Mondrian's Composition III to Headline Christie's London Sale at £20–30 Million
On 14 October 2026, Christie's London will host an auction for Piet Mondrian's Composition III (1920), with a projected value between £20 and £30 million. This piece, which has never been sold at auction, was previously owned by Armand P. Bartos and Celeste. Mondrian produced only eight paintings in this series, with five located in prominent institutions such as Tate, MoMA, Stedelijk Museum, Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, and Wilhelm-Hack-Museum. The auction week will feature 21 sales across various cities, including Christie's, Sotheby's, and Phillips in London. Additionally, on the same day, Fraysse & Associés will unveil the estate of Winnaretta Singer in Paris. In 2025, China maintained its position as the second-largest art auction market, while Hong Kong's recent sales totaled HK$957 million. Anni Albers achieved a record at Christie's for a paper work, selling for $166,400.
Key facts
- Piet Mondrian's Composition III (1920) will be auctioned at Christie's London on 14 October 2026 with an estimate of £20–30 million.
- The painting has never been offered at auction before; previous owners include architect and collector Armand P. Bartos and his wife Celeste.
- Mondrian completed only eight paintings in this group; five are in Tate, MoMA, Stedelijk Museum, Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea in Rome, and Wilhelm-Hack-Museum.
- The week features 21 auction appointments in seven days across London, Vienna, Paris, Seoul, Newbury, Ladenburg, Bruges, North Carolina, Hong Kong, and New York.
- Carlo Bonte in Bruges offers 161 lots in Forms of Fertility: The Phallus Collection, including an 1800s walking stick with a phallic handle and an ivory glove stretcher.
- A decommissioned Sikorsky HH-60 Jayhawk cell from the U.S. Coast Guard is auctioned in North Carolina with a $1,000 starting bid.
- Christie's Hong Kong closed the season at HK$957 million; Sotheby's achieved its highest result in the category in three years.
- Anni Albers set a new record for a work on paper at Christie's, selling for $166,400.
Entities
Artists
- Piet Mondrian
- Armand P. Bartos
- Celeste Bartos
- Winnaretta Singer
- Anni Albers
- Queen Mary
- Queen Victoria
- Mary Somerset
- Duchess of Beaufort
- Hans Janssen
- Frances Spalding
- Alessia Zorloni
- Clare McAndrew
- Barbara Pollack
Institutions
- Christie's
- Sotheby's
- Phillips
- Tate
- MoMA
- Stedelijk Museum
- Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea
- Wilhelm-Hack-Museum
- Carlo Bonte
- Fraysse & Associés
- China Guardian
- Poly
- Xiling
- Artprice
- Art Basel
- UBS
- Ridinghouse
- Lund Humphries
- FrancoAngeli
- I.B. Tauris
- U.S. Coast Guard
- Sikorsky
- Museum of Modern Art
- Wilhelm-Hack Museum
- Artnet
- The Museum of Modern Art
Locations
- London
- United Kingdom
- Vienna
- Austria
- Paris
- France
- Seoul
- South Korea
- Newbury
- Ladenburg
- Germany
- Bruges
- Belgium
- North Carolina
- United States
- Hong Kong
- China
- Beijing
- Shanghai
- Hangzhou
- Guangzhou
- New York
- Rome
- Italy
- Geneva
- Switzerland
- Amsterdam
- Netherlands
- Ludwigshafen