Art Market Magazine - Visit zone

Transcription

Art Market Magazine - Visit zone
NUMBER 38
ANNALISA
AVANCINI
VISAGES DE LUMIÈRE
EXHIBITION 2014
From
the 5th of September
To
the 27th of September
Tuesday to Saturday
2 p.m. / 7 p.m.
PRINCE & PRINCESS ART GALLERY
96 rue de Grenelle, 75007, Paris
prince-and-princess-art-gallery.com
+336 45 29 24 93
PREPARE FOR
THE UNEXPECTED
DROUOT PREAPRE
FORFOR
THETHE
UNEXPECTED
PREAPRE
UNEXPECTED
9, rue Drouot 75009 Paris | +33 (0)1 48 00 20 20 | www.drouot.com
THE INTERNATIONAL FAIR FOR OLD MASTER PAINTINGS
13-16 November 2014
Palais Brongniart, Paris
From 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Closed at 6.30 p.m. on Sunday 16 November
E VENTS
Three collections, a single passion
Masterpieces of the Centraal Museum Utrecht,
the P & N de Boer Foundation and AXA Art
Utrecht and the International
Caravaggesque Movement
Symposium on Thursday 13 November
www.paristableau.com
contents
ART MARKET - MAGAZINE
22
UPCOMING
While the capital takes its summer
break, auctions wend their way to the
seaside. Monaco stages its traditional
jewellery, vintage and
modern/contemporary art sales, and
Deauville a number of events focusing
on the horse.
100 EVENT
The Louvre is thinking big. With its new spaces dedicated to art
from Louis XIV to Marie-Antoinette, the Parisian Museum
provides a lesson on style, paying splendid homage to the
French way of life and expertise.
58
RESULTS
Asian week produced some substantial results, particularly
with Chinese objects; also some excellent bids for ethnic and
contemporary art.
88
EXHIBITIONS
At Blanche’s home in Giverny. After the studio
and bedroom of Claude Monet, the set designer Hubert Le Gall has just redecorated that
of the “Blue Angel”. Let’s take a tour.
94
TRENDS
To mark the exhibition at the
Petit Palais, “Paris 1900: The City
of Entertainment”, the Gazette
Drouot looks at some of the
keepsakes from the City of Light
that whet collectors' appetites…
104 MUSEUM
The Musée du Quai Branly is exploring the world
of tattooing, highlighting its artistic aspect with
over 300 historical and contemporary works from
all over the world.
EVENT © 2014 Musée du Louvre, dist. RMN-GP / Olivier Ouadah - EXHIBITIONS © Fondation Claude Monet, Giverny - TRENDS © Paris, Petit Palais / Roger-Viollet
MUSEUM © musée du quai Branly, Thomas Duval
EDITOrIal
A word of advice: if numbers are not really your thing, skip this
page, just for once… As June is traditionally the month for
publishing the 2013 activity report of auction sales in France,
we can't avoid a short maths lesson – applied maths, of course!
Good news for the sector: the global market rose in 2013 by
3.4%, with global auction sales of €25.4 billion. The top players'
DR
list was unchanged: China, despite a drop of 6% and a large
proportion of unpaid sales, was in the lead – on paper, at least –,
followed by the US, the UK and France. Fourth, then, in global
terms, but second in terms of sales volumes, France was
Stéphanie Perris-Delmas
EDITORIAL MANAGER
acclaimed for its "diversity and high-quality offering". If you need
convincing, just take a look through this month's results, which
post excellent bids for both Chinese objects (over €20 million
for the Paris Asian week alone), and tribal, contemporary and
modern art. Europe is thus looking a little healthier, and for
once, in terms of the economy, it's partly due to France…
Editorial Director Olivier Lange I Editor-in-chief Gilles-François Picard I Editorial Manager Stéphanie Perris-Delmas ([email protected]) I Distribution Director Dominique Videment
Graphic Design Sébastien Courau I Layout-artist Nadège Zeglil ([email protected]) I Sales Department Karine Saison([email protected]) I Internet Manager Christopher Pourtalé
Realization Webpublication I The following have participated in this issue: Sylvain Alliod, Anne Doridou-Heim, Anne Foster, Chantal Humbert, Caroline Legrand, Xavier Narbaïts, Anna Stephens, Sophie Reyssat I Translation and
proofreading: 4T Traduction & Interprétariat, a Telelingua Company 93181 Montreuil. I La Gazette Drouot - 10, rue du Faubourg-Montmartre, 75009 Paris, France. Tél. : +33 (0)1 47 70 93 00 - [email protected].
This issue of La Gazette Drouot is a publication of @uctionspress. All rights reserved. It is forbidden to place any of the information, advertisements or comments contained in this issue on a network or to reproduce same in any form, in
whole or in part, without the prior consent of @uctionspress. © ADAGP, Paris 2014, for the works of its members.
PRICES INCLUDE BUYER’S PREMIUM
THE LEADING
INTERNATIONAL
TRIBAL ART FAIR
2O14
PARCOURS DES MONDES
PARIS, SAINT-GERMAIN-DES-PRÉS
9 - 14 SEPTEMBER
Over 60 of the world’s most
respected dealers reunite in Paris
for the 13th edition of the most
important event of its kind
W W W . P A R C O U R S - D E S - M O N D E S . C O M
GAZETTE DROUOT
INTERNATIONAL
ALSO IN
MANDARIN
WW W. GA ZE TT E-I NT ER NA
TIO NA L.C N
The global art
market: key figures
In France, the Conseil des Ventes (Voluntary Sales Council) publishes its activity report in June.
For the fifth year running, it provided an international analysis of the auction market.
Here are the key figures for 2013.
France's position in the European
art market ranking: after London
and ahead of Switzerland and
Germany.
Five cities dominate the market in terms of sales
proceeds: New York (€4.171 M), Beijing (€3.735
M), London (€2.771 M), Hong Kong (€1.643 M)
and Paris (€1.095 M).
No.2
+5,5%
The growth of
sales proceeds in
Europe
14,1%
The growth of the American market, with Canada posting a rise of
20.1%.
12
The growth of auction
sales in India.
5
The drop in sales
proceeds registered in 2013 by the
Chinese market.
Poly International
Auction remains
China's leading
auction house.
+10%
The growth rate of the global art market in
the "Arts and Objects" sector in 2013.
+3,4%
-6%
€7.3M. Japan, circa 1640. Chest belonging to Cardinal Mazarin,
Japanese cedar with golden lacquer decorations on a black
background depicting scenes from the Tale of Genji,
63.8 x 144.5 x 11.5 cm. Giverny, 9 and 10 June, Rouillac SVV.
4
The number of
leading countries in
the art market. In
descending order,
these are China, the
USA, the UK and
France, which lies in
second place in
terms of sales
volumes.
600,000
The number of lots
knocked down each
year at Drouot.
The proportion of global business volume accounted for by
the top 20 auction houses.
60%
France's growth rate in the "Art and
Collectors' Objects" sector. Paris
accounts for 69.4% of the total amount
of auction sales. Drouot remains the top
auction site in France, with total
hammer prices (excluding buyer's
premiums) of €331 M, followed by
Sotheby's (€157 M), Christie's (€148 M),
and Artcurial (€137 M).
+4,1%
13
news In brIef
Acquisition for the Musée du Louvre
The Louvre has just made a new acquisition through a private sale
held at Sotheby’s: a pair of "pots-à-oille" (tureens) engraved with
the coat of arms of Horace Walpole, ambassador of England in France
from 1723 to 1730, made by Nicolas Besnier, silversmith to Louis XV.
They can soon be seen in its new rooms dedicated to Objets d’art.
