LONDON.- Sotheby’s Spring sales of Modern & Contemporary Art have just concluded, having realised £154.1m / $206.6m across four sales, with standout results seen across categories and price points. Private collections and stellar works – many unseen on the market for decades – proved a real focus for international collectors, many of whom travelled to London especially for this first bellwether season for the market.

This week’s strong results were underpinned by a rich seam of supply, greeted with enthusiasm by collectors. The season was anchored by four works from The Lewis Collection, long unseen on the market and shining a strong fresh light on the School of London. The sales also saw standout results for further works by Alberto Giacometti, Constantin Brancusi, Anselm Kiefer, Vilhelm Hammershøi, Andy Warhol and - not least - David Hockney.

The week also provided a special opportunity for collectors to celebrate and support the vital work of the Royal Academy of Arts, a beacon for the arts whose influence is felt across the UK and beyond. Ten leading Royal Academicians and Honorary Royal Academicians generously donated works in both the Evening and Day sale. This is testament to the artists’ commitment and support for this unique UK institution – which remains an entirely independent, artist-led charity, which, after 258 years, continues to be a champion for art and artists from around the world. Each work offered in support of the Royal Academy found an appreciative home, with the ten works together realising a combined sum of £2.1m, and with further significant donations from other contributing RAs.

EVENING & DAY SALES TOTAL: £154.1 / $206.6M

● Towards top est. £111.8-159.7m
● 93% overall sell-through rate
● More than 6,000 visitors attended the Modern and Contemporary exhibition ahead of the sales
● Collectors from 48 countries participated in the sales

BREAKDOWN OF THE SALES:

● Evening sale total: £131M / $177M (est. £95.7-135.7m)
● 100% sell-through rate
● Average lot value: £2.4m - a 26% increase on last March
● 1 work over £15m: Bacon
● 7 works over £5m: Bacon, Fontana, Monet, Freud, Kossoff, Giacometti
● Deep bidding (Leon Kossoff, Children’s S imming Pool - 10 bidders; Alberto Giacometti, Femme debout - 7 bidders; Andy Warhol, Dollar Sign - 6 bidders; Joseph Albers, Study for Homage to the Square: Gobelin - 5 bidders)

GLOBAL PARTICIPATION

● Global participation from 40 countries including:
○ Collectors in Asia acquired: Antony Gormley, Clutch II; Andy Warhol, Dollar Sign
○ Collectors in Asia bid on: Leon Kossoff, Children’s S imming Pool; Lucian Freud, A Young Painter; Lucio Fontana, Concetto spaziale; Pablo Picasso, Tête de femme

STANDOUT RESULTS FOR PRIVATE COLLECTIONS

● Masterpieces from The Lewis Collection: 100% sold, £35.8m / $48m (est. £18.6-26.8m)
● Beyond the Canvas: Masterpieces from a Private German Collection: 100% sold, £20.4m / $27.3m (est. £15.1-20.9m)
● A group of Impressionist & Modern works from a private collection: 100% sold, £20.7m / $27.7m (est. £17-24m)
● Contours of Modernity: 100% sold, £9.5m / $12.7m (est. £5.7-8.2m)

THE HIGHPOINTS:

● Leon Kossoff’s Children’s S imming Pool, 11 o’clock Saturday Morning, August (Lot 16) made a splash, shattering the artist’s previous £1.4m record by nearly fourfold. The work achieved £5.2m / $7m after an intense five‑minute battle among 10 bidders, selling for 25x its 1992 price and nearly 7x the high estimate (est. £600,000–800,000)

● Francis Bacon’s searing 1972 Self-Portrait (Lot 18) sold for a punchy £16m / $21.5m (est. £8-12m), doubling its low estimate in a spirited five minute long battle

● Alberto Giacometti’s Femme debout achieved £5.1m / $6.8m (est. £2.2-2.8m) doubling its high estimate

RA: ARTISTS SUPPORTING ARTISTS

A group of ten exceptional works offered by leading living Royal Academicians and Honorary Royal Academicians in support of the Royal Academy of Arts were sold across the Sotheby’s evening and day sales, with the proceeds helping to sustain the Royal Academy’s vital work: its three-year, free-tuition postgraduate programme; internationally recognised exhibitions; historically significant collection, library and archives; and its learning and public engagement initiatives.

