Christie's will spotlight Piet Mondrian's Composition III (1920) at its 20th/21st Century Evening Sale in London on October 14, during Frieze Week. The painting is appearing at auction for the first time and carries an estimate of £20 million to £30 million.
The work comes from a private collector and has a notable provenance, having once belonged to American architect and modernist collector Armand P. Bartos and his wife Celeste between 1952 and 1973. Christie's described the canvas as one of the rarest and most significant Mondrian works ever offered publicly.
Keith Gill, vice chairman of 20th/21st century art at Christie's, highlighted the painting's place in Mondrian's career, noting that 1920 marked a breakthrough moment when the artist developed a radical abstract language that helped redefine modern art. The sale also places the work in dialogue with another important Mondrian held in the Tate collection in London.
Mondrian's market has remained strong in recent years. Christie's last handled multiple works by the artist in 2009, while Sotheby's set a record in 2022 with Composition No. II (1930), which sold for $51 million in New York. In 2025, Christie's also achieved a major result for another Mondrian canvas in its New York evening sale.
As major museums and collectors continue to focus on landmark modernist works, this auction may further shape how early abstraction is valued in the global art market.