14
Pierr e GUEN
EGAN
Long awaited by enthusiasts, volume 5 of the catalogue raisonné
of Serge Charchoune's paintings is out at last! Published by
Lanwell & Leeds Ltd in French, English and Russian, it retraces
the last years of his life: the period of his imposing monochromes, his obsession with water, which took him to the Galapagos Islands, his major exhibitions and his international recognition. As well as his painting, we discover another side to the
artist: his work as a writer, described by his friend René Guerra,
professor of Russian Literature at the Sorbonne, and elucidated
by hitherto unpublished documents.
www.pierre-guenegan.com
5 CHARCH
OU
61
75
catalogue rais
onné 1961 1975
%$#$"! !#$
!
$$$
$"!
!
Texte de René
Guerra
NE
OUNE
Charchoune, 1961-1975
Pier re GUE NEG
AN
W
Lanwell&Leeds Ltd
PUBLISHERS
OF
FINE
ART
BOOKS
A R T S
C
U
L
T
U
R
E
S
A MYSTERIOUS
CREST
From one civilisation to another
Thutmose: The Creator of the Bust of Nefertiti
The Lord of Ucupe: A Royal Mochica Tomb
Wayang Kulit: Indonesian Shadow Play
The Shaman’s Drums of Northern Nepal
A N T I Q U I T Y
.
A F R I C A
.
O C E A N I A
.
A S I A
.
A M E R I C A S
2014
Arts & cultures is the magazine published by the
Friends' Association of the Barbier-Mueller Museum in
Geneva, dedicated to the arts of Antiquity, Africa,
Oceania, Asia and the Americas. Available in French
and English, each year it brings together a wide selection of objects and subjects examined in detail by
specialists. Richly illustrated, this publication invites the
reader to travel the world and open up their horizons.
Arts & cultures, edited by Laurence Mattet, 23 x 30 cm,
242 pp., was published by Somogy in 2014. Price: CHF40.
15
11th - 21st September 2014, Grand Palais, Paris
NEWS IN BRIEF / GAZETTE DROUOT INTERNATIONAL
An Englishman
in Paris
Martin Roth, the director
of the Victoria and Albert
Museum, was recently elected
to the Board of Directors of
the Paris Musée des Arts Décoratifs, confirming its openness
to the international stage.
“Paris 1900” App
To accompany the exhibition, the “Paris
1900” mobile app is available for free on
the App Store and Google Play, with a
version in English. The user can learn
about Paris at the start of the 20th century,
and can access interviews with curators,
slideshows, audio and written commentaries on works – both those in the exhibition and relevant exhibits in the museum’s
permanent collections.
30,000
This is the number of visitors who have already flocked to the Musée Soulages in Rodez since it opened on
1 June. A success with the public that is sure to continue well into the future.
www.musee-soulages.grand-rodez.com
W
18
GAZETTE DROUOT INTERNATIONAL / NEWS IN BRIEF
The Navy on the net
Since 1 June, more than 1,300 iconic works from the Musée de la Marine have
been available to view on the museum's website. Other works will gradually be
added to this virtual tool, including pieces too fragile to be shown regularly to
the public. A number of themes will also be developed in depth through
virtual exhibitions. You can take a look on www.musee-marine.fr.
© Musée national de la Marine/A.Fux
W
19
In late breaking
news...
12 July at Château du Rouvray
(France), Artime enchères
>
Italy, 19th century, “Tarquin imploré par
Lucrèce”, marble sculpture in the round,
209 x 127 x 145 cm.
Estimate: €140,000/160,000.
2-3 July in London
Phillips
Andy Warhol
“Self-Portrait”, 1986
Estimate: £2.5-3.5M.
9 July in Paris
Wapler Wica
>
China, Yongzheng Era
(1723-1735), Ewer
(huajiao) in porcelain,
with blue underglaze
decoration on the
belly of a row of lotus
flowers. On reverse of
the base, the sixcharacter mark in
Zhuanshu of
Yongzheng, H. 27 cm.
Estimate:
€40,000/60,000.
UPCOMING
17 July in Deauville, Claude Aguttes
>
Chaumet, Necklace made of a lattice of golden-yellow threads
studded with diamonds, signed and in its original case, 104.8 gr.
Estimate: €35,000/40,000.
RESULTS
€142,600
Albert Marquet
(1875 - 1947), "Paris,
quais des Grands
Augustins", around
1914, oil on canvas,
signed, 60 x 73 cm.
Paris, 25 June,
Thierry de Maigret
auction house.
€620,540
Zao Wou-Ki (1921-2013),
"25.08.74", oil on canvas,
60 x 81 cm.
Paris, 25 June, Piasa
auction house.
£13,970,500
Kurt Schwitters (1887-1948), Ja - Was? – Bild,
executed in 1920, oil, paper, corrugated card,
cardboard, fabric, wood and nails on board;
in the artist's frame, 109.2 x 80 cm.
London, 24 June, Christie's auction house.
€204,000
Le Phô (1907-2001),
"Le thé", gouache on
silk, mounted on
cardboard, signed
with a stamp lower
right, 71 x 54.5 cm.
Paris, 25 June,
Claude Aguttes SVV.
€262,500
François Boucher (1703-1770), "Jeu d'enfants ou l'Automne",
oil on canvas, 87 x 136 cm. Paris, 25 June, Ader auction house.
21
UPcoMInG
aUctIons
W
MOTORCARS
Saturday 11th October 2014 - Espace Cardin - Paris 8
REGISTRATIONS
OPEN
1996, ASTON MARTIN V8 Sportsman Estate Car
Chassis n° 79 007.
One of only two examples built
300 000 / 400 000 € - 400,000 / 550,000 $ - 240,000 / 320,000 £
FOR INFORMATIONS, PLEASE CONTACT:
Head of department: Olivier de Lapeyriere – Tel : +33 6 99 28 45 26 – [email protected]
Specialist : Nicolas Philippe – Tel.: +33 6 09 41 04 81 – [email protected]
CORNETTE de SAINT CYR – 46, avenue Kléber, 75116 Paris – Tel.: +33 1 47 27 11 24 – Agrément n° 2002-364
Catalogs online: www.cornette-saintcyr.com
GAZETTE DROUOT INTERNATIONAL / UPCOMING AUCTIONS
France
3
HD
>
A date with history
The Briscadieu auction house in Bordeaux will shortly travel back in time to replay the destiny of
France… Louis XVI has just been executed, on 21 January 1793. The dead king's brother – the selfproclaimed regent, as the dauphin imprisoned in the Temple is a boy of barely 10 – takes up his
pen to exhort the French to return to the former constitution. In his defense of the monarchy, the
future Louis XVIII dwells on the disappointed hopes of the Revolution, and appeals to the feelings
of the people, while encouraging partisans of the monarchy to restore the King to the throne. This
historical manuscript (€5,000) is the chief attraction of the documents up for sale alongside
various books. These include two key items: a German illustrated Bible of 1648 printed for the
Duke of Saxe by Gerhard & Glass (€7,000), and "Voyage autour du monde de Freycinet", published
between 1824 and 1826 (€6,000).
Sophie Reyssat
25
HD
>
1961 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Roadster
with hardtop.
Estimate: €1.1/1.2 M.
26
GAZETTE DROUOT INTERNATIONAL / UPCOMING AUCTIONS
Sale at the 24
Hours of Le Mans
For this sale, the Paris auction house Artcurial has a
date at the legendary circuit of the 24 Hours of
Le Mans, which first took place in 1923. Incidentally,
the seventh edition of the Le Mans Classic on 4, 5 and
6 July will be paying tribute to its long history, when
nearly 500 vintage cars that competed in the
24 Hours of Le Mans between 1923 and 1979 will be
lining up for a race where Sébastien Loeb, French
Rally champion, gives the signal. Meanwhile, this sale
on 5 July starts at 11 a.m. with lots containing automobilia, and continues at 2 p.m. with collectors' cars.
