Q1 2025 hinged on London’s March auctions, and the picture that emerged was one of careful buying and sensible selling. Totals were smaller than last year, but the market rewarded strong material, clear narratives and realistic estimates. Surrealism had real pull, prime modern works did well, and contemporary pieces sold when the quality or the price made sense.
Christie’s set the pace. Its twin evening sales on 5 March reached £130.25m with a very high sell through and a good share of lots beating their top estimates. The night was led by René Magritte’s La reconnaissance infinie at £10.315m, while Michael Andrews set a new auction record with School IV: Barracuda under Skipjack Tuna at £6.06m after lively bidding. Day sales that week added tidy totals and showed steady depth for post-war and Impressionist material. The broader message was simple: fresh, well-curated property still brings competition.
Sotheby’s the night before came in leaner at £62.5m, but landed a few clear highlights. Lisa Brice’s After Embah flew to a record £5.4m, Yoshitomo Nara’s Cosmic Eyes (in the Milky Lake) reached about £9m with fees, and a Banksy consigned by Mark Hoppus made £4.3m within expectations. The catalogue was tighter and a few lots were withdrawn, which echoed a selective consignor mood. One notable data point from the same series: a 1924 El Lissitzky self-portrait photocollage crossed the million-dollar mark, the first photograph to do so in 2025. Taken together, it felt like a sale that found heat where the story and quality were strongest.
Phillips closed the week with a mixed result. The evening sale made £15.39m with fees (about £12.2m hammer), short of its revised £16.4m–£24.2m estimate range. Joan Mitchell led at roughly £2.7m with fees but fell short of her low estimate, and Jean-Michel Basquiat’s Pattya settled at £1.6815m against a £2m–£3m guide. Even so, there were pockets of energy, including records for younger names and a healthy 90% sell through. The day sale added another £6.05m, taking the week to about £21.4m. The lesson was less about demand disappearing and more about pricing discipline: buyers wanted either exceptional examples or clear value.
Bonhams offered a focused bright spot in a different lane. Its Modern & Contemporary African Art sale totalled about $2.11m, led by Gerard Sekoto’s The Artist’s Brother at £406,800, around four times the estimate. Depth across core names suggested a committed collector base and careful curation paying off.
Stepping back, three takeaways stand out. First, selectivity rules: buyers are reading condition, period and scale closely, and are prepared to pass on middling examples. Second, category depth matters: Surrealism had momentum, and confident modern works with good provenance continued to find bidders; contemporary works needed either a standout image or a fair pitch. Third, London remains a stable but smaller venue than a year ago, which puts a premium on tight editing and realistic estimates.
If you are buying, focus on freshness and category strength, and do not be afraid to let estimates guide you away from average examples. If you are selling, pick your moment and venue carefully, and insist on estimates that reflect today’s price memory rather than yesterday’s headlines.
References:
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Christie’s — “20th/21st Century: London Evening Sales results” (combined £130.25m; Magritte price)
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Christie’s — Post-War and Contemporary Art Day Sale (sale total £14,847,966)
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Artnet News — “By the Numbers: Sotheby’s Modern and Contemporary London”
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The Art Newspaper — “London contemporary art auctions kick off with £5.4m record for Lisa Brice…”
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CBS/AP — “Banksy ‘Crude Oil (Vettriano)’ sells for nearly £4.3m/$5.5m”
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Collector Daily — “First $1m photograph of 2025 at Sotheby’s (El Lissitzky)”
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Phillips — “Modern & Contemporary Art Evening Sale achieves £15 million”
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Phillips — “Modern & Contemporary Art Day Sale realises £6 million (week total £21.4m)”
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HENI — “Bonhams Modern & Contemporary African Art — auction totals”