Spring 2025: Modern British Art Report

Our first market report for 2025 covers the numerous auctions and events held over the winter and spring seasons. Despite political affairs causing growing uncertainty within the wider market, there have been steady results within the Modern British market worth examining.

January saw the London Art Fair return to Islington’s Business Design Centre. Under the theme of colour and vibrancy, Portland Gallery enjoyed successful sales across the stand of works by David Bomberg, David Spiller, Peter Lanyon and PJ Crook. Simultaneously at Bennet Street, paintings by Ken Howard performed soundly in our dedicated exhibition with works sold to both new and existing clients, and a significant increase in turnover from our 2023 exhibition.

Cheffins, Christie’s and Sotheby’s held diverse auctions throughout February and March, though the latter only included a small handful of 20th century British works - an increasingly noticeable trend at the auction house. In Cheffins’ Art & Design sale, the headline lot and top performer came from Sir Cedric Morris’ double-sided oil estimated at £30,000 – 50,000. While this result did not break records, the painting’s excellent private provenance and desirable floral subject matter helped achieve a hammer result of £125,000.

‘20/21’ at Christie’s London comprised of seven live and online auctions, including the dedicated Modern British sales. These were slight, with only 25 works in the evening and 101 in the day sale. Compared to this time last year, where the 32-lot evening sale alone made over £23.78 million, the combined totals of this March made just £14.59 million. Despite this, 96% of lots in this year’s evening sale, achieved within or above high estimate. Frank Auerbach’s oil Nude on Bed III commended the highest price in the sale at £1,492,000. One of the most anticipated lots in the sale, William Nicholson’s exquisite Lustre Bowl made it into the records selling for £1,189,500, just under ten times it’s low estimate and now the second highest auction price for the artist. While sculptural works on offer were limited, lots by Anthony Gormley, Barry Flanagan and Lynn Chadwick all sold within estimate. Dame Barbara Hepworth’s 1958 Maquette (Variation on a Theme) sold at £277,200 (estimate £120,000 – 180,000). William Scott’s 1.5m high Interior, 1958 (£250,000 – 350,000) was the only work failing to sell, having previously been offered in the same rooms in 2023 at nearly double this year’s estimate.

Portland Gallery took part in the day sale, actively bidding for both stock acquisition and on behalf of private collectors. The most surprising result from the day came from Edward Burra’s watercolour View of Florence, making £352,800 against a £50,000 – 80,000 estimate. Burra’s market has been undeniably challenged in recent years, with no recorded painting making over £100,000 at auction since 2022. This result has therefore been a welcome change to the artist’s market. Other notable results came from Patrick Heron’s brightly coloured work on paper Mini Mini 9: February 1972 (£25,200), John Maclauchlan Milne’s tropical St Tropez oil (£46,620) and Bernard Meninsky’s Seated female figure, 1916 (£15,120). British studio ceramics by Dame Lucie Rie and Hans Coper and tempera still life painting by Eliot Hodgkin maintained their appeal, all selling above estimates.

Within the contemporary sales, two large-scale Bridget Riley works Daphne and Painting with Verticals 1 both sold towards the lower ends of their pre-sale estimates, indicating although the major oils are holding value, the period of rapid price rise appears over for now. A similar result could be seen with the oil Myrrh at Bonhams this April, which realised the lower end of the £1.5-2.5 million estimate (£1.8 million). Christie’s offered three Riley works on paper across their post war and Modern British sales, all of broadly comparable date and size, and all given estimates of £80,000 - £120,000. Study 2 for Praise failed to sell, not least because of concerns over condition which were really only evident on viewing. Study for Recollection sold for a £94,500 – fractionally below the low estimate, but from the same sale Turquoise, red, blue, yellow with black and white took £182,700 indicating a strong but highly selective market for the works on paper.

In March, The European Fine Art Foundation (TEFAF) art fair was held in Maastricht. The annual fair is known to include masterpiece artworks from Old Masters to contemporary, alongside antiquities and design items shown by over 250 galleries. This year was no exception. TEFAF reported a 15% rise in visitor numbers on the opening day compared to 2024 and major sales across all categories, up to the value of up $4.75 million for Still Life with Two Sacks and a Bottle by Vincent van Gogh. While primarily a space for European artworks, these results demonstrate an active appetite of collectors for significant works of art and design.

Conversely, The Art Newspaper reported London’s Eye of the Collector (a more modest setup of around 20 galleries with a ‘boutique’ focus) as ‘on hold’ for 2025. Founder Nazy Vassegh commented on the UK’s challenges of tax implications on artworks since Brexit as well as noting ‘rising costs and changing collector and market demographics’ but hopes that the fair will re-open in the future. Meanwhile, TEFAF New York is scheduled to open in May, which shall be an interesting litmus test for global art market heading into summer.

Returning to the UK, the pressure at leading auction houses to increase consignment value thresholds appears to be working in smaller rooms’ favour: allowing them to secure works of quality and rarity at the lower end of the market with excellent results. Mary Fedden’s Still Life with Oval Window, 1974 sold at Bonhams this March can be seen as a prime example. Compared to their Bond Street sales where Fedden nowadays rarely features, the painting greatly benefitted from promotion within the smaller format of their Knightsbridge branch, selling well above its £15,000 – 20,000 estimate for an impressive £55,010. Similarly, Rosebery’s most recent Modern British sale held some hidden gems, including a stunning 1959 work on paper by British artist Paule Vézeley titled Five Forms: Orange, Brown Red and Grey on White. Portland Gallery was delighted to assist a private collector in acquiring the pastel, against determined competition, for a record price at auction for a work on paper. Demand for Vézeley’s work has been growing in recent years, as noted in our 2023 market report where we saw her oil Composition Objets et Soleil making £20,480 against a £6,000 – 8,000 estimate. Her practice is also currently subject to a solo exhibition at RWA Bristol, the largest exhibition since her passing (Paule Vézelay: Living Lines, open till 27 April 2025). Despite being the subject of a major Tate retrospective in 1983, Vézelay is still perceived to be something of a neglected figure in Modern British Art whose market, we feel sure, will continue to rise.

Since the tumultuous announcements of increased import tariffs from the United States, and the consequences these actions had on wider stock and bond markets, activity in the art market has understandably been affected. While good sales are still being achieved on the secondary market, pace of buying has noticeably slowed with many collectors holding fire on acquisitions during such a period of wider market volatility. At the time of writing, US tariffs are not due to impact works of art, which should provide some short-term relief to the UK art market, although we constantly monitor new releases and liaise with shipping brokers to make sure our clients are furnished with the correct information on imports and exports during this period of rapid policy change. At Portland Gallery, we approach the coming months with a cautious optimism, continuing to champion our represented artists and estates at the gallery with a busy exhibition schedule, bolstered by our involvement in wider Modern British activities.

 

N.B.: all sold prices, unless otherwise stated include buyer’s premium.

15 Apr 2025