The first part will be taken up by posters, lithographs,
drawings, paintings, miniatures and other accessories
(between €100 and €50,000). After that, we move
onto 113 luxury and sports cars, with estimates
ranging from €4,000 to €1.7 M, by brands including
Jaguar, Porsche, Fiat, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Mercedes,
Renault, Aston Martin, Alfa Romeo, Maserati and
Lancia. Sports cars are in pole position, like a 1973
Porsche 911 Carrera RS 2.7L, with 77,500 km on the
5
clock, expected to make €400,000/500,000, and a
1972 Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona, Group 4 transformation: the only Daytona with a competition record in
Asia at the time, at €800,000/1 M. This comes from the
private collection of a Mercedes-Benz dealer in the
Netherlands. For those who prefer the road to the
racetrack, a 1961 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Roadster
with hardtop – the second car produced with the
revolutionary safety disc brakes – should speed off for
€1.1/1.2 M. But the star of this race is an AC Cobra 289
MK II model, which finished in 18th place at the 1964
24 Hours of Le Mans, and thus qualified for the
Le Mans Classic. This legendary car should go for
around €1.3/1.7M. A guaranteed win! Caroline Legrand
27
UPCOMING AUCTIONS / GAZETTE DROUOT INTERNATIONAL
Art and
substance
6
What do suns, ferns and a woman's face have in
common? The way the material is worked for the
purposes of abstraction and contemporary art, in
various pieces appearing at Versailles (Versailles
Enchères). Starting in the Twenties, the forerunner of
Informal art, Jean Fautrier, covered his mounted papers
with a thick paste worked in a suggestive manner, to
which he added plaster or coatings. Dug out or scored
with horizontal lines and elliptical traces, the material of
his "Soleils", placed in the middle of a pale sky, moves
from shaded pinks to the mauve colour of night. You
should expect to pay €250,000/300,000 for this mental
landscape painted in 1956 in oil on paper mounted on
canvas. Exactly 50 years later, Anselm Kiefer, haunted as
ever by forests with Wagnerian tones, produced his own
vision of nature with "Geheimnis der Farne" – the "Secret
of the Ferns". Real blanched leaves with a ghostly aspect
28
have been petrified in a composition uninhibitedly
mingling oil, acrylic, lacquer and plaster. Brambles also
grow on this cracked, sterile-looking ash- and sandcoloured earth. Contrasting with this land of anguish,
innocent dolls' clothes of an immaculate white flutter
away: a metaphor for hope. Very little is needed to revive
life, like a few drops of water: the secret of the longevity
of ferns… (€500,000/600,000). Martial Raysse has a more
direct approach. At the crossroads of New Realism and
Pop Art, he stages the consumer society, adopting the
models of the Sixties as an emblem. In his 1963 work
entitled "Verte", the woman is reduced to the silhouette
of her xerographed face. The identity of the pinup is obliterated behind her standardised attributes: a spectacle
lens glued to one eye, a powderpuff to the other, and
curvaceous lips (€300,000/400,000). The era of the
woman-object has arrived…
Sophie Reyssat
HD
>
Martial Raysse, "Verte",
1963, oil on collage,
xerography, half of a pair
of sunglasses and powder
puff on canvas, signed,
titled and dated on back
of canvas, 33 x 22.5 cm.
Estimation:
€300,000/400,000.
29
B I D AT W W W. D R O U O T L I V E . C O M
FREE SERVICE AND WITHOUT EXTRA FEES
BID AT DROUOT ANYWHERE !
THIERRY - LANNON & Associés
www.thierry-lannon.com
Saturday 19 July at 2.30 pm
À l’Hôtel des Ventes, 26 rue du Château, 29200 Brest
" PONT-AVEN AND LES ÉCOLES BRETONNES "
MODERN AND CONTEMPORARY PAINTINGS
204
207
218
117
Including works by:
AUBURTIN, BARNOIN,
BERNARD, BISSIERE,
COTTET, CALVÉ,
DELLEPIANE, DUBOIS
PILLET, de BELAY, DESIRÉ
LUCAS, DEYROLLE,
DILASSER, FLOCH,
GUERIN, HARTUNG,
JOURDAN, LE SCOUEZEC,
MÉHEUT, MIRO, RANSON,
Henri ROUSSEAU,
SCHUFFENECKER,
SERUSIER, SIMON,
TOFFOLI, VAN DONGEN…
153
204. Hans HARTUNG (1904-1989): "Composition P1967-128", mixed media on cardboard, signed on lower right, 72 x 49 (*) - 207. Émile JOURDAN (1860-1931): "Place du
marché à Pont Aven, effet de lumière", oil on canvas, signed on lower right, 54 x 81 cm - 218. André LHOTE (1885-1962): "Paysage cubiste", oil on canvas, signed on upper right,
on the back: canvas bought on Rue Boulard at André LHOTE’s in 46 (canvas signed with his pen), 38 x 46 cm (*) - 117. Mathurin MÉHEUT (1882-1958): "Le Homard", with
monogram on lower right, with the rare marine painter monogram (1921) moisture, 39 x 49 cm - 153. Émile BERNARD (1868-1941): "Trois baigneuses", oil on paper marouflage
panel. Ref. catalogue raisonné Jean-Jacques Luthi n° 263 p. 43, circa 1890, 48 x 60 cm.
(* for lots 168-204-218, expert : Cabinet SCHOELLER, 15 rue Drouot, 75009 Paris - Tel. : + 33 1 47 70 15 22)
PUBLIC VIEWING:
THURSDAY 17 JULY from 3pm to 7pm, FRIDAY 18 JULY from 10am to 12pm
and from 2pm to 7pm, SATURDAY 19 JULY from 9am to 10.30am
E-mail: [email protected]
Société de Ventes aux Enchères Publiques / authorisation code 2001/18
Me Philippe LANNON – Me Gilles GRANNEC Skilled auctioneers
26 rue du Château – CS 32815 – 29228 BREST Cedex 2 - Tel. + 33 (2) 98 44 78 44 – Fax + 33 (2) 98 44 80 20
CATALOGUE can be seen online at
www.thierry-lannon.com
Dupont
Commissaires Priseurs Associés
Morlaix
Monday, August 4th and Tuesday, August 5th 2014
Auction Sale « Prestige »
Estimation : 40.000/60.000 €
Darwin (Charles).
On the Origin
g of Sppecies by
by Means of
l
h Preservation
Natural Selection,
or the
of Favvour
o ed Races in the Struggle for
Life.
London, John Murrayy, 1859.
First edition.
8vo, ix-502, 32pp (publisher’s advertisements, dated June 1859) - folding plate
facing page 117. Original publisher’s
blindstamped green cloth, backstrip lettered and decorated in gilt.
On front flyleaf : embossing stamp of S.
Barbet Jr, 25 High Street, Guernsey
nseyy.
That first edition of 1250 copies was sold
on the day of publication (november
24th).
In The Origin of Species, the reference
work on evolution, Darwin argued that
That precious copy is enriched with
press clippings from The Spectator issue
1860, stuck on front and
dated Ap
pril 7th 1860
rear pastdowns. Sent to the newspaper’s
office by the Archbishop of Dublin, these
objections to Darwin’s theory are in all
likehood from Adam Sedgwick.
with no wear to the
> An excellent copyy, w
cloth as is so often the case. Only very
occasional small foxmarks : amazing
condition.
Dibnerr, 199 / Freemann, 373 / Gaarrison and
Mor
o ton,220
Grolier-H
Horblit,23b
o
/ Nor
o man Librraarry I, 594 /
Printing and the Mind
i of Maan,344bb.
