LONDON.- Christie's will present Monsoon: The Peter Simon Collection, highlighting its London Marquee Week in October 2026. Offered in three dedicated auctions with an Evening Sale, a Day Sale plus an online sale collectively comprising nearly 200 works, this selection from the personal collection of British businessman Peter Simon, the founder of Monsoon, will be offered during Frieze Week when international art market attention turns to London, and represents the highest value single-owner collection offered to date at Christie's London in a single Marquee Week.
A pioneering collecting journey
The Peter Simon Collection stands as one of Britain's foremost Modern and Contemporary Art collections. It embodies the same wide-ranging curiosity, intuitive selection, and global perspective that has defined the career of Peter Simon, founder of Monsoon, the renowned international fashion brand. Just as he sought out the finest hand-crafted textiles across India for Monsoon's unique hand-block printed fabrics, Simon's approach to art shows a discerning eye developed over a lifetime immersed in colour, craftsmanship and design.
The works offered in these sales span the history of Modern and Contemporary art, connecting the St Ives School with European Modernism, Abstract Expressionism with Op Art, and the School of London with contemporary painting from around the world. Major works by masters of modern and contemporary art (such as Francis Bacon, Piet Mondrian, Joan Miró, Andy Warhol, Pablo Picasso and Hurvin Anderson, amongst others) are presented alongside lesser-known and rarely seen pieces, each selected for its individual character and story. Across the Collection, a sensitivity to colour, texture and composition emerges as a defining thread, revealing the instinctive eye of a collector whose passion for creativity and visual culture has extended from fashion into art.
Interwar Modernism and The School of London
Encouraged and advised by some of the most respected figures in the UK and international art market, Simon developed a deeply personal approach to collecting in the early 1990s, favouring works by British modern masters and contemporary artists whose use of colour, composition, and emotional resonance reflected his own visual sensibility. Simon's early interest in art began close to home, with Francis Bacon's work striking a particular chord. The collection includes two outstanding paintings from distinct stages of the artist's career. Painted in 1978, Figure in Movement (estimate: £14,000,000-18,000,000) is one of Francis Bacon's finest single-panel works, distinguished by its luminous, dramatic palette. Bathed in radiant, glowing colour it offers a staggering image, rendered with striking contrasts of sculptural solidity and dissolving brushwork, drawing on influences from Michelangelo and Muybridge. The painting reflects the artist's newfound contentment during this period: the figure, aglow with life, spirals out of the darkness and into the light. Study for a Figure (circa 1945; estimate: £4,000,000-6,000,000) is a rare and historic work within the artist's oeuvre, and an extraordinary response to his seminal masterpiece Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion (1944, Tate, London), which caused a sensation when it was unveiled shortly before the end of the Second World War, announcing Bacon's arrival as an artist.
Works by Ben Nicholson and Barbara Hepworth represent important contributions to Modernism. Hand-carved from a single piece of wood, Nicholson's 1934 (relief) (estimate: £1,000,000-2,000,000) is an extremely rare example in the white reliefs series that cemented his international reputation. Hepworth's work on paper, The Hands and The Arm (1948; estimate: £150,000-250,000), one of what are now known as her Hospital Drawings, was created during the three years she spent sketching directly in operating theatres in London and the West Country.
Other important artists from the School of London, Frank Auerbach and Leon Kossoff, are also offered – Study of Primrose Hill (1973-1974; estimate: £2,000,000 - 3,000,000) is a joyful and dynamic painting of one of Auerbach's most beloved North London landscape subjects. Christ Church, Stormy Day, Summer (1994: estimate: £400,000-600,000) by Kossoff was included in his exhibition at the Venice Biennale in 1995, followed by his major retrospective at the Tate Gallery the following year.
Exceptional pieces by Joan Miró, Fernand Léger, Piet Mondrian and Pablo Picasso illustrate the influence of the European avant-garde that fuelled the cross-pollination with the British art scene during this era. Piet Mondrian's 1935 Composition A, with Double Line and Yellow (estimate: £8,000,000-12,000,000) exemplifies near-extreme minimalism, revealing the artist's Neo-Plastic search for perfection. In Joan Miró's 1925 Peinture (Les amants – Adam et Eve) (estimate: £7,000,000-10,000,000), an evocative moment between a pair of lovers unfolds against an expansive, loosely brushed ground, belonging to the artist's revolutionary series known as the dream paintings.
Fernand Léger and Pablo Picasso are also featured with different interpretations of the still-life: Léger's Le Siphon (estimate: £3,000,000-5,000,000) belongs to a rare and important group of Purist-inspired still lifes that he created in 1924, at a time when he was moving between his classically inspired, monumental figure scenes. Pablo Picasso's Crâne, lampe, poireaux, pichet (1945; estimate: £3,000,000-5,000,000), painted just days before Europe celebrated the end of the Second World War and last seen in a public exhibition over twenty-five years ago, also offers a multi-layered meditation on the same timeless subject.
Colour, Pattern and Form
Another significant theme throughout the Collection bears witness to Simon's love of colour, form and pattern, honed by hours spent reviewing prints with Monsoon's fashion and textile designers, and guided by an innate understanding of shades, textures and composition. Alighiero Boetti's Mappa, created in 1988 (estimate: £2,000,000-3,000,000), is an emblematic example of this: a vibrant work from the artist's celebrated Mappe (Maps) series, hand-sewn silk embroideries that depict the world's landmasses fragmented into nation-states, with flags filling their irregular outlines to create a melee of colour, pattern and symbol. They were produced in partnership with Afghan weavers who crafted the maps to Boetti's instructions.
