Sotheby’s sets London record with $520M sale of Lewis collection

The art collection of British billionaire Joe Lewis shattered expectations on Wednesday evening at Sotheby's London, fetching £296.3 million ($392.6 million) and setting a new European record for a single-owner sale. The result nearly doubled the pre-sale low estimate for the 25-lot evening auction titled "Masterpieces from the Lewis Collection," with 24 of the works finding buyers — none of which carried a financial guarantee.HENI+1

The broader evening sale, which included additional lots beyond the Lewis collection, reached a combined total of approximately £393.4 million, according to The New York Times, marking a record for the auction house's modern and contemporary sales in the British capital.The New York Times

Top Lots and Record Prices

The star of the evening was Amedeo Modigliani's "Nu assis au collier" (1917), a rare nude returning to auction for the first time in more than 30 years. The work sold for $63.9 million, exceeding its £45 million low estimate and setting a new European auction record for the artist. Lewis had acquired the painting in 1995 at Christie's for $12.4 million.news.artnet+1

A Gustav Klimt portrait sold for $47.9 million, while Lucian Freud's "Sleeping by the Lion Carpet" (1995–96), depicting his celebrated model Sue Tilley, fetched $38.8 million at its auction debut. The sale's biggest surprise was René Magritte's "La Belle promenade" (1965), which sold for $21.24 million — 429% above its low estimate.HENI

Of the 24 works sold, 17 exceeded their high estimates, and none sold below their low estimate. The only lot that failed to find a buyer was Edgar Degas's "La Loge" (1880).HENI

A Landmark for London's Art Market

The result eclipses the previous benchmark for a single-owner collection sold in London — the Pauline Karpidas collection, which achieved £101 million at Sotheby's in September 2025. The Lewis collection, assembled over decades by Lewis and his daughter Vivienne, focused on figurative art from the modern era, spanning works by Picasso, Klimt, Modigliani, Freud, and Degas.Daily Sabah+2

Lewis, 89, is the British self-made billionaire and former majority owner of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club whose net worth stands at £5.8 billion according to The Sunday Times Rich List. His art holdings, long the subject of market speculation — with works said to have been kept aboard his superyacht — have now delivered one of the most emphatic auction results in European history.TheValue.com+1

A further 25 works from the Lewis collection are scheduled for sale on June 25.finestresullarte