R
Registration
egistration for bidding online
E
Expert
xpert : M. P
Philippe
hilippe F
Farré
arré - 06 03 51 79 44
François DUPONT
DUPONT
living species have a common origin,
and that evolution is governed by the
mechanism of natural selection.
Sandrine DU
DUPONT
PONT DE P
PASCALI
ASCALI
37, rue de Paris - 29600 M
MORLAIX
ORLAIX - Tél.
Tél. 02 98 88 08 39 - Fax 02 98 88 15 82
e-mail : [email protected]
Commissaires Priseurs Associés - Société de Vente Volontaire de meubles aux enchères publiques - Agrément n° 2002-117
Alcohol abuse is dangerous for health, consume in moderation ?
WINES AND SPIRITS
FRIDAY 22nd AUGUST 2014 – 2.00 pm
Salle La Grange
Contact :
Agnès Filloleau
+33 (0)2 31 81 81 09
[email protected]
FINE JEWELLERY AND WATCHES
saturday 23rd august 2014
2.00 pm and 5.00 pm, salle Kergorlay
Contact :
Anne LEPEUDRY
+33 (0)2 31 81 81 00
éTABLISSEMENT ÉLIE DE BRIGNAC
[email protected]
logos vente en ligne_Mise en page 1 02/07/14 14:53 Page1
31, AVENUE FLORIAN DE KERGORLAY
F-14800 DEAUVILLE (France) – Tel. 33 (0)2 31 81 81 00
Auctions after Arqana August yearlings sales
www.lefigaro.fr/encheres
www.artcurial-deauville.com
www.drouotlive.com
ARQANA ARTCURIAL DEAUVILLE – FRANCE
32, avenue Hocquart de Turtot 14800 Deauville
Tél. +33 (0)2 31 81 81 00 | Fax +33 (0)2 31 81 81 01
[email protected] | www.artcurial-deauville.com
O.V.V. 2007-613
CATALOGS AND
ON-LINE SALES
HD
>
Attributed to Jacopo Ligozzi (15471627), "Barbary Moor with a giraffe".
One of four temperas, 40 x 28 cm.
Estimate: €80,000.
GAZETTE DROUOT INTERNATIONAL / UPCOMING AUCTIONS
Attributed to
Jacopo Ligozzi
6
When the Verona-born artist Jacopo Ligozzi was
summoned to Francesco de Medici's court in 1577, the
vogue for "things Turkish" and Oriental luxury was
spreading through the publication of illustrated
volumes. In the early years of the Renaissance, scientific
knowledge was also in the limelight, and princely
courts created botanical gardens full of rare species
imported from all over the world, and set up menageries. One particular event impressed the Florentines:
the arrival of a giraffe, a diplomatic gift to Lorenzo the
Magnificent. It did not live very long on the banks of
the Arno – according to one chronicler, only 13 months
and 22 days. Meanwhile, Ligozzi took inspiration from
the illustrations in Nicolas de Nicolay's "Navigations
pérégrinations et voyages faits en la Turquie" which
appeared in 1568 (the Italian edition was published in
Venice in 1580). Various figures of the Ottoman court
are nearly always associated with an animal, as with the
"Barbary Moor with a giraffe" (see photo). This tempera,
from a set of four attributed to Ligozzi, is part of the
Prunier auction house's summer sale in Louviers: an
event that features various specialities, including
Medieval and Renaissance furniture and objects,
Prunier's strong point.
Anne Foster
35
UPCOMING AUCTIONS / GAZETTE DROUOT INTERNATIONAL
César, Lalanne
on La Croisette
13
15
Cannes in summer means sunshine, the bay, the old port,
and the luxurious Majestic, but for art-loving collectors
it also provides a chance to treat themselves to a few
status symbols in the form of objets d'art. For example,
the Cannes Besch auction house is staging its customary
summer sales with a wide range of specialities including
great vintage wines, jewellery and Asian arts. The Cannes
programme is dominated by two prestige sales on 13
July and 15 August. Various contemporary figures from
France's Midi region will be taking centre stage, like
Martial Raysse, currently on show at the Centre
Pompidou in Paris, whose "France Bleue" will be up for
sale on 13 July: a screen-print from an edition of 300
made in 1963 for the "Hommage à Yves Klein" issue of the
review KWY, edited by the artist Christo (€6,000/8,000).
There are some equally colourful works from 2012 by
Claude Gilli, in a Pop mood typical of the artist (€3,000 to
36
6,000). However, the star of this first sale is a metal piece
compression, a unique work by César (€35,000/50,000)
acquired in the Eighties from the Ferrero Gallery, a specialist in artists of the Nice school and the New Realists
– a group who exhibited with the unclassifiable
Lalannes… Two sculptures by François Xavier dominate
the sale on 15 August. These cows, the most sought after
subjects in the artist's bestiary, are highly popular with
international collectors. The two Lalannes' creations were
thrust into the limelight through their exhibition at the
Paris Musée des Arts Décoratifs in 2010, and a year before
that, the sale of the Saint Laurent & Berger collection. The
Cannes auction house, which had already registered
some substantial bids in April 2012, has now herded
together two "transhumant sheep" in epoxy stone and
bronze from a private collection. Will the grass be even
greener this year?
Stéphanie Perris-Delmas
HD
>
>
François-Xavier Lalanne (1927-2008),
Moutons Transhumants, Epoxystone and
bronze signed with initials, numbered,
"FXL19/250" and "FXL23/250", marked
with the Lalanne stamp behind
the head, 90 x 104 x 39 cm.
Estimate: €80,000/120,000 (each)
37
UPCOMING AUCTIONS / GAZETTE DROUOT INTERNATIONAL
19
HD
>
An unseen work by Le Douanier Rousseau
This sale of modern and contemporary paintings, particularly by artists of the Pont-Aven and Brittany schools, is being
staged in Brest by Thierry-Lannon & Associés, and looks set to create a buzz with this painting by Le Douanier Rousseau,
"L'Attaque des ours" (The Attack of the Bears), making its first appearance on the market. Lacking the naive style typical
of the painter, the composition has all the intensity of hunting scenes by the great classic painters, with its bodies intermingled in the struggle, horse straining under the bit, fallen hunter and leaping, wounded predator. A subject that
Delacroix might have fancied! Rousseau made many copies of paintings, particularly at the Louvre, and took inspiration
from the great masters to paint this small early work in around 1880. It comes from a Brittany collection. Visibly defending their young, this pair of bears, unusual in the painter's bestiary, are sure to cause a stir.
Sophie Reyssat
38
HD
>
Charles Darwin (1809-1882), "On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection,
or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life", London, John Murray,
1859, First edition, 8 vo, ix-502, 32pp (publisher’s advertisements, dated June 1859) folding plate facing page 117. Original publisher’s blindstamped green cloth, backstrip
lettered and decorated in gilt. Estimate: €40,000/60,000.
40
GAZETTE DROUOT INTERNATIONAL / UPCOMING AUCTIONS
Darwin's Origin
of Species
The natural sciences are a marvellous area, whose
products nourish the fine arts and philosophical thinking alike. In a sale at Morlaix (Dupont Morlaix
Enchères auction house), diamonds from the centre of
the earth are glorified in jewellery including a "toi et
moi" ring with two "demi-taille" diamonds, weighing
6.92 and 6.68 cts respectively; colour: L; clarity: SI1 with
one, VS1 with the other (€70,000/90,000). From the
marine world come fine pearls, whose origin lies in
ordinary grains of sand covered by the mother-of-pearl
produced in oysters. Jewellers of every period have
admired their deep yet translucent lustre. Van Cleef &
Arpels has brought together 89 of them, with diameters varying from 3.1 to 7.6 mm, in a necklace with a
clasp set with baguette-cut diamonds (€3,500/4,500).
