estimate: £500,000-800,000), from the Collection of Vivian Fusillo, one of only five works the artist realised in pink alabaster, recalling her 1932 Pierced Form, lost during the Second World War; and bronze sculpture Torso II (Torcello) (conceived in 1958; estimate: £150,000-250,000), created at a pivotal moment for Hepworth as she first explored the possibilities of bronze. Together, these works capture the evolution of her practice across the three principal materials that shaped her sculptural language.

A key highlight of the sale is a group of works by L. S. Lowry, led by Going to the Match (1928; estimate: £2,000,000-3,000,000) - the earliest known sporting painting realised by the artist and one of only two devoted to rugby. A true rarity, it captures Lowry's fascination with the rhythms of communal life and the energy of the crowd. Industrial Landscape (1957; estimate: £250,000–350,000) is a quintessential Lowry composition of smoking chimneys, factories and bustling figures animated within an urban scene. The work was featured in the 1957 BBC documentary on the artist, offering a rare glimpse of Lowry at work. Bourton-on-the-Water (1947; estimate: £400,000-600,000) depicts an exceptionally rare Cotswolds subject. Lowry painted only a handful of such scenes after visiting the region to illustrate A Cotswolds Book (1930), the only publication he ever illustrated. A Footbridge (1938; estimate: £400,000-600,000) with its air of desolation and loneliness, provides a stark insight into Lowry's mind when his life was preoccupied with caring for his ailing mother and the impending war in Europe.

Lynn Chadwick is represented in the sale with three significant sculptures. Beast Alerted I (1990; estimate: £500,000–800,000), realised in welded stainless steel, is a major example of the artist's practice. Appearing at auction for the first time, it was also chosen as the cover image for his catalogue raisonné. Conjunction XII (conceived in 1967, cast in 1989; estimate: £250,000-350,000) is also making its first auction appearance. Completing the group is Maquette Jubilee II (conceived and cast in 1983; estimate: £280,000-400,000), a striking example of Chadwick's mastery in translating balance, poise and movement into sculptural form. Bridget Riley's Dendera (1983/2002; estimate: £1,000,000–1,500,000) was inspired by the artist's formative visit to Egypt in 1979-80, and stands as a dazzling example of her celebrated “Egyptian palette,” a chromatic language that emerged from these travels and led to one of the most distinctive and influential bodies of her career. In Dendera, she creates hypnotic optical rhythms through the careful placement of the different colours punctuated with black.

The evening sale also features an important painting by Ben Nicholson: December 1942 – April 1944 (abstract painting); (estimate: £800,000-1,200,000), believed to be the largest work he produced during the war. Its scale and presence reflect an evolution of his 1930s white reliefs, enriched with the Cornish palette that inspired him after moving to St Ives in 1939. First owned by the celebrated Modernist designer Ashley Havinden, it has remained in the same private collection for over forty years.

Sir Stanley Spencer's The Meeting (1933; estimate: £1,200,000-1,800,000) captures a pivotal moment in the artist's life, depicting his first encounter with Patricia Preece, who would become his second wife. Set in a Cookham alleyway, the painting is rich in symbolism, with Preece's fur coat transforming into a swan, her arms and hands forming the neck, and Spencer's hand becoming the head and beak.

Also presented in the sale is Dame Elisabeth Frink's Seated Man II (conceived and cast in 1986; estimate: £400,000-600,000), one of the sculptor's most sought-after works. This was Frink's own cast, displayed in her Dorset garden before being sold directly to the previous owner in 1987, and it has never appeared at auction before. Cast in a small edition of four, it exemplifies Frink's dynamic approach to the human figure.

Two works by Lucian Freud, from the Estate of the artist and never before offered at auction, will also be presented across the Modern British and Irish Art sales: Head of a Woman (circa 1996–97; estimate: £150,000–200,000), a vivid, intimately scaled portrait of Annabel Freud, his second-eldest daughter; and Head and Shoulders of a Girl (1981; estimate: £40,000–60,000, which will be offered in the Day Sale), a tender charcoal portrait of Harriet Vyner, a one-time paramour of the artist.

Rounding out the selection for the Evening Sale are two works by Sir Winston Churchill: Coastal Scene in the South of France, with a Cactus (circa 1925; estimate: £300,000-500,000), acquired over forty years ago directly from Churchill's family, and By Lake Lugano (1945; estimate: £350,000-550,000), painted shortly after his Second World War victory and included as a colour plate in the 1948 first edition of Painting as a Pastime. Both paintings come to auction for the first time. During the same trip in September 1945, Churchill also realised Recco, Italy (1945; estimate: £120,000-180,000), which will be offered in the Day Sale.

The Modern British and Irish Art Day Sale, taking place on 23 October, brings together a dynamic selection of 151 paintings, works on paper and sculptures by British and Irish artists from the 20th and 21st centuries, with estimates ranging from £100 to £250,000.

Leading the auction is L.S. Lowry's The Black Church (1964; estimate: £180,000-250,000). The sale also features a rare portrait by the artist, Portrait of a Girl (circa 1935; estimate £40,000-60,000), formerly owned by actors Anouk Aimée and Albert Finney. Also offered is Tirzah Garwood's Jenny Unaware (1950; estimate: £7,000-10,000), a work which was included in the recent Dulwich Picture Gallery retrospective Tirzah Garwood: Beyond Ravilious (2024–25), and Gillian Ayres's Papagena (1983; estimate: £20,000–30,000), the leading lot among six works by the artist from the estate of Dame Shirley Conran, the pioneering journalist and novelist best known for Superwoman and Lace. A group of works led by Edward Burra's May Blossom (1957-59, estimate £60,000-80,000) are also going to be offered from the Collection of the late Catherine Wills.

An exhibition of the Modern British and Irish Art sales will be on view from 18 -22 October at Christie's King Street. During those dates, a highlight from the upcoming 20th Century Evening Sale at Christie's New York, David Hockney's Christopher Isherwood and Don Bachardy (1968), will also be on view to the public.