The personal art collection of Peter Simon, the founder of the Monsoon fashion chain, is expected to sell for up to £126.7m.
Monsoon: The Peter Simon Collection consists of nearly 200 works from the British businessman’s collection. The estimate is £86.5m to £126.7m and will be offered in three dedicated sales in October.
It is the highest value single-owner collection offered at Christie’s London.
The sale includes works by artists including Francis Bacon, Piet Mondrian, Joan Miró, Andy Warhol, Pablo Picasso and Hurvin Anderson.
The collection includes two paintings from distinct stages of Bacon’s career – 1978’s Figure in Movement, expected to sell for between £14m and £18m, and Study for a Figure, which is estimated to have been painted around 1945 and could sell for between £4m and £6m.
Bacon’s Figure in Movement is expected to sell for between £14m and £18m – Christie’s Images/PA Wire
There are also modernist works from Ben Nicholson, with 1934 (relief), hand-carved from a single piece of wood, expected to fetch between £1m and £2m.
Barbara Hepworth’s 1948 work on paper, The Hands and The Arm, could fetch £250,000.
Other pieces in the collection include Joan Miro’s 1925 Peinture (Les amants – Adam and Eve), Piet Mondrian’s 1935 Composition A, with Double Line and Yellow, and Fernand Leger’s Le Siphon.
Peinture (Les amants – Adam and Eve) by Joan Miro, 1925 – Christie’s Images/PA Wire
Mr Simon, 77, said: “In the early days at Monsoon I would sit with fashion and textile designers sifting portfolio after portfolio to select works on paper which we would convert onto fabric for clothing collections.
“A critical part of the DNA of Monsoon is the colours and the prints. In retrospect, I realise this work happily honed an ability to recognise good composition with colour balance – having developed an eye for a good print, I find it helpful to zero in on the best combination of colour and composition in a picture.”
“I focused on the British artists who first attracted me, as well as more contemporary artists then emerging on the scene, always aiming to build links and foster dialogue across different worlds.
“It gives me great pleasure to now offer part of my collection to others, freeing my mind and my walls to start in a new direction.”
Hurvin Anderson’s Last House – which was included in the artist’s 2017 Turner Prize exhibition and his 2026 Tate retrospective – is expected to sell for up to £3m.
Last House by Hurvin Anderson – Christie’s Images/PA Wire
Also included is Pablo Picasso’s Crâne, lampe, poireaux, pichet, painted shortly before Europe celebrated the end of the Second World War. It was last seen in a public exhibition more than 25 years ago.
Bridget Riley’s Streak 2, Alighiero Boetti’s Mappa, Willem de Kooning’s Untitled from 1984, Jeff Koons’ Baroque Egg with Bow (Blue/Turquoise), and Warhol’s Diamond Dust Shoes are also up for sale.
Joseph Braka, Christie’s post-war and contemporary art specialist, called the collection “one of the finest and boldest ever assembled in the United Kingdom”.
He said: “Whilst deeply rooted in the masters of 20th-century British painting, the collection was one of the first in the country to evolve and encompass art from across the globe.”
Monsoon: The Peter Simon Collection will be presented in a public exhibition at Christie’s London from Sept 26 to Oct 1. The online auction will take place between Oct 1 and 20.
