Christie’s Summer Sale in London to Lean on ‘What Art Makes You Feel’

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This summer, major auction house Christie’s is being very selective in its sale lineups, with the hope of appealing to ‘individuals tastes and passions’ rather than chasing broad appeal.

The upcoming Post-War to Present sale in London will see a live auction on 26 June and an online equivalent until 1 July, with work by the likes of Victor Man, Luc Tuymans, and Lynette Yiadom-Boakye. 

Speaking to Ocula, Tessa Lord, Christie’s head of post-war and contemporary art department in London, relayed what new global president Alex Rotter said last month when asked about the house’s approach: ‘The market is no longer about following the crowd. It’s about individual taste and passions. What art makes you feel’.

Despite financial headwinds, demand remains strong for ‘exceptional pieces’, Lord said, adding the house adapted its strategy to cater to ‘individual tastes and passions’ at clients’ request.  

Last year saw a surge in younger collectors across Christie’s sales, with millennials and Gen Z accounting for nearly a third of bidders—and the latter growing by 20 percent.

Accordingly, the house’s London sale will feature a mix of rising and established talent, including a ‘significant selection’ by female artists—including Louise Bourgeois, Kara Walker, and Cecily Brown, who set new records at the house’s New York sale last month. 

Highlights coming to Christie’s London include a 2011 portrait by British-Ghanaian painter Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, who was the highest selling ultra-contemporary artist in the global auction market last year, with her most valued work netting close to £3 million. 

Yiadom-Boakye’s oil on canvas 8pm Zaragoza headlines the sale with an estimated £500,000 to £700,000.

Lord further singled out Romanian painter Victor Man’s portrait The Chandler (2013) (estimate: £300,000–500,000), depicting a decapitated medieval chandler, or candle holder, from the neck down. Last year, the work fetched five times its high estimate at Sotheby’s London, or £382,000.

Notable lots by female artists include Brown’s 2004 abstraction Untitled (estimate: £300,000–500,000), Walker’s cut-out The Policy of Admission (2003) (estimate: £100,000–150,000), and a Bourgeois drawing (Untitled, 2006, estimate: £120,000–180,000). 

The sale will also feature work by artists like Georg Baselitz, Richard Serra, Luc Tuymans, and a David Hockney iPad drawing (estimate: £180,000–250,000) presented in tandem with the painter’s Paris survey at Fondation Louis Vuitton.

Alongside sales from June to August, Christie’s will support emerging artists in the U.K. with a fundraiser organised with New Contemporaries, which will auction work donated by acclaimed artists like Hurvin Anderson, Andrew Cranston, and Tracey Emin. —[O]

Main image: Damien Hirst, Oranges and Lemons (2008). Courtesy Christie's Images Ltd. 2025.