For centuries, London has drawn artists, collectors and institutions into a shared cultural conversation, creating a meeting point for ideas and creative exchange that continues today. At the core of that ecosystem is the Royal Academy, an independent, artist-led institution, with no government funding, that for more than 250 years has championed artistic excellence while nurturing new generations of talent through its exhibitions, collections and the tuition-free RA Schools. The enthusiastic response to these works by leading Royal Academicians and Honorary Royal Academicians reflects the continued vitality of that tradition and highlights the central role London - and the Royal Academy itself - plays within the global artistic landscape.

“I am delighted with the white glove sale for the Royal Academy of Arts. I would like to express my deepest gratitude to all participating Royal Academicians & Honorary Royal Academicians in addition to other RAs who generously supported this initiative including Dame Tracey Emin and Rose Wylie. Congratulations to all successful bidders who will be taking home these beautiful works of art by world-renowned artists whilst also supporting the Royal Academy.” --- Batia Ofer, Chair of the Royal Academy Trust

● Total: £2.1m / $2.6m
● 100% sell-through rate
● Half of lots sold achieved prices above their high estimates, the Jeff Koons selling for nearly double its high estimate
● Top lot: Sean Scully, Tappan Deep Bro n Blue (Lot 14), £768,000 / $1m (est. £600,000-800,000)
● Further lots:
○ El Anatsui, G6 (Lot 15), £742,400 / $995,000 (est. £800,000-1,200,000)
○ Tony Cragg, Near Relatives (Lot 259), £179,200 / $239,348 (est. £100,000-150,000)
○ Anish Kapoor, Untitled (lot 260), £35,840 / $47,870 (est. £30,000-50,000)
○ Georg Baselitz, Untitled (lot 261), £96,000 / $128,222 (est. £80,000-100,000)
○ William Kentridge, You Whom I Could Not Save, Listen to Me (lot 262), £166,400 / $222,252 (est. £150,000-200,000)
○ Mimmo Paladino, Senza titolo (lot 263), £7,680 / $10,258 (est. £6,000-8,000)
○ Grayson Perry, The American Dream (lot 264), £32,000 / $42,741 (£20,000-30,000)
○ Jeff Koons, Girl ith Lobster (lot 265), £9,600 / $12,822 (£3,000-5,000)
○ Wolfgang Tillmans, cushion (lot 266), £28,160 / $37,612 (£15,000-20,000)

THE DAVID HOCKNEY SALE: THE ARRIVAL OF SPRING TOTAL: £4.5M / $6.1M

● White-glove result, doubling the high estimate (£1.5-2.3m)
● 100% sell-through rate
● 100% lots sold achieved prices above their high estimates
● Participation from 19 countries
● Top lot: The Arrival of Spring in Woldgate, East Yorkshire in 2011 (t enty eleven) - 6 May (Lot 105), £486,400 / $649,660 (est. £80,000-120,000)
● Taking the running total for this landmark offering of Hockney’s iPad drawings from a distinguished private collection - presented across a series of sales in London, New York, Hong Kong, Singapore and Saudi Arabia - to £15m, eclipsing the pre-sale estimate for the group (est. £4.3-6.4m). [The remaining three lots ill be offered in Hong Kong on 30 March.]

CONTEMPORARY DAY AUCTION TOTAL: £9.4M / $12.5M

● Comfortably within estimate (£7.7-11.4m)
● 84% sell-through rate
● Half of lots sold achieved prices above their high estimates
● Participation from 48 countries
● Top lot: Gerhard Richter, Cage Grid (Lot 207), £512,000 / $683,853 (est. £400,000-600,000)
● Flyaway lot: Andy Warhol, The Scream (After Munch) (Lot 256) went for more than double its low estimate at £448,000 / $598,000 (est. £200,000-300,000)

MODERN & MODERN BRITISH DAY AUCTION TOTAL: £9.2M / $12.5M

● Towards the top end of the estimate (£6.9-10.3m)
● 87% sell-through rate
● Participation from 45 countries
● Top lot: Irma Stern, T o S ahili Girls, Zanzibar (Lot 408), £640,000 / $864,000 (est. £500,000- 700,000)