London, 10 June 2026 - Phillips has unveiled the highlights of its Modern & Contemporary Art Evening & Afternoon Sale, taking place on 26 June in London. Led by David Hockney's The Only One with Waves, a significant work from a pivotal moment in the artist's career, the sale brings together an important selection of British art, including works by Bridget Riley, Frank Auerbach, and Tracey Emin. Further highlights include a prominent group of South Asian artists, offered in response to growing international recognition and market demand, alongside contemporary voices such as Andrew Cranston, Anna Weyant, Julie Mehretu, and Jadé Fadojutimi. The preview exhibition opens at Phillips' Berkeley Square on 19 June and runs until the auction on 26 June at 2pm BST.
Reflecting on the offering, Olivia Thornton, Deputy Chairwoman of Modern & Contemporary Art for Europe, said that "June in London is a key moment in the international art calendar and we are delighted to be building on the strong momentum of our White Glove Evening Sale in New York last month." She added that the house was excited "to showcase important names from the Post-War avant-garde to leading contemporary artists working today," and looked forward to welcoming clients "to a sale that reflects the depth, energy and internationalism of today's market."
British art highlights
Leading the sale is David Hockney's The Only One with Waves, estimated at £1,800,000 to £2,500,000. Painted in 1991, shortly after the British artist acquired his home in Malibu, the work revisits Hockney's celebrated motif of water while anticipating the groundbreaking Very New Paintings series he began the following year. Its flattened perspective and schematic approach to form reflect the inspiration he drew from the Southern Californian coast. Bridget Riley's Measure for Measure 40 (2019), a striking example of the artist's enduring exploration of perception, rhythm, and color, carries an estimate of £500,000 to £700,000 and is closely related to Messengers, her celebrated wall installation at the National Gallery in London. The sale opens with Andrew Cranston's Meditation in a tenement (2023), estimated at £60,000 to £80,000, while Tracey Emin's I hated you - I hated you - I hated you (2019), a psychologically charged work exhibited at the Musée d'Orsay as part of the artist's first exhibition at a major French institution, is estimated at £150,000 to £200,000.
International blue-chip contemporary art
The sale includes major works by leading contemporary artists. El Anatsui's Delta (2014), estimated at £700,000 to £900,000, exemplifies his transformation of discarded materials into monumental sculptural forms, its cascading surface of aluminium bottle caps drawing on West African visual traditions. Donald Judd's Untitled (1991), estimated at £300,000 to £500,000, embodies the precision and conceptual clarity that defined his contribution to Minimalism. Also featured, from the Collection of Marcel Brient in Paris, is Marlene Dumas' Blue Cross (1993 to 95), which demonstrates the artist's distinctive ability to distil figuration into evocative fields of color and emotion.
South Asian modern and contemporary voices
A strong group of South Asian artists features prominently, among them Maqbool Fida Husain's vibrant Untitled (1974), estimated at £150,000 to £250,000, and Kattingeri Krishna Hebbar's Elephant Parade at Night (circa 1946), estimated at £100,000 to £150,000, both of which exemplify the artists' pioneering fusion of modernist aesthetics with Indian cultural traditions. Having achieved a world auction record for Lancelot Ribeiro in March 2026, when Landscape at Noon sold for £516,000, Phillips will offer another example of the artist's celebrated paintings, Landscape (circa 1965), estimated at £25,000 to £35,000.
Women working in abstraction
The sale also brings together a powerful group of women working in abstraction. Yayoi Kusama's INFINITY-NETS (MAE) (2013), from the series for which she is most celebrated, is estimated at £800,000 to £1,200,000, while Jadé Fadojutimi's O! The Climate Has A Temper Today (2024), which showcases the artist's dynamic, layered surfaces, carries an estimate of £300,000 to £500,000. Further highlights include Martha Jungwirth's Untitled (2017), estimated at £200,000 to £300,000, Katharina Grosse's O.T. (2013), estimated at £120,000 to £180,000, and Julie Mehretu's Not Quite Armageddon (1997), also estimated at £120,000 to £180,000.
The Modern & Contemporary Art Evening & Afternoon Sale takes place on 26 June 2026 at 2pm BST at 30 Berkeley Square, London, with viewing from 19 to 26 June.
Estimates do not include the buyer's premium; prices achieved include the hammer price plus buyer's premium.
(Press Release)
