Christie’s London Evening Sales Raise Over £130 Million in March 2025

Christie’s March 2025 Auctions Highlight Strength of the Art Market

On 5 March 2025, Christie’s successfully held its 20th/21st Century: London Evening Sale and The Art of the Surreal Evening Sale, achieving a combined total of £130,251,700. The results affirmed the resilience of the global art market and the continuing demand for modern, surrealist, and contemporary masterpieces.

20th/21st Century: London Evening Sale

This auction featured 47 lots—nearly 75% of which were fresh to the market—with about one-third of the works by living artists. The sale realized £82,180,500, achieving a 94% sell-through rate by lot and 96% by value.

Notable Results

• Michael Andrews, School IV: Barracuda under Skipjack Tuna (1978): Sold for £6,060,000 after a six-minute bidding war, breaking the artist’s auction record.
• Tamara de Lempicka, Portrait du Docteur Boucard (1928): A commanding portrait that achieved £6,635,000.
• Francis Bacon, Portrait of Man with Glasses III (1963): Debuted at auction and sold for £6,635,000.

The Art of the Surreal Evening Sale

This curated auction of 25 lots brought in £48,071,200, reaffirming global interest in Surrealist works.

Top Highlights

• René Magritte, La reconnaissance infinie (1933): Sold for £10,315,000—the evening’s highest result.
• Paul Delvaux: Three exceptional paintings offered for the first time in over 30 years, reaffirming his Surrealist legacy.

Market Observations

The auctions drew a global base of collectors—53% of bidders were from EMEA, 34% from the Americas, and 13% from Asia. While total earnings were down 42% compared to the previous year’s equivalent sale, the high sell-through rates (93%) demonstrated sustained demand.

Contemporary works with strong visual appeal—such as Danielle Mckinney’s Other Worldly and Lisa Brice’s After Embah—performed especially well, underscoring the market's appetite for bold, collectible artworks.

Sources

• Artnet News – Christie’s Surrealism & Contemporary March 2025
• Christie’s Press Release – London Evening Sales, March 2025
• Financial Times – Christie’s Auction Results
• My Art Broker – Auction Watch

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