Auction Watch: Christie’s 20th/21st Century Sale Hammers £66.8 Million And Sets Records For Women Artists
Image © Christie's / Portrait of Man with Glasses III © Francis Bacon 1963
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Christie’s 20th/21st Century sale achieved a hammer total of £66.8 million (£82.1 million with fees), precisely meeting its low estimate with a strong 93% sell-through rate. While the sale was successful, it marked a 42% decline from last year’s equivalent auction.
Led by Modern and Post-War masters, Francis Bacon and Tamara de Lempicka secured the highest results, yet the most intense bidding activity was seen in the lower-value works, with impressive performance with women artists, Danielle McKinney and Emmi Whitehorse setting new auction records.
Premiering as the second in the lineup and, like Sotheby’s, hammered exactly at its low presale estimate. This was despite three works being withdrawn before the sale, which accounted for £5 million at the low estimate. With 47 lots offered compared to Sotheby’s 39, Christie’s outperformed its rival by 32%, selling 10 more works. This isn’t entirely surprising, given Sotheby’s back-and-forth approach with participation fees, which has ultimately impacted its performance. However, compared to last year’s equivalent sale at Christie’s, this auction saw a sharp 42% decline. That said, this follows a familiar pattern, as last year’s sale included two eight-figure lots that boosted the overall hammer total by £29 million.
Here are the highlights:
Christie's March London Sale 2025 Performance by Price Category © MyArtBroker Female Artists Shine as Lower-Priced Works Outperform at Christie's
An analysis of auction performance by price category reveals lower-priced works consistently outperformed higher-value pieces during Christie’s sale, reflecting strong demand and active bidding in more accessible price brackets.
Among lower-priced works (with a high estimate below £1M), 41% exceeded their high estimates, while only 23% underperformed, and 35% fell within expectations. Mid-priced works (with a high estimate between £1-3M) saw weaker results, with just 15% surpassing estimates, while over half (54%) underperformed. High-priced works (with a high estimate above £3M) struggled the most - none exceeded estimates, 36% fell short, and 64% remained within presale expectations.
This trend presents a paradox: while collectors are showing a clear preference for more affordable and accessible works, blue chip pieces continue to be widely regarded as the most stable investments in today’s market. Industry professionals and journalists consistently highlight these high-value works as the safest bets at fairs and auctions. However, another factor that likely influenced these results was the noticeable absence of works from the most in-demand American Pop artists within this sale.
The strong appetite for more affordable works in this sale was evident, with the first six lots - each carrying a low estimate of £1 million or less - achieving outstanding results at the hammer. It was particularly refreshing to see several female artists take centre stage and set new auction records, a fitting moment ahead of International Women’s Day. Among them, Danielle McKinney’s Other Worldly (2021) achieved a record-breaking £210,000 at the hammer (£264,600 with fees), while Emmi Whitehorse’s Sea Forager II (2024) also set a new benchmark at £240,000 (£302,400 with fees). Sanya Kantarovsky saw strong bidding, with The House of the Spider (2021) coming close to a record, hammering at £230,000 (£289,800 with fees).
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Image © Christie's / Between Kilham and Langtoft © David Hockney 2006
Francis Bacon and Tamara de Lempicka Lead Christie’s Sale with £6.6M Results
The standout lots of the sale were, as anticipated, Francis Bacon’s Portrait of Man With Glasses III (1963) and Polish artist Tamara de Lempicka’s Portrait du Docteur Boucard (1928). Bacon’s work hammered at £5.5 million - just below its £6 million low estimate - ultimately achieving £6.6 million with fees. Lempicka’s portrait matched this result, hammering at £5.5 million against a £5 million low estimate. Both works likely went to their respective guarantors, reinforcing the cautious bidding atmosphere at the top end of the market.
Hockney, Basquiat, and Ruscha Lead Mid-Million Sales with Strong Auction Debuts
David Hockney and Jean-Michel Basquiat both saw strong results in the mid-million range. Hockney’s Between Kilham and Langtoft (2006) made its auction debut, hammering at £4.2 million and achieving £5.1 million with fees. Similarly, Basquiat’s Untitled (1983), an oil stick on paper and one of the artist’s largest works on paper, sold for £3.15 million (£3.85 million with fees), also making its first auction appearance.
