One of the most valuable private art collections ever assembled in Europe, built over decades by former Tottenham Hotspur majority owner Joe Lewis, is set to hit the auction block this month at Sotheby’s London, with an opening total valuation of no less than £200 million ($267 million) that experts say could climb far higher on the night.
The 89-year-old British billionaire, who holds an estimated net worth of £5.8 billion according to 2024’s The Sunday Times Rich List and transferred his controlling stake in the Premier League football club to a family trust back in 2022, has amassed a trove of 48 works spanning more than a century of modern and contemporary art from some of the most iconic names in global art history. The upcoming sale spans creations from early 20th century pioneers to boundary-pushing post-war British artists, with standout pieces carrying eight-figure valuations that draw collectors and enthusiasts from across the globe.
Headlining the auction is Amedeo Modigliani’s *Nu assis au collier* (Seated Nude Wearing a Necklace), a work that sparked public scandal when it was first unveiled in 1917 Paris. The iconic nude painting carries an estimate of over £45 million, making it one of the most expensive lots in the entire collection. Other high-profile entries include a bronze dancer sculpture by Impressionist master Edgar Degas, valued between £18 million and £25 million, and Gustav Klimt’s 1902 *Portrait of Gertrud Loew*, a key work from the Vienna Secession movement projected to sell for £20 million to £30 million. Rounding out the star lots are Pablo Picasso’s 1938 *Buste de femme*, a portrait of the artist’s muse and collaborator Dora Maar valued at £12 million to £18 million, and Lucian Freud’s 1995-1996 *Sleeping by the Lion Carpet*, a nuanced nude depiction of the artist’s long-time muse Sue Tilley estimated to fetch between £25 million and £35 million. Sotheby’s Europe Chairman Oliver Barker calls the Freud work “arguably the greatest Lucian Freud painting ever to make its way to market.”
The collection also includes additional entries from Vienna Secession pioneer Egon Schiele, surrealist icon René Magritte, and groundbreaking British post-war artist Francis Bacon, bringing together a diverse curation that reflects Lewis’s decades-long eye for transformative 20th century art. Barker emphasized that the scope of the Lewis Collection is unprecedented for a European auction: “There’s never ever been a collection of this magnitude that’s ever been offered for sale, actually, either in the UK or indeed in Europe.” He added that the £200 million pre-sale estimate is the highest ever attached to a private collection offered anywhere on the continent, and calls the valuation “very moderately estimated” with strong potential for final bids to far exceed projections.
Members of the public can view all auction lots for free at Sotheby’s London location through June 23. The 25 most valuable works will be auctioned on the evening of June 24, with the remaining lots going under the hammer the following day. Barker frames the sale as a turning point for Lewis and his family, coming shortly after the billionaire received a presidential pardon from former U.S. President Donald Trump in 2024, months after he pleaded guilty to federal insider trading charges. Lewis’s daughter Vivienne Lewis remains an active collector focused on supporting emerging and avant-garde contemporary artists, Barker noted.
The upcoming auction aligns with a resurgent global art market following a period of slowdown driven by economic uncertainty and a shortage of top-tier works for sale. Earlier this spring, blockbuster auctions in New York delivered record-breaking prices for iconic creations by Jackson Pollock, Constantin Brâncuși, and Mark Rothko, signaling renewed buyer enthusiasm for museum-quality masterpieces. Back in March, four works from Lewis’s collection by members of the London School of British art, including pieces by Freud and Bacon, sold for £35.8 million at Sotheby’s to a packed salesroom.
“You know there’s been a great deal of wealth creation around the world at the moment and I think more of it has been driven to the art market,” Barker explained. “The market has been so starved of true masterpieces, and so the opportunity to acquire works of this calibre truly is a great opportunity.”
If the Lewis Collection matches or exceeds its estimated value, it will come close to matching the 2009 European record for a private collection auction set by the estate of fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent and his partner Pierre Bergé. That Christie’s auction carried an initial estimate of 200 to 300 million euros, and ultimately sold for 373.9 million euros, equal to roughly £333 million at the time.