Works by artists including Picasso, Magritte and Klimt, amassed by the ex-owner of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, head to auction this month with a total sales estimate of 200 million pounds ($267 million).

They were collected by Joe Lewis, an 89-year-old British billionaire, who transferred his majority stake in the London football club to a family trust in 2022 and is now worth 5.8 billion pounds ($7.75 billion), according to The Sunday Times Rich List.

A total of 48 works from the Lewis Collection will go on sale, including a painting by Amedeo Modigliani with an estimate of over 45 million pounds ($60 million) and a bronze sculpture of a dancer by Impressionist artist Edgar Degas with an estimate of 18 million-25 million pounds ($24 million-$33.5 million).

Lewis also bought paintings by artists of the Vienna Secession movement such as Gustav Klimt and Egon Schiele, modernist and surrealist works by Rene Magritte and Pablo Picasso.

The most recent works are paintings by British artists Lucian Freud and Francis Bacon.

"There's never ever been a collection of this magnitude that's ever been offered (for sale), actually, either in the U.K. or indeed in Europe," Oliver Barker, chairperson of Sotheby's Europe, told Agence France-Presse (AFP).

The estimate of over 200 million pounds ($267 million) is "the most valuable pre-sale estimate that's ever been put on a private collection offered anywhere in Europe," said the auctioneer.

Public display

The most highly valued works include Klimt's "Portrait of Gertrud Loew" from 1902 — expected to sell for 20-30 million pounds ($26.7 million-$40 million).

Other highlights include Picasso's "Buste de femme" (Bust of a woman) from 1938, depicting French artist Dora Maar, valued at 12-18 million pounds ($16 million-$24 million).

Meanwhile "Sleeping by the Lion Carpet," painted by Freud in 1995-96, has been priced at 25-35 million pounds ($33.4 million-$46.8 million).

This is "arguably ... the greatest Lucian Freud painting ever to make its way to market," said Barker.

The lots are on display at Sotheby's until June 23, with free public access.

The 25 most valuable works will go under the hammer late on June 24, the others the next day.

Auctioning the collection will mark a "new beginning" for Lewis - recently pardoned by U.S. President Donald Trump after he pleaded guilty to insider trading in 2024 -and his family, according to Barker.

Lewis's daughter, Vivienne Lewis, is also a collector and is "very committed to the young and avant-garde contemporary artists," he added.

'Great opportunity'

The current auction sale record for a single private collection in Europe was set in 2009 by the art collection of the late fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent and his partner Pierre Berge.

It had an estimate of 200-300 million euros ($231 million-$347 million), but the works eventually sold at Christie's for 373.9 million euros (then about $432.5 million).

Regarding the Lewis Collection, Barker describes the figure of 200 million pounds ($267 million) as "very moderately estimated," with hopes it could fetch more.

In March, four other paintings from the Lewis Collection by British artists from the School of London group, including Freud and Bacon, sold for 35.8 million pounds ($47.8 million) in a packed Sotheby's saleroom.

In a return to blockbuster art sales, auctions in New York this spring set record prices for works by Jackson Pollock, Constantin Brancusi and Mark Rothko.

"You know there's been a great deal of wealth creation around the world at the moment and I think more of it has been driven to the art market," said Barker.

The upward trend follows a slump in sales, blamed by experts on economic uncertainty and a lack of high-value works on sale.

"The market has been so starved of true masterpieces, and so the opportunity to acquire works of this calibre truly is a great opportunity," Barker said.