In this, our most prestigious sale to date, we lead off with a monumental canvas by Andy Warhol, 14 Small Electric Chairs Reversal Series, one of only a handful of multiple Electric Chair canvases outside of museums and private institutions. At over two metres tall, with an intensity of colour and texture that is so unusual, and taking into account the perfect condition and freshness of the work to market, this is one of the more significant pieces by Warhol to come to auction in recent times.

In a separate catalogue we have a remarkable trio of oils by Frank Auerbach, particularly E.O.W. On Her Blue Eiderdown V, 1963, which has a depth of oil and variety of colour that has rarely, if ever, been seen before. The condition of the work is miraculous with each of the multitude of peaks still intact and with a wonderful freshness throughout the composition. This painting is from the artist's best period and has remained in the same private collection for fifty years. Alongside it is Head of a Man, 1948, executed a mere three years after the Second World War when the artist was just seventeen. This is the earliest work ever to come to auction by Frank Auerbach and was originally part of his first selling show. Finishing off the journey through the career of one of art history's greatest painters, we will sell the majestic The Studios II, 1995, depicting Auerbach's studios in North London, one of his best loved and recurring subjects. Unusually in this oil on board the scene has been executed in pastoral tones of yellow, green and blue, giving a bucolic feel to a wonderful composition replete with trademark flourishes and zigzags of paint.

Elsewhere we have the first sculpture ever to be offered at auction by the Gutai group master Kazuo Shiraga, Untitled (Red Fan) from 1965; this is his undoubted masterpiece and easily the most complex sculpture of its kind that he created in his long and distinguished career. It has been exhibited globally at a variety of museums over the past 50 years but remained in the same collection since 1966 so it is a great privilege to have the chance to show it at Bonhams. We also have an important metal textile from El Anatsui titled Peju's Robe, from 2006, a piece that the artist himself has gone on record to recognise as one of the very best he has produced.

At Bonhams, we are trying to establish a distinct voice that is not overly defined by prevailing activities elsewhere in the market. As such, we can focus on areas that have historically been undervalued and place them front and centre in our sales in the knowledge that, whilst what we are doing may not be obvious or easy, they showcase connoisseurship to our audience and make a case for collectors to broaden horizons. Female artists are emblematic of this dislocation of financial value against value in all its other definitions: many such artists have been hugely influential on generations who followed, they are in all the major museum and private collections yet first class examples from their best periods are often attainable in the broader context. We have decided to include a section devoted to female artists across five different mediums to explore this anomaly but also to highlight the sheer variety of material available to collectors. The top lot in this section is Cheval à Six Têtes, Grand, 1954-56, by the great French sculptor Germaine Richier. This is a large scale bronze and exhibits many of her characteristic traits in wonderful condition. It is no surprise that she is so frequently compared with Alberto Giacometti as they trained together in Paris in the 1920s under Antione Bourdelle, yet her highest price at auction is only 1% of his, which seems absurd on closer examination.

Each auction catalogue should read like a narrative, telling the story of art in the Post-War and Contemporary era. This is an intensely selective sale where we have attempted to focus on the very best from each particular artist. Be that the wonderfully delicate drawings of Wols, the pioneering combination of new material and technology in ZERO group artist Adolf Luther's Hohlspiegelobjekte or even the three vibrantly glazed ceramics of Lucio Fontana, each of which has remained in private hands since 1957. Elsewhere, we survey Italian Modernism through the works of Turi Simeti, Alighiero Boetti, Mario Schifano, Dadamaino and Giulio Paolini amongst others; we engage with the best of British contemporary with classic examples from Damien Hirst and Banksy and continue our association with the Gutai movement with works from Tsuyoshi Maekawa and Chiyu Uemae as well as a striking Bottle Crash canvas from Shozo Shimamoto.

Please come and join us at any time; the exhibition is on view through to 2pm on Thursday 11th February, selling at 4pm that day.