Many of nature's works were studied for many years,
but it took until the end of the 18th century for new
observations to spawn a revolutionary theory on the
evolution of the earth and its species: Darwinism.
Charles Darwin was a well-known naturalist who
studied botany, zoology and geology. In 1831, he set
4
off on board The Beagle as an unpaid naturalist with
the expedition led by Robert FitzRoy to study the coast
of South America. This voyage lasted five years, twothirds of which he spent on land, gathering botanical,
geological and fossil specimens, and above all observing – particularly in the Galapagos Islands, whose
varied species of mockingbirds and chaffinches,
among others, fed his ponderings on evolution. On
his return, he spent several decades noting his
thoughts in notebooks, which were the basis of his
book “The Origin of Species”, published in London on
24 November 1859. A genuine commercial success,
as the 1,250 copies sold out the same day! One of
them features in this sale, with an estimate of
€40,000/60,000.
Anne Foster
41
UPCOMING AUCTIONS / GAZETTE DROUOT INTERNATIONAL
The horse in art
30
Deauville is well-known for its love of horses. Enthusiasts coming for the World Equestrian Games, the
horseracing Grand Prix and the Lucien Barrière Polo
Cup are sure to flock to the City Hall, the setting for an
auction devoted to the equestrian world in the form of
drawings, paintings, photographs, objets d'art and
curiosities (Orne Enchères and Daguerre auction
houses). Théodore Géricault is one of the stars of this
dispersion. A proud and elegant dappled horse with a
lively eye will perform its dressage figures for around
€120,000, while some €55,000 will be needed to
soothe a beast terrified by the “Battle of Abukir”, whose
monumental head is taken from the painting by Baron
Gros. A similar estimate is announced for the waterco-
42
lour drawing of a horse champing at the bit in the
stable. No equestrian sport will be overlooked – as
witness the jumping competition in the "Concours
hippique organised in Paris at the alais de l'industrie",
immortalised by Émile Meyer in 1886 (€10,000/15,000).
Other striking works are a seaside ride by the Bordeaux
artist John-Lewis Brown, and a lesson in female
elegance by Alfred de Dreux. A pupil of Géricault, the
latter was famous for his magnificent animal paintings,
including an equestrian portrait of the Duc d'Orléans.
Here he focuses on an enchanting lady rider in a yellow
jacket, whose refined elegance goes as far as to match
her costume (hat and necklace) with the jet black hide
of her horse!
Sophie Reyssat
HD
>
Alfred de Dreux (1810 - 1860),
"Amazone au caraco jaune",
oil on canvas, signed
on the bottom right,
71 x 58.5 cm.
Estimate: 60,000/80,000.
43
Independent higher education
establishment Drouot Formation offers
a professional degree course.
DROUOT
FORMATION
At the same time, many lectures,
workshops, evening classes and tours
of the auction house are organised
all year round.
www.drouot-formation.com
ACADEMY OF
THE ART MARKET
DROUOT FORMATION
12, rue Drouot 75009 Paris | +33 (0)1 48 00 22 54 | www.drouot.com
-Ê1
/"
CANNES ­ GRAND HYATT MARTINEZ ­ 73, boulevard de la Croisette
DELUXE SALES 12 TO 14 JULY ­ 14 TO 17 AUGUST
VACHERON CONSTANTIN
Automatic wristwatch,
Perpetual Calendar, model for
men, 18 ct gold
Reference N°43031/000J
Clockwork N°733195
Box N°611657
With papers, service manual,
instructions, case
12 000/15 000€
Sale 14 July
Crédit photo: BESCH
CÉSAR (known as César Baldaccini)
(1921­1998), Compression of metallic
pieces, unique and signed work,
60 x 42 x 15.5 cm ­ Provenance:
formerly at Galerie Ferrero acquired
in the 1980s
€35,000/50,000
Sale 13 July
Romanée­Conti, 1986
€6,000/6,500
Sale 12 July
with a participation of
C ATA L O G U E
on request +33 4 93 99 22 60
visible on our website
WWW
W..CANNESAUCTION.COM
PUBLIC VIEWINGS AT HÔTEL MARTINEZ:
Friday 11 July from 4pm to 8pm, Saturday 12 July from 10am to 8pm, Sunday 13 July 10am to 8pm, Monday 14 July 10am to 12pm
Wednesday 13 August from 4pm to 7pm, Thursday 14 August from 10am to 7pm, Friday 16th August from 10am to 12.30pm,
Saturday 16 August from 10am to 7pm, Sunday 17th August from 10am to 12.30pm
45, La Croisette 06400 Cannes ­ Tel: + 33 4 93 99 33 49 ­ Fax: + 33 4 93 99 30 03 ­ [email protected]
SVV SARL / BESCH CANNES AUCTION n° 2002­034
* Alcohol abuse is dangerous for your health, to consume with moderation
Crédit photo: BESCH
François­Xavier Lalanne
(1927­2008), “Moutons
Transhumant”, epoxystone
and bronze signed with
initiales, numbered
"FXL19/250" and bearing
the Lalanne seal behind
the head, 90 x 104 x 39 cm
UPCOMING AUCTIONS / GAZETTE DROUOT INTERNATIONAL
In the world
Monaco
the rock sparkles
During the summer break, while the rich enjoy the blue waters of the Mediterranean, auction
houses compete fiercely, leaving no precious stone unturned. Diamonds, rubies and chronographs glitter in the sun…
20 AND 21 JULY
HD
>
Pair of girandole earrings in white gold
A seemingly endless sale with more than 600 lots of jewellery, where it would seem almost impossible not to find
something to tickle your fancy… The Hôtel des ventes de Monte-Carlo auction house has gathered together a fascinating selection of pieces for its marathon sale. A far cry from the usual line-up of great names in jewellery, it puts the spotlight on top quality jewels and stones, including a selection of diamonds. One of these, a 1.53 ct square emerald-cut
Fancy Intense Pink (€200,000/250,000), is offered in its case from the Argyle mine in Australia – incidentally, the largest
source of pink diamonds in the world. We find another diamond, pear-shaped and champagne-coloured (10.13 ct), estimated at €80,000/120,000. One of the finest pieces is a platinum ring set with a cushion-cut padparadja-coloured
Tanzanian sapphire (12.32 ct) flanked by two troida-cut diamonds, estimated at around €300,000 – a little less than for
a pair of girandole earrings in white gold, ornamented with cushion-cut diamonds and a pear-shaped diamond
bedecked with diamond drops. Best worn on their own, as statement pieces, for special occasions!
46
GAZETTE DROUOT INTERNATIONAL / UPCOMING AUCTIONS
47
UPCOMING AUCTIONS / GAZETTE DROUOT INTERNATIONAL
23 AND 24 JULY
HD
>
The Schlumberger style
For its ninth event on the Riviera, Artcurial has brought
together a century of jewellery design, from a Napoleon III
set with cameos on gold (€15,000/20,000) to the artist's
jewellery dreamed up by Niki de Saint Phalle and César, and
contemporary pieces by the American David Webb.
