In a highly anticipated auction at Sotheby’s London, a significant portion of the Lewis Collection—comprising 48 works estimated between £195 million and £280 million—will go under the hammer, potentially setting a new record for the most valuable single-owner collection ever sold publicly in the UK. The sale features a range of predominantly portrait-oriented pieces, including a rare Amedeo Modigliani painting, "Nu assis au collier" (1917-18), estimated at £45 million. This work belongs to a controversial series of female nudes that caused a scandal during Modigliani’s lifetime when the 1917 Paris exhibition was shut down for indecency.

The Lewis Collection was assembled largely during the 1990s by billionaire trader Joe Lewis and his daughter Vivienne. Known primarily for their ownership stake in Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, the family has collected artworks marked by psychologically intense imagery and distinctive provenance, often reflecting figures who challenged artistic and social conventions. Vivienne Lewis described their collecting philosophy as drawn to artists “who dared to go where others hadn’t gone,” expressing a connection to the theme of the underdog prevailing.

Among the collection’s highlights is Gustav Klimt’s 1902 portrait of Gertrud Loew, a Jewish sitter forced to flee Vienna in 1939. Acquired by the Lewises in 2015 for £25 million following a settlement between the Klimt Foundation and Loew’s heirs, the painting is now offered again at a comparable estimate. Also included is Francis Bacon’s 1976 head study of Henrietta Moraes, a model linked to prominent postwar British artists, with an estimated value between £3 million and £4 million. Other notable pieces spotlight overlooked figures, such as Lucian Freud’s portrayal of a government benefits supervisor and works by Kazimir Malevich and Chaim Soutine depicting working-class subjects.

Joe Lewis’s background spans from early experience in his family’s catering business to currency trading successes, including a famous bet against the British pound during the 1992 financial crisis. He founded the Tavistock Group, a private investment vehicle with diversified holdings. In 2024, Lewis pleaded guilty to insider trading charges in Manhattan, resulting in a $5 million fine and probation. The following year, he received a pardon from former US President Donald Trump on medical grounds. Despite these developments, Sotheby’s Europe chair Oliver Barker emphasizes that Lewis prefers to avoid the spotlight, noting a personal affinity for René Magritte’s 1965 painting "La belle promenade," which also features in the auction.

Barker declines to interpret the sale as timing a market peak but acknowledges Lewis’s role as a market influencer and the current strong demand for figurative 20th-century art. Several works in the collection have appreciated significantly since purchase—for example, the Modigliani nude acquired for the equivalent of £8 million in 1995 and Malevich’s peasant study, formerly owned by Roald Dahl, which was bought for approximately £210,000 in the early 1990s and now holds a multi-million-pound estimate.

Vivienne Lewis characterizes the sale as both a strategic moment and an opportunity to transition toward emerging artists like Elizabeth Peyton, Tracey Emin, and Hurvin Anderson, emphasizing an ongoing commitment to figurative art. The family also supports creative initiatives such as artist residencies at OOF, a gallery within the Tottenham Hotspur stadium focused on football-related works.

Notably, the Lewis family has chosen to proceed with the auction without pre-arranged financial guarantees, trusting in the auction process and the intrinsic value of the works. The collection remains safeguarded by reserves, allowing them to withhold any paintings that do not meet their pricing expectations. This approach introduces an element of unpredictability and potential surprise to an auction marked by histories of dramatic art world moments, reflecting the family’s theatrical roots and a flair for performance beyond the canvas.