Christie's London raised £218.6 million ($289.4 million) across two evening auctions on Wednesday, with seven artist records and strong demand for works from several major collections.
The "Monsoon: The Peter Simon Collection" sale contributed £107.5 million, making it the highest-value single-owner collection ever sold at Christie's London. It achieved a 98 percent sell-through rate by lot, with 40 of its 41 works finding buyers. The separate 20th- and 21st-century auction brought in £111.1 million. Across both sales, 91 percent of lots and 96 percent of the value on offer were sold.
Records and standout works
Wassily Kandinsky's Das bunte Leben led the evening, selling for £31.6 million. Piet Mondrian's Composition III reached £25.2 million, while Francis Bacon's Figure in Movement achieved £17.19 million as part of Simon's collection.
Liubov Popova's Painterly Architectonic sold for £7.64 million, more than three times its high estimate and a new auction record for the artist. Bridget Riley also set a record: Streak 2 brought £5.21 million. New highs were also recorded for David Bomberg, Portia Zvavahera, Barbara Hepworth and Igshaan Adams.
The results offer an upbeat snapshot of demand for prominent modern and contemporary art, though guarantees attached to many Simon collection lots mean the totals should be considered in context. Continued interest in works by both established and less widely traded artists could help shape how collectors and institutions approach the market's next chapter.
