Freud letters set to fetch up to $A84,000

TEN unpublished letters by British artist Lucian Freud to poet Stephen Spender are to be auctioned by Sotheby's in London next month.

LETTERS written by British artist Lucian Freud when he was a teenager to his friend, the poet and critic Stephen Spender, are expected to fetch more than $A83,000 at auction next month.

TEN unpublished letters which have emerged from the Spender family collection after 70 years will be offered at Sotheby's Contemporary Art Day auction on July 2 with a combined estimate of STG28,000-STG42,000 ($A55,966-$A83,949).