£150m art show that's all for sale

Christie's today launches a new gallery space in London with a £150 million public exhibition.

The gallery at the auctioneer's King Street headquarters is being inaugurated with a show including works by Paul Cézanne, Henri Matisse, Claude Monet, Andy Warhol and Pablo Picasso.

All are being exhibited prior to sale in New York next month. Together with other contemporary and 20th century work on show in its King Street and South Kensington galleries, Christie's is presenting an estimated £220 million worth of art this week. Jussi Pylkk‰nen-president of Christie's Europe, said they were continuing to invest to make sure they provided the best environment and service to their clients.

A revamped HQ and the new exhibition space "offer us the ideal location to present breathtaking works of art to international collectors and members of the public," he said. "We're the world's largest art business and we want to show art in a way that more people can see it.

"We sell more 20th century and contemporary art in London than we ever have before and we have to look like a business that wants to handle this material. London is a pivotal part of the global art market and has a vibrancy it's never had before."