Christie’s to Auction Modern British and Irish Art, Featuring Auerbach, Hepworth, and Chadwick

Christie’s London will present its March 2026 Modern British and Irish Art sales on March 18th (Evening Sale) and March 19th (Day Sale).¹ The auctions will showcase works from the 20th and 21st centuries by prominent artists including Frank Auerbach, Lynn Chadwick, Bridget Riley, L.S. Lowry, Sir Winston Churchill, Glyn Philpot, and Dame Barbara Hepworth.¹ An exhibition of the sale will be open to the public from March 12th to 18th, 2026, at King Street, London.¹

Auerbach’s ‘Christmas Tree at Mornington Crescent’ to Headline Evening Sale

The Modern British and Irish Art Evening Sale will be led by Frank Auerbach’s Christmas Tree at Mornington Crescent (2004-05), estimated at £1,500,000-£2,000,000.² This large-scale painting depicts a North London junction frequently observed by Auerbach from his nearby studio.² Auerbach, a child refugee who arrived in Britain in 1939, repeatedly returned to this motif, transforming the streets of Camden into abstract representations of place and experience.² A sister painting is held in the collection of Tate, London.

Sculptural Highlights and Key Works

Lynn Chadwick’s Back to Venice (conceived and cast in 1988), estimated at £1,000,000-£1,500,000, will also be a key offering.² The sculpture commemorates Chadwick’s historic return to Venice, where he first exhibited in 1952 and won the Grand Prix for Sculpture in 1956.²

Dame Barbara Hepworth will be represented by two sculptures: Curved Form (1960), estimated at £700,000–£1,000,000, carved from walnut, and Solitary Form (1971), estimated at £500,000–£700,000, carved in marble.³ Henry Moore’s works include Working Model for Hill Arches (1972), estimated at £400,000–£600,000, Stringed Figure (1939), estimated at £150,000–£250,000, and Head of a Girl (1923), estimated at £130,000–£180,000.³

Other notable works include Bridget Riley’s Recollection (1986), estimated at £800,000-£1,200,000, Glyn Philpot’s Balthazar (1929), estimated at £200,000–£300,000, L.S. Lowry’s Lancashire Farm (1960), estimated at £200,000-£300,000, and Sir Winston Churchill’s Riviera Coast Scene (circa 1935), estimated at £300,000-£500,000.³

Day Sale Highlights

The Modern British and Irish Art Day Sale, featuring 139 lots, will include works by Jack Butler Yeats, Paul Henry, Roderic O’Conor, and William Scott.³ Yeats’s A Storm / Gaillshíon (1936) is estimated at £100,000-£150,000.³ A group of twelve oils and drawings from the Estate of L.S. Lowry, all previously on long-term loan to The Lowry, Salford, will also be offered, including Grey Sea (1970) and Girl with white socks (1960), both estimated at £60,000-£80,000.³

For more information, visit christies.com.