Helena Newman

Celebrating 60 years of the Fondation Maeght, Saint-Paul de Vence, the first Modern and Contemporary Art Foundation in France, created by the visionary founders Marguerite and Aimé Maeght, who were friends of artists such as Giacometti, Miro, Braque, Chagall, Bonnard and Matisse. This summer sees the inauguration of a beautiful extension, the loan of the superb library of ‘livres d’artistes’ from the Naggar Collection, and the opening of an exhibition ‘Matisse-Bonnard, a friendship’. Also just opened this weekend in the South of France. a superb show at the Musée Picasso, Antibes ‘’Mirò, Masterpieces from the Nahmad Collection’’ a joy to behold - reflecting the friendship between the two artists who first met in Paris in 1920. #fondationmaeght #museepocasso #miro #picasso #giacometti

What a positive and exciting summer season here @sothebys London! Since our remarkable summer loan exhibition ‘London: An Artistic Crossroads’ opened on 25 May, we’ve welcomed over 17,000 visitors to the @sothebys galleries. Last week, we had a wonderful evening here discussing the city’s creative scene throughout the years with guests Grayson Perry @alanmeasles , @dylanjones , Gus Casely-Hayford, and Tim Marlow. And of course, this week we concluded our sales of Modern and Contemporary art, which achieved a robust £105 million seeing a healthy appetite from buyers from 35 countries around the world for a huge range of works from Renoir through to Picasso, Giacometti and Basquiat, demonstrating London’s continuing position as a global hub for the art market. Next week are the Old Masters sales and the summer loan exhibition, featuring 12 works from 12 institutions around the UK, is still on view until 5 July at Sotheby’s London - come and see it! Congratulations to the whole team at Sotheby’s for a wonderful summer season! #sothebysmodern #sothebyscontemporary #sothebys

Excited to be in the midst of our summer season here at Sotheby’s London, and tonight it was a pleasure to share the rostrum with @ob1London as we welcomed the global collecting community through our doors for the modern and contemporary evening sale in London. The night was undoubtedly highlighted by the collection of Ralph I. Goldenberg, alongside a great breadth of offerings from across the 20th and 21st and centuries – and some runaway bidding battles along the way. Congrats to the global team. Onto our day sale tomorrow! #SothebysLondon #SothebysModern #SothebysContemporary

Watch @newmanhelena bring the hammer down on Renoir’s ‘Bouquet de lilas’ at £6.9M—more than 2X its high estimate—after a nearly 10-minute bidding battle.   ’Bouquet de lilas’ stands as one of Renoir’s best floral compositions, striking a perfect balance between his technical virtuosity and bold experimentation. The lilacs form a cloud-like vision that perfectly captures the essence of these widely loved flowers.   The London Summer Season, presented in partnership with @uksothebysrealty , continues tomorrow with the Modern & Contemporary Day Auctions. More info via our link in bio!   #PierreAugusteRenoir

Thrilled that our Summer Season is now underway in London - launched with a wonderful loan exhibition of 12 works from 12 institutions around the UK @sothebys with @artukdotorg , which tell the story of London as a creative hub and magnet for artists past and present, who have been drawn to the city from all over the world to seek inspiration and thrive off its the creative energy. Featured in the @Evening Standard with a fabulous cover photo showcasing an amazing line up London creatives who have each picked their favourite works. Come and see for yourselves and find out more @sothebyslondon #mondrian #bacon #freud #derain #marcus gheraarts @lilycole @francescahayward @claudartuk @yomi.adegoke @bella_freud @rejinapyo @rejinapyo_jina Gus Casely-Hayford @plinionandes and @braimah.km

For centuries, the UK has been a melting-pot for artists. Thrilled to share that this summer we’re celebrating its magnetic spirit with ‘London: An Artistic Crossroads’ at Sotheby’s. The exhibition brings together a remarkable group of works from twelve museums across the country to shine a spotlight on the UK as a global centre of art. From Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger to Francis Bacon, all works are by artists who spent time in or called this country home. Free and open to the public in our New Bond Street galleries from 25 May - 5 July, come see the works together for the first time ever, alongside the London Summer Sales, and learn more about the exhibition #SothebysLondon .

So honoured to have been invited on BBC Radio 3’s celebrated and long-running show ‘’Private Passions’’ for an interview with @berkeleymichael about my life with art and music. Tune in tomorrow, Sunday 17th March at 12 noon UK time or catch up @BBCsounds to hear my musical choices and how these two passions have influenced me. #BBCsounds #bbcradio3

This week’s Monday Muse celebrates the Chairman of Sotheby’s Europe – and Worldwide Head of Impressionist & Modern Art – Helena Newman. Trained as a classical violinist before joining the auction house in 1988, where she uses her performing skills to command the sales room like a conductor, Helena Newman has many strings to her bow. Back in 2016, she became the first woman to take an evening sale since 1990, and she remains one of the few (and most senior) female auctioneers in the business to preside over these flagship sales, including last week’s Modern & Contemporary Evening Auction. During her time at Sotheby’s, Newman has also been at the forefront of the global expansion of the Impressionist and Modern Art market. She tells The Wick how to become a virtuoso auctioneer and power dress on the podium, while giving us a glimpse into the future of the auction house. @newmanhelena @sothebys #thewick #mondaymuse #helenanewman #sothebys #auction #auctionweek

What goes through an auctioneer’s mind in the moments just after an auction? We caught up with @newmanhelena in the saleroom at #SothebysLondon last week to find out. Get an inside look at the London Sales, presented in partnership with @uksothebysrealty , in our link in bio. #SothebysModern

It’s International Women’s Day, and we’re revisiting the women artists who set records at #SothebysLondon this week. With @newmanhelena at the rostrum, works by Etel Adnan, Takako Yamaguchi, and Rebecca Warren smashed their pre-sale estimates at the Modern & Contemporary Evening Auction. It was also Françoise Gilot’s Evening auction debut, and the artist’s ‘Portrait de Geneviève avec un collier de colombes’ (1944)—a depiction of the artist’s best friend and lifelong muse—was pursued by five bidders, soaring to 4x its estimate. #InternationalWomensDay #IWD2024 #EtelAdnan #TakakoYamaguchi #FrancoiseGilot

Pablo Picasso’s ‘Homme à la pipe’ was held in the same private collection for nearly 50 years before hitting the auction block at #SothebyLondon tonight. The work commanded the top price of the Modern & Contemporary Evening Auction, selling for £13.7 million ($17.4 million). Painted in Mougins on 8 November 1968, ‘Homme à la pipe’ blends the two major tropes that dominated Picasso’s late work – that of a pipe-smoking musketeer and a romantic torero or bullfighter. The London Sales, presented in partnership with @uksothebysrealty , continue on 7 March with the Modern & Contemporary Day Auction. There’s still time time to bid via our link in bio. #SothebysModern #SothebysContemporary

It was wonderful to be back on the rostrum this evening in our first marquee auction of 2024, bringing the hammer down not only on our fabulous, commanding late Picasso portrait, but also an incredible roster of women artists from modernists Françoise Gilot and Etel Adnan through to those creating in the present day. In a year where we are celebrating the 150th anniversary of impressionism, it was also great to be able to showcase a work by each of the great Impressionists – from Monet to Renoir to Signac, in such a diverse context. Congratulations to the whole team @sothebys #SothebysModern #SothebysContemporary #PabloPicasso #Impressionism