The Paris company is offering a wide range of designs, and
thus of price. The star of the show is a ring sporting a pearshaped 16.87 ct diamond. But you will need around €1 M if
you want to leave with this type IIA stone, signed by Van
Cleef and Arpels – a fact that only adds to its appeal. If you
prefer colour, take a look at this white gold ring set with a
diamond (2.39 ct), again pear-shaped, but this time azure
blue (€400,000/450,000), or this corsage clip embellished
with a delicious cognac-coloured marquise diamond
(around 20 ct; €100,000/150,000). Signed by Schlumberger
on the mount, this piece was part of the 1995 exhibition
dedicated by the Musée des Arts Décoratifs de Paris to the
celebrated jeweller, who was a designer at Tiffany & Co. for
many years. Similar to a 1964 piece published in the book
on the jeweller by fashion icon Diana Vreeland, a great
admirer, this clip is a marvellous illustration of the Schlumberger style: naturalistic, fantastical and virtuosic…
26 TO 29 JULY
HD
>
Rolex Cosmograph Daytona
Today, a fine watch is far more than just an accessory: it gives a man kudos. The elegant, discreet enthusiast will go for
a Patek-Philippe; the sporting, self-made man, a Rolex… And there is plenty of choice with the 260 models available at
the Boule Auctions company during its Monaco sales. In this selection, two great names in Swiss watchmaking share
the limelight – particularly the company with the crown emblem, which is offering some fifty models, including the
famous Rolex Cosmograph Daytona known as "the Paul Newman". Produced in 1971, this comes with its original case
and guarantee. According to the auction house, it is a transition model, which was produced for two years
(€80,000/120,000). The steel James Bond Submariner from around 1956 should fetch around €45,000. Meanwhile, you
could land a white gold chronograph with a silver opaline dial and a perpetual calendar by Rolex's rival, Patek-Philippe,
sold in April 2013 and never worn (€90,000/120,000). Tell me which watch you wear, and I'll tell you who you are!
48
28 AND 29 JULY
HD
>
Van Cleef and Arpels
There are some very special names – and Van Cleef and Arpels is one of them. Its creations
exuding typically French elegance have been appealing to crowned heads and the world's
wealthiest for over a century. This delicate bracelet coming up at Tajan's Monaco auctions
embodies this timeless classicism. It was made in the Sixties in platinum set with diamonds (40
ct) with a Burmese ruby at the centre (35 ct) – red, obviously: the colour of passion
(€350,000/400,000). To celebrate 40 years of perfect marriage, you could also choose a model
by Cartier in platinum, diamonds and rubies, from around 1905 (€30,000/40,000): a fine
example of the "garland style" which made the company famous in the early years of the
century. Also available: a ring produced in around 1910 by the celebrated Rue de la Paix
company, again embellished with an unheated Burmese ruby (€25,000/35,000). This is just a
brief glimpse of a huge selection, because some 600 items of jewellery and 250 watches are
waiting for the right buyers…
Stéphanie Perris-Delmas
49
UPCOMING AUCTIONS / GAZETTE DROUOT INTERNATIONAL
LONDON 9 JULY
HD
Barthélemy Prieur
This sale is very simply called "Treasures” (Sotheby's), and we can truly say
that the title is fully deserved. Because
the market does not often feature
works from collections of the Dukes of
Northumberland – some of Britain's
most important. Enthusiasts will flock
to see a bronze by Barthélemy Prieur
(see photo), a spectacular "Aphrodite"
carved in marble at the beginning of
the first century A.D. in Rome (H. 203
cm, £4/6 M), a set of six enamelled
plaques made in Limoges in around
1530 with scenes from the Aeneid
(some of the first representations of
profane scenes in this medium: around
£1M for the set), and a typically English
mahogany commode carved after a
design by William Kent (c. 1740,
around £1M). Equally exceptional
works from other provenances include
a pair of ebony and mahogany
consoles stamped by Jacob-Desmalter,
made for the Duchesse de Berry
(€250/400,000), and, sold by the
descendants of the sixth Duke of
Argyll, a marble by Lorenzo Bartolini of
"The Campbell sisters dancing a waltz"
(c. 1820, H. 170 cm, £300,000/500,000).
Xavier Narbaïts
50
SUMMER SALES IN MONTECARLO
IMPORTANT JEWELLERY AND COLLECTIBLE WATCHES
MODERN AND CONTEMPORARY ART  DESIGN
Authorisation code N°2001-006 7 November 2001 - Qualified auctioneers: A. de Benoist - E. Kozlowski - E. Marie-Saint Germain - C. Mercier - P.-A. Vinquant
28, 29 AND 30 JULY  SALON BELLEVUE, CAFÉ DE PARIS. PLACE DU CASINO  98000
VAN CLEEF & ARPELS
Bracelet in platinum
with birman rubies
(35 ct) and diamonds
(40 ct), 1960s
EDGAR DEGAS
“Nu assis jambes croisées”, 1880
Oil on panel signed on the lower right
Studio’s seal on the back
35 x 27 cm
ROLEX
Chronograph
in steel, ref. 3481
circa 1940
BARBERINI & GUNNELL
Important “chained up” dining room set 2014-06-18
Structure in steel
320 x 115 x 75 cm
MARIA HELENA VIEIRA DA SILVA
“Nuit de la Saint-Jean”, 1971
Oil on canvas
100 x 81 cm
For these sales, please contact:
Romain Monteaux-Sarmiento
+33 1 53 30 30 68 - Email: [email protected]
37 rue des Mathurins - 75008 Paris
T +33 1 53 30 30 30
www.tajan.com
UPCOMING AUCTIONS / GAZETTE DROUOT INTERNATIONAL
An intimate
nude by Edgar
Degas
MONACO 28 JULY
The nude occupied a central place in the work of Edgar
Degas, particularly after "Scène de guerre au Moyen Âge",
a picture he painted in around 1865, for which he drew
several studies of female bodies. With nudes of prostitutes or bathers captured in the simple beauty of
everyday life, the theme – and with it the artist's work –
gradually moved away from the academic exercise
towards the naturalism that flourished in the 1880s.
In this quest, the series of monotypes he devoted to prostitutes in the middle of the previous decade opened out
new possibilities to Degas, who then began to produce
more intimate works, like this oil on panel from 1880.
Here the young woman, probably a prostitute, displays
52
herself to the painter in all her nakedness: a body that the
painter treats with almost amorous propriety, making
play with white highlights. This nude, set in a landscape,
as suggested by the green highlights, seems uncommon
in the work of an artist who generally favoured views
from behind and nudes painted in interiors. The work
bears the studio stamp applied on the artist's death in
anticipation of the eight sales staged in 1918 and 1919. It
then appeared in the collections of Sam Salz, a keen
admirer of Impressionist works. On 28 July, it will be up
for auction at Tajan's sale of modern and contemporary
art, notably alongside a 1971 Vieira da Silva: "Nuit de la
Saint Jean" (€300,000/500,000).
Stéphanie Perris-Delmas
HD
>
Edgar Degas (1834-1917), "Nu assis
jambes croisées, 1880", oil on panel,
signed on the bottom right, 35 x 27 cm.
Estimate: €350,000/500,000.
53
© Succession Alberto Giacometti (Fondation Alberto and Annette Giacometti Paris + ADAGP, Paris 2014
HD
54
>
GAZETTE DROUOT INTERNATIONAL / UPCOMING AUCTIONS
Giacometti:
modern icons
Alberto Giacometti' sculptures have all the power of nonWestern icons. They are imbued with a spellbinding force
and monumentality that bear no relation to their size.
