Up close with Constable and Koons

If you happen to be in London with an hour or so to kill and have an eclectic taste in art you might want to make your way down to Christie's.

For the next day and a half the auction house is holding a free public exhibition showcasing the highlights of its forthcoming summer sale, which includes work by Rembrandt, Renoir, Picasso, Brueghel and Freud.

It is a chance to view Constable's magnificent The Lock (1824) before it is sold and perhaps never seen in public again. There are also decent works by Richter, Basquiat (an artist Tate inexplicably does not have in its collection), Bacon, Koons and Yves Klein. Plus some Chippendale furniture and a rare Bach manuscript.

And unlike museum shows there tends not to be ropes at the public viewings auction houses such as Sotheby's and Christie's put on so you can take a closer look.

Of course the prices are eye watering, but then so is some of the art. Have a look at the selection below:

The Lock by John Constable

Femme au chien by Pablo Picasso

Baroque Egg with Bow by Jeff Koons

Untitled by Jean-Michel Basquiat