LONDON.- A selection of masterpieces in Bonhams’ 11 February Post-War and Contemporary Art sale at Bonhams New Bond Street will address one of the most surprising anomalies in today’s market.

• “It is a truth now universally acknowledged that women artists, both dead and living, are woefully undervalued”, said Rachel Spence, writing in the winter issue of Bonhams Magazine.

• Astonishingly, in 2012, only 6.5% of the works offered at auction were by female artists.

• Of the lots that sold for over one million dollars, only three percent were created by women and even amongst these high-value works, the contrast is huge.

• Only 19 of the top 500 artists sold by value in 2014 were female.

• The highest price for a work by the acclaimed French female sculptor Germaine Richier (1904-1959) is £1.2 million. The highest price for a work by her male contemporary, Giacometti, whose work follows the same existential thread, is £91.6 million.

But, with more exhibitions dedicated to female artists than ever before, the momentum for change is building. A massive correction in the startling disparity between the results of male and female artists seems inevitable.

In a bid to redress this imbalance, and in anticipation of an area of market growth for buyers and sellers, Bonhams is dedicating a distinct section of the 11 February sale to exploring the careers of a selection of key women artists through individual works but also within the context of the period.

The artists in this section will be connected by gender, but this is of secondary importance to their crucial unifying theme: their potential.

One of the top lots in the sale, Germaine Richier’s Le cheval à six têtes will lead the section with an estimate of £200,000-300,000. Created in 1954-56, the haunting, metre high sculpture epitomises the French sculptress’ defiantly independent vision and spectral aesthetic. Her characteristic play with lines, perspective and topography creates a physical manifestation of her idea that “what characterizes sculpture, in my opinion, is the way in which it renounces the full solid form”.

“Richier was one of the first female sculptors in the world to achieve critical acclaim within her lifetime, so it feels fitting that Le cheval à six têtes, one of her most striking works, leads this pioneering section,” said Ralph Taylor, Bonhams Senior Director of Post-War and Contemporary Art.

“Our auctions explore value in all of its definitions,” he added. “The works in this selection are connected by their existence in an undervalued area of the market but, more significantly, each has a distinct and fascinating individuality. Bonhams is proud to be at the forefront of this shift in the market.”

The section brings together five works from across the globe, each exploring a different artistic medium, from Dadamaino’s Volume a moduli sfasti (estimated at £35,000-45,000) in superimposed punched plastic, to Carla Accardi’s tempera and casein Argento turchese (£35,000-45,000) and Louise Nevelson’s painted wood Night Sentinel Panel (£25,000-35,000).

Further highlights include a powerfully evocative watercolour, ink and crayon drawing on paper by Yayoi Kusama, a key inspiration to Pop Art master Andy Warhol. Estimated at £25,000-35,000, the work was created in 1952 – at the very beginning of Kusama’s career as one of the most important living Japanese artists.

The 11 February sale coincides with the Saatchi Gallery’s first all-female art exhibition, Champagne Life, which opened on 13 January and will run until 6 March.