These fascinating concentrates of humanity whet the
appetite of numerous collectors, who will spend millions
to own these modern fetishes. There is thus every reason
to believe that these two statuettes, the stars of a
Monaco sale at the Hôtel des ventes de Monte-Carlo
auction house, will create a sensation, especially since
they are certified by the Giacometti committee and sport
a choice pedigree: they come from a private collection,
and were acquired from the estate of the artist's wife,
Annette Giacometti. Both of them were cast in an edition
of ten by Susse. For those who might only see these as
posthumous castings, we can assure them, together with
the Giacometti foundation, that "they evince no difference in nature or execution from castings made during
his lifetime. The quality and the control of the original
plaster guarantee the work's value more than the date of
the casting." As we know, Alberto Giacometti took no
MONACO 26 JULY
part in this process. The first of these bronzes is of Diane
Kotchoubey de Beauharnais (€1,2/1,5M). In 1946, she
married the writer Georges Bataille, whom the artist had
known since 1929. Giacometti did several portraits of the
young woman. At the end of the war, he created a plaster
featuring the refined features and abundant hair of his
friend, which is now in the collection of the Maeght
family. This bronze is number five of the 10 castings made
in 1980. Meanwhile, the "Standing Nude on a Cubic Base”
(€1,2/1,5M) of 1953 is one of a series of female figures
with long arms stretching down their bodies. It was cast
by Susse between 1990 and 1991 after a plaster belonging to Tériade and his wife, now in the inalienable collection of the Giacometti foundation. Stéphanie Perris-Delmas
55
UPCOMING AUCTIONS / GAZETTE DROUOT INTERNATIONAL
LONDON
HD
>
European decorative arts
On the evening of 10 July, Christie’s on King
Street will hold the fifth edition of its Exceptional Sale. ‘Exceptional’ always describes this
sale accurately, with its focus on objects of
rarity, excellent provenance and fine craftsmanship. Collectors may take their pick from a
varied selection of 58 lots. Take this marvellous
bronze sculpture by Giambologna, "The Rape
of A Sabine", last seen also at auction at
Christie’s London in 1989 when it was
purchased for a world record price of
£2,750,000 by a private collector, who is now
reoffering it this year (£3-5 M). Or how about an
Egyptian limestone statue from a tomb’s
chapel, of circa 2400–2300 B.C.(£4-6 M), depicting Sekhemka who, according to the inscription on the base, was the inspector of the
scribes of the royal court, here shown with his
wife by his feet. The session also features
ormolu-mounted Chinese porcelain, imperial
European silver, fine Chippendale furniture and
various clocks. Furthermore, sixteen works of
art have a royal provenance, including an
elegant Savonnerie carpet made as part of a
royal commission for Louis XV of France
(£500,000/800,000). This sale – an opportunity
for acquiring genuine masterpieces of European furniture and decorative arts – is
expected to realise over £18 million.
Anna Stephens
56
HÔTEL DES VENTES DE MONTE-CARLO
Monte-Carlo Auction House | Chantal Beauvois et Franck Baille
AUCTIONS CALENDAR - JULY, 20th - 26th 2014
WATCHES
Sunday, July 20
th
10am
CAMEOS
Thursday, July 24
th
11am
IMPORTANT JEWELS
VINTAGE
Sunday, July 20 2.30pm
Monday, July 21st 10.30am & 2.30pm
Tuesday, July 22nd 3pm
RUSSIAN ART
MODERN & CONTEMPORARY ART
th
Thursday, July 24
th
6pm
Saturday, July 26th 3pm
CATALOGS ON REQUEST, PUBLIC EXHIBITION AT THE AUCTION HOUSE
FROM JULY 12TH, FROM 10 AM TO 1 PM, AND FROM 2 PM TO 6 PM
HVMC - 10-12 Quai Antoine 1er - 98000 Monaco - Tel. : 00 377 93 25 88 89 - [email protected] - www.hvmc.com
AUCTION
RESULTS
W
< €100,000
In France
A
HD
B
C
A €43,750
Jean-Baptiste Tilliard (attributed to), Louis XV period
chair "à chassis" (with removable frame) in richly
carved gilt wood, upholstered in antique brocade silk.
Paris, Drouot, 28 May, Boisgirard - Antonini
auction house.
B €43,750
Seyyed Huseyin, March 1839, Ottoman Koran
manuscript in Naskhi script, illuminated with golden
leaves, floral motifs and saz palm leaves, leather
binding with flap, painted with two kinds of gold,
16 x 10.5 cm. €43,750 including the buyer's
premium.
Paris, Drouot, 28 May, Ader auction house.
C
C €41,205
Cartier. Small travel clock in silver, with enamel
decoration, circa 1910, 8 x 6 x 5 cm.
Lyon, 24 May, Bérard - Péron - Schintgen
auction house.
D €53,550
Attributed to Gaspar van den Hoecke (1595- c. 1648),
“Tulips and irises in a jasper vase”, oak parquet panel,
monogram “JB”, 35.8 x 26 cm. €53,550 including the
buyer's premium.
Neuilly-sur-Seine, 3 June, Aguttes auction house
D
€55,800
At €55,800, this small commode with
two drawers and no crosspiece more
than doubled its estimate. In Chinese
lacquer decorated with a village full of
pagodas in a perspective landscape
with birds, it bears the stamp – rare in
the market – of Jean-François Dubut.
The sale of his business assets after his
death in 1778 revealed a flourishing activity marked by a broad furniture typology, from the tables known as “mignonnettes” to vast bookshelves. While he
produced a large amount of veneered
furniture, we also owe him some exquisite pieces featuring European lacquer,
or better still, covered with Oriental
lacquer panels. The latter provides
evidence of the links he formed with
some of the greatest marchandmerciers of the day, the only ones to
possess these precious creations, by
outsourcing the transformation work to
a few hand-picked artisans. This
commode has already appeared at
auction twice in the past: firstly in
February 1941 in the sale of the DuboisChefdebien collection, where it
obtained FF59,000 (around €20,000
today), and secondly on 7 December
1971, when it made FF55,000 (around
€55,150 today).
Sylvain Alliod
Transition period, stamped by Jean-François Dubut
(d. 1778), commode in Chinese lacquer with gold
and black decoration, gilt bronze ornamentation,
top in Breche d'Alep marble. 79 x 49 x 32 cm. Paris,
Drouot, 4 June, Maigret (Thierry de) auction house.
61
AUCTION RESULTS / GAZETTE DROUOT INTERNATIONAL
B
C €11,316
Travel book including 31 photographic prints,
25 of China and 6 of Japan, end of 19th century,
oblong in-quarto collection 26.5 x 19 cm.
Saumur, 4 June, Xavier de la Perraudière auction
house.
D €80,600
Europe. Pair of seated dogs in enamelled porcelain,
h. 53 cm. They are placed on Louis XIV-style carved
gilt wood draped stools, 20 x 43 x 28 cm.
Paris, Drouot, 4 June, Libert Damien auction
house.
A
HD
C
A 34,720
Robert Mapplethorpe (1946-1989), “Lisa Lyon”, 1982,
vintage silver gelatin print mounted on cardboard,
one of 10 numbered copies, 48.5 x 38 cm.
Paris, Drouot, 5 June, Yann Le Mouel auction
house.
B €87,640
William Bradford (1823-1892) assisted by John L.
Dunmore and George P. Critcherson, The Arctic
Regions, London, Sampson Low, Marston, Low and
Searle, 1873, original edition, large in-folio.
Enghien, 13 June. Goxe, Belaisch, Hôtel des
ventes d’Enghien auction house.
62
GAZETTE DROUOT INTERNATIONAL / AUCTION RESULTS
D
63
€100,000  200,000
A
B
C
B €136,400
Hokusai (1760-1849), Kanagawa-oki nami-ura
(The Great Wave off Kanagawa), ōban, yoko-e from
the series "Fugaku sanjurokkei" (Thirty-six Views of
Mount Fuji), plate signed "Hokusai aratame litsu
hitsu".
Vendôme, 16 June, Rouillac auction house.
C €181,192
Head in porphyry, 17th century, on a marble base.
Versailles, 15 June, Versailles Enchères auction
house.
D
HD
E
A €133,424
Peter Klasen (b. 1935), "Le Bon Magique", 1965,
oil and acrylic on canvas, signed, titled and dated
on the back, 162 x 130 cm. World record for the
artist.
Paris, Drouot, 16 June, Pierre Cornette de Saint
Cyr auction house.