With its blue and red arabesques dancing through bright white space, Untitled (1984; estimate: £4,500,000-6,500,000) is an elegant painting from Willem de Kooning's triumphant late period. A dazzling spectacle of wonder, Baroque Egg with Bow (Blue/Turquoise) (1994-2008; estimate: £1,500,000-2,000,000) is an icon of Jeff Koons's practice and a great example within his Celebration series. Spanning more than two metres in height, Diamond Dust Shoes (1980; estimate: £1,800,000-2,500,000) is a monumental work from Andy Warhol's spectacular series of the same name, in which the artist returned to the motif that had first propelled him to fame as a commercial illustrator in the 1950s, when he had been dubbed 'the Leonardo da Vinci of the shoe trade' by Women's Wear Daily. Bridget Riley's work is presented in the sales across three pivotal decades (the 1960s, 70s and 2010s): Streak 2 (1979, estimate: £3,500,000-5,500,000), formerly held in the Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection, boasts an exceptional exhibition history – it featured in major retrospectives at Tate Britain, London in 2003 and the National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh in 2019.
Crossing Frontiers
As Monsoon expanded worldwide, so did Simon's artistic horizons. At the start of the millennium, he began looking at contemporary art globally, supporting Latin American and African artists long before many British museums did. At the same time, he began collecting key British artists whose practice explores themes of travel and displacement. Together, these works demonstrate Simon's commitment to collecting art that interrogates themes of place, migration, memory and the natural world, uniting artists from diverse backgrounds and generations.
Hurvin Anderson's Last House (2013, estimate: £2,000,000-3,000,000) is a large-scale painting included in the artist's 2017 Turner Prize exhibition and his 2026 Tate retrospective. Despite its Caribbean appearance and tropical warmth, the work is based on the Palm House at Kew Gardens in London. Brazilian Beatriz Milhazes is represented by five pieces across the sales, including O mar (The sea) (1996, estimate: £700,000-1,000,000), an important early composition that draws on the vibrant visual language of Rio's coastline, Brazilian Baroque influences, and traditional craft techniques such as embroidery and crochet (included in her 2023 solo show at Turner Contemporary, Margate and Tate St. Ives). The Collection also features two major works by Cecily Brown: The Quarrel II (2013, estimate: £2,000,000 - 3,000,000), a dynamic depiction of figures in conflict, and The Wine Faced Sea (2016–17, £2,000,000-3,000,000), which evokes the mythic shipwrecks and “wine-dark sea” from Homer's epic poems. Further works by Michael Armitage, Glenn Ligon, and Portia Zvavahera enrich this thematic selection, exploring dreams, space, and time through the lens of memory and personal history.
Peter Simon, Founder of Monsoon: “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. I hope these works can thrill their new owners and enhance their lives in the way they have done for me.”
Joseph Braka, Specialist, Post War & Contemporary Art, Christie's: “The Peter Simon Collection is one of the finest and boldest collections ever assembled in the United Kingdom. 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. Stemming from an instinctive understanding of colour and line, honed by forming and running Monsoon since 1973, it stands as an emblem of Peter Simon's own journey: pioneering, borderless, vibrant and of the highest quality. The Collection shows us all that one does not have to be cornered into one genre, one period, one movement, one place. Christie's is honoured to present Monsoon: The Peter Simon Collection and celebrate its thirty-five years of groundbreaking vision.”
Katharine Arnold, Vice-Chairman 20/21, Christie's: “Peter Simon has built an extraordinary collection, unbridled by geography and time. It reflects many aspects of his own life, his travels around the world driven by curiosity and in search of inspiration. Exploring each picture, we discover something new about the artist who made it, and the time in which it was made. Within the modern chapter of the Collection, we encounter pivotal moments in history, the dreams of the 1920s that gave way to the realities of the 1940s. From the decades which follow, we find pictures that share an interest in how we see, how the eye works. Others that rejoice in pure rapturous colour and others still that question who we are, where we belong, and how we choose to live. Some look to the past, Old Masters and Classical Art in order to find answers to the future. The Collection contains some of the most exciting contemporary artists making work today. Where else do you see Hurvin Anderson, Cecily Brown and Glenn Ligon hanging alongside Miró, Léger and Mondrian. Peter has created one of the most dynamic and international collections of 20th and 21st Century art ever assembled in the UK. The collector is present everywhere, and it is a privilege to be sharing Peter Simon's ambition and vision with a new audience.”
Monsoon: The Peter Simon Collection will be presented in a special exhibition, open to all, taking over the galleries at Christie's London from 26 September to 1 October 2026. Please visit christies.com for more information and opening times.
MONSOON: THE PETER SIMON COLLECTION – AUCTION CALENDAR
• 14 October 2026 – Monsoon: The Peter Simon Collection Evening Sale
• 15 October 2026 – Monsoon: The Peter Simon Collection Day Sale
• 1–20 October 2026 – Monsoon: The Peter Simon Collection Online Sale
