Sotheby’s has announced a historic auction in London for 2026. Showcasing the largest collection ever presented in the British capital, this event is expected to fetch nearly 232 million euros, featuring masterpieces by Modigliani, Picasso, Schiele, and Bacon.
An Unprecedented London Event
On June 24, 2026, Sotheby’s will hold an auction in London featuring 25 masterpieces of modern art from the prestigious Lewis Collection. According to experts, this is the most significant gathering of works ever offered in a single auction across the Channel. The total estimate is staggering: nearly 200 million pounds sterling, or approximately 231.5 million euros.
At the heart of this carefully curated selection, Amedeo Modigliani’s work inevitably captures the eye with his “Seated Nude with Necklace,” valued at approximately 52.1 million euros. Painted between 1917 and 1918, this canvas is already considered by Sotheby’s to be one of the artist’s most masterful works ever to appear on the market.
The Scent of Scandal in Modigliani
This masterful painting is part of Modigliani’s legendary series of nudes, an indispensable milestone in the history of modern art. In 1917, these paintings caused such a stir in Paris that the police demanded the exhibition be shut down. The paradox is delightful: what was once considered indecent has become one of today’s most coveted assets.
Before going up for auction, the painting will be on public display in London from June 10 to 23. Measuring an impressive 91.5 by 59.7 cm, it was previously sold in 1995 for $12.43 million.
If these stratospheric estimates hold true, London could well regain its edge over New York in the realm of Modigliani sales. To date, the artist has crossed the symbolic $100 million threshold only twice, and both times on American soil.
Picasso, Schiele, Bacon: A Constellation of Geniuses
Modigliani is not the only star in this exceptional catalog. Sotheby’s is also unveiling seven works by Pablo Picasso, spanning eight decades of his creative genius. Among them is a rare portrait of Dora Maar, the master’s muse and artistic collaborator—a work titled “Bust of a Woman” that has been hidden from public view for more than half a century.
The selection is further enriched by “Danaë,” a painting created by Egon Schiele when he was just 19 years old. This composition, with its somber tones, offers an intimate interpretation of the myth and marks a decisive stylistic break for the Austrian painter, who tragically died of the Spanish flu in 1918 at the age of 28.
Francis Bacon rounds out this overview with “Two Studies for a Self-Portrait” (1977). This introspective period in the British artist’s life was deeply marked by the loss of his partner George Dyer in 1971, a tragedy that Bacon summed up with chilling lucidity: “People were dying around me like flies, and I had no one else to paint but myself.”
The Lewis Family’s Strategic Vision
This museum collection is the result of decades of passion nurtured by Joe Lewis and his daughter Vivienne. Their collection is distinguished by an unapologetic fascination with the human figure and with the masters of the “School of London,” such as Bacon and Lucian Freud. This guiding principle gives the selection an aesthetic coherence far greater than a mere accumulation of high-profile names.
Born in 1937 in London’s East End, Joe Lewis built a financial empire with the Tavistock Group and the ENIC Group, notably owning Tottenham Hotspur Football Club. Although his career was recently marred by an insider trading case in New York in 2023—which resulted in a $5 million fine before a pardon from Donald Trump—his art collection remains valued at nearly $1 billion.
Today, this collection reflects an approach that is both intellectual and strategic. The Lewises’ passion for the historical avant-garde is also reflected in their ongoing support for artists on the contemporary scene.
Ultimately, this type of sale reveals a dynamic unique to the upper echelons of the art market: the combination of rarity, impeccable provenance, and a museum-quality aura transforms once-controversial paintings into objects of global competition. However, estimates should be interpreted with caution. More than a promise of a guaranteed result, they embody Sotheby’s stated ambition: to make this event the undisputed barometer of the resilience of a London art market determined to reign supreme.