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Ed Ruscha, whose market remained strong across both originals and prints in 2024 (download our Collector’s Guide to The Print Market in 2025 to see these trends), continued to see steady demand across different styles of his work. Dry Frontier (1987), a moody canvas depicting two men driving a wagon in the American west, performed solidly, hammering within estimates at £750,000 and realising £945,000 with fees.
Adding to the momentum for mid-priced works, Howard Hodgkin’s Writing (1991) - a bold, colour-saturated painting held in a private collection for over two decades - surpassed expectations. Hammering at £900,000, the work exceeded its £800,000 high estimate and ultimately achieved £1.1 million with fees, further reinforcing market demand for well-provenanced, high-quality pieces.
Image © Christie's / Painting with Verticals 1 © Bridget Riley 2006Bridget Riley and Louise Bourgeois Lead Female Artist Sales at Auction
Among the women artists featured in the sale, two works by Bridget Riley were on our watchlist. Daphne (1988), a lozenge-patterned piece tied to her post-Egyptian palette, surfaced from a private collection after more than three decades. Despite its strong provenance, the work slightly underperformed, hammering at £1.1 million (£1.3 million with fees). A lower-valued Riley work, Painting with Verticals I (2006), featuring vibrant interlocking curvilinear forms also fell short, hammering at £670,000 against its £800,000 low estimate, ultimately realising £844,200 with fees.
On the other hand, Louise Bourgeois performed more favourably. Pillar (1947), one of her totemic sculptures from the early Personages series, landed squarely within estimates, hammering at £1.3 million and achieving £1.6 million with fees. This result follows a strong performance from her prints and editions in the February sales, reinforcing continued collector interest across different mediums.
Check back for the day sale results, and refer to our Sotheby’s and Phillips March London auction reports for further insights.
Image © Christie's / Brick Handbag © Banksy 2019Christie’s Post War and Contemporary Art Day Sale
Christie’s Post War and Contemporary Art Day Sale closed at £11,784,100 with 137/152 lots sold, resulting in a 90% sell-through rate. Of the fifteen works unsold, all but three works were valued at or below £100,000 at the low estimate.
Here are the results:
Female Artists See Strong Bidding as Emin and Bourgeois Outperform Estimates
In the lead-up to International Women’s Day, works by female artists saw solid results at Christie’s Post-War and Contemporary Art Day Sale. Tracey Emin’s This Is Another Place (2007) significantly outperformed expectations, tripling its high estimate of £60,000 to achieve a hammer price of £180,000 (£226,800 with fees). However, In Anger (2015) and Watching Over You (2016) sold at the lower end of estimates, while Holding On To You failed to meet its £15,000 low estimate, ultimately hammering at £12,000 (£15,120 with fees).
Making a strong impact, Louise Bourgeois’ Happiness (2009) came to auction for the first time and exceeded expectations. Initially estimated at £50,000, the work nearly doubled this figure, hammering at £90,000 and achieving £113,400 with fees.
American Contemporary Artists Deliver Mixed Results
Keith Haring’s TV Dog (1982) performed well, surpassing its high estimate of £150,000 to achieve £170,000 (£214,200 with fees). His Untitled (1982) met its top estimate of £300,000, however another Untitled work from 1987 failed to sell, despite carrying a £150,000 low estimate.
Jean-Michel Basquiat’s Untitled (1981) saw strong bidding, exceeding its high estimate of £350,000 to hammer at £360,000 (£453,600 with fees). Andy Warhol’s earlier works Beatrice Lillie (1956) and Margaret Truman (1956) also outperformed expectations, each carrying a high estimate of £80,000 but hammering at £140,000 (£176,400 with fees). By contrast, Warhol’s i) Cardi Smith (Madame Smith)(ii) Cardi Smith (Madame Smith) (1974) underperformed, selling below its low estimate of £400,000 and hammering at £300,000 (£378,000 with fees).
Richter and Banksy Lead Strong Performances
Several works by Gerhard Richter made their auction debuts and exceeded expectations, whilst his other works hammered comfortably within estimates. MV.177 (2011) doubled its high estimate of £35,000, hammering at £70,000 (£88,200 with fees), while Aladin (2010) outperformed its £100,000 estimate by 90%, selling for £190,000 (£239,400 with fees). EIS (ICE) (1981) also surpassed expectations, hammering at £42,000 (£52,920 with fees).
Meanwhile, Banksy’s Brick Handbag (2019) performed well, surpassing its £60,000 high estimate to hammer at £65,000 (£81,900 with fees).
