Spanning more than five centuries, from the 1500s to the present-day ICONS highlights how certain images transcend their era, capturing the public imagination and achieving a level of recognition that makes them instantly, universally recognisable. These works draw from the worlds of royalty, music, fashion, art history, and popular culture, each one a testament to the enduring power of visual storytelling.

This exciting sale features some of the biggest names in art, along with a special selection of works by highly sought-after printmakers. Highlights include American Pop pioneers such as Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, and Keith Haring, as well as early editions by David Hockney, spanning his formative years at the Royal College of Art to his transformative period working in Paris. Notable among these is Rue de Seine and Artist and Model, printed at the famed Atelier Crommelynck, where Pablo Picasso also practiced.

The auction also includes several iconic signed impressions by Banksy, among them Christ with Shopping Bags, Jack & Jill, and NOLA (A/P), the latter, a striking image first unveiled on the streets of New Orleans in 2008. The image of a young girl being drenched by rain that falls from the interior of her own umbrella operates as a powerful metaphor for the tragic aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Here, the umbrella, ordinarily a symbol of shelter counters its function.

Also featured prominently throughout the sale are editions by giant of the American Pop movement, Andy Warhol, including the After the Party, Ladies and Gentlemen and Mao. The Mao portraits by Andy Warhol, were born from the artist’s fascination with fame and mass imagery.

Inspired by President Nixon’s 1972 visit to China and by Mao’s omnipresent propagandistic likeness, Warhol reimagined one of the 20th century’s most reproduced images through the electrifying colour and repetition that define his practice. As Warhol famously said, “Pop art is for everyone”—a spirit that resonates throughout his oeuvre.

Another standout is Pablo Picasso’s ceramic Femme du barbu, in which a stylized female face emerges from the front of a pitcher, framed by sweeping lines that accentuate the vessel’s rounded form. Drawing on ancient Mediterranean ceramic traditions, Picasso blended classical influences with his bold modern sensibility, creating works that feel at once timeless and distinctly his own. The sale also includes an impressive group of additional ceramics by the prolific artist, including Tête peinte, Motifs no. 7, Tête de chèvre de profil among other notable works.

"Drawing on ancient Mediterranean ceramic traditions, Picasso blended classical influences with his bold modern sensibility..."

Hockney’s admiration for Picasso began during his years at the Royal College of Art and has remained a guiding force throughout his career. In this print, Picasso sits in his iconic striped shirt examining a sheet of paper, while a nude Hockney sits opposite him, observant, vulnerable, and reverent. The work captures Hockney’s ongoing dialogue with the legacy of the modern master who profoundly shaped his artistic outlook.

Taken together, the works in ICONS form a sweeping narrative of artistic innovation and cultural impact. They are images that have become part of our visual lexicon shaping collective memory and embedding themselves within the broader cultural fabric.

Regardless of the era in which they were created, their remarkable recognisability gives them a transcendent quality, allowing them to surpass stylistic boundaries and historical contexts. It is this capacity to speak across time, to captivate audiences both past and present, that elevates these works to the status of icons.