D €111,246
Charles Baudelaire (1821-1867), signed letter
addressed to the permanent secretary of the
Académie Française, Abel-François Villemain,
on 11 December 1861, 2 in-folio pages.
Paris, Drouot 13 June, Beaussant-Lefèvre auction
house.
E €114,620
Charlotte Perriand (1903-1999), Mexique bookcase,
1952, produced by the Ateliers Jean Prouvé and André
Chetaille, pine, aluminium sheet metal, 160 x 182 x
31 cm. Including buyer's premium: €114,620.
Paris, 27 May, Piasa auction house.
F €162,500
Maréchal Jean-Baptiste Bessières (1768-1813),
278 letters and plays mounted on tab in three in-folio
volumes, 1805-1813.
Fontainebleau, 15 June, Osenat auction house.
F
Jean Dunand (1877-1942)
and Armand-Albert Rateau
(1882-1938), trumpet vase
mounted as lamp, copper,
white-leaded oak stand,
electrified, Art Deco, circa 19301931, H. 171 cm.
Cheverny, 16 June, Rouillac
auction house.
€101,680
Bought by a Parisian collector, this lamp, the star piece
of eighteen lots from the Rateau estate, achieved a
world record. Signed twice, it illustrates the collaboration between two masters of Art Deco, Rateau and
Dunand. Trained at the Boulle school, Rateau
embarked on a career as a designer alongside Georges
Hoentschel, before setting up his own business in 1919.
He soon emerged as one of the most singular creators
in Art Deco. His masterpiece, Jeanne Lanvin's apartment in Rue Barbet-de-Jouy, evinces a real taste for
Antiquity while featuring a highly original bestiary.
Responding to commissions from a rich clientele, he
called on celebrated collaborators like Jean Dunand,
renowned for his vases in gilt and silver-gilt metal ornamented with champlevé or cloisonné enamels. During
the Exhibition of 1925, the artist lent him a few pieces
to brighten up the stand of the milliner Madame Agnès
in the ‘Pavillon de l'Elégance’. This vase, mounted on a
small pedestal, was designed as a lamp from the
outset. It is decorated with spots and sinusoid lines in a
black lacquer reserve, worked like Eastern calligraphy.
Positioned advantageously in the dining room at 17
Quai Conti, it still bears witness to the friendship and
mutual admiration of Dunand and Rateau, who revolutionised the decorative arts in the period between the
World Wars.
Chantal Humbert
65
AUCTION RESULTS / GAZETTE DROUOT INTERNATIONAL
B
A
C
D €108,460
Théodore Chassériau (1819-1856), “Deux femmes
demi-nues de dos” (sketch), oil on canvas, recanvased,
40.4 x 32.5 cm.
Paris, Drouot, 28 May, Blanchet & Associés
auction house.
D
E
A €124,000
Vietnam. Emperors' bed, natural ironwood, red and
gold lacquer, 191 x 212 x 140 cm.
Cheverny, 13 June, Rouillac auction house.
HD
B €163, 200
Rembrandt Bugatti (1885-1916), "Small seated
leopard with its tail in front", numbered 6, bronze
with brown, green and black coloured patina,
h. 19 cm.
Lyon, 12 June, Aguttes auction house.
C €200,000
Attributed to the Rohan Master, circa 1410-1430,
“The Choosing of the Lamb”, parchment leaf, partly
highlighted ink drawing on the front, and on the
back, text from the Hours of the Virgin with two ink
vignettes, 26 x 18.5 cm.
Paris, Drouot, 11 June, Delorme, Collin du Bocage
auction house.
F
E €156,250
Attributed to François-Honoré-Georges Jacob, also
known as Jacob-Desmalter (1770-1841), flat-topped
mahogany desk, double face with six face-to-face
drawers and two writing slides, mahogany inlay and
gilt bronze detail (attributed to Thomire), Empire Era,
79.5 x 184 x 87 cm.
Paris, Drouot, 13 June, F.l. auction house.
F €136,400
Dominique Peccatte (1810-1874), Cello bow, signed,
silver-mounted, 73.5 g.
Vichy, 10 and 11 June. Vichy Enchères auction
house.
G €140,800
Rudolph Weisse (1859-1927), "Le Marchand d'armes
devant le palais", 1886, oil on panel, signed on the
lower left, dated (18)86, 61.5 x 49.5 cm.
Paris, Drouot, 16 June, Gros & Delettrez auction
house.
GAZETTE DROUOT INTERNATIONAL / AUCTION RESULTS
G
67
€200,000  500,000
B
A
HD
C
A €277,000
Bugatti type 49, Gangloff limousine, series no. 49132,
motor no. 11, 1930.
Toulouse, 14 June, Marc Labarbe auction house.
B €307,500
Graduated necklace with seventy-five fine pearls,
circa 1930, diam. 4.5 to 9.6 mm, 31.95g.
Lyon, 14 June, Bérard-Péron-Schintgen auction
house.
C €488,356
Jean Blaeu (1598-1673), "Le Grand atlas, ou
Cosmographie blaviane, en laquelle est exactement
descritte la terre, la mer et le ciel”, Amsterdam, Jean
Blaeu, 1663, 12 in-folio volumes, vintage binding in
vellum.
Paris, Drouot, 18 June, Pierre Bergé et Associés
auction house.
E
D
D €387,500
Island of Rarotonga, Cook Islands archipelago, atau
rakau staff-god, hard wood with glossy brown patina,
l. 145.5 cm.
Paris, Drouot, 6 June, Binoche & Giquello auction
house.
E €311,750
Bernard Buffet (1928-1999), “Bernard David en
torero”, 1963, oil on canvas, 130 x 97 cm.
Paris, Drouot, 4 June, Fraysse & Associés auction
house.
Christophe-Gabriel Allegrain
(1710-1795), Narcissus, marble,
54 x 52 cm. Paris, Drouot, 18 June,
Piasa auction house.
€496,540
This marble has a choice subject for a work which
fetched €496,540: a world record for its creator. Estimated at no more than €100,000, this "Narcisse se
mirant dans l'eau" is the work of Christophe-Gabriel
Allegrain. He produced one of the most admired
sculptures of his time, "La Baigneuse", now in the
Louvre. It was praised by Diderot in his writings on
the Salon of 1767: "Beautiful, beautiful, sublime
figure; some even say the most beautiful, most
perfect female figure produced in modern times.” And
in fact, Louis XV gave it to his favourite, Madame Du
Barry, five years later. Placed in the gardens of the
Château de Louveciennes, this present led to the
commissioning of a similar work, "Diane surprise par
Actéon", also in the Louvre. The sculpture here also
has a rich history. In 1746, this plaster Narcissus won
his admission to the Royal Academy of Painting and
Sculpture for the sculptor, who had first collaborated
with Jean-Baptiste Pigalle, and married his sister. He
exhibited it at the Salon of 1747 and executed a
marble version for the one of 1753. After the Revolution, this entered the newly-founded Musée du
Louvre, then during the Consulate went to the
Château de Saint-Cloud, where it was destroyed in
the fire of 1870. Allegrain made two other plaster
versions, also lost. A second marble was made for
Farmer-General Bouret (1710-1777) for his “Pavillon
du roi”, built in the Sénart forest. He gave it to his
daughter born of adultery, Adélaïde Filleul, who gave
it to her lover, Talleyrand.
Sylvain Alliod
69
> €500,000
B
A
A €942,400
Egypt, New Empire, end of the 18th dynasty.
Head of Egyptian dignitary, quartzite, h. 24 cm.
Vannes, 31 May, Jack-Philippe Ruellan auction
house.
HD
B €683,800
Sean Scully, "Harris", 1991, oil on canvas.
Paris, 3 June, Artcurial auction house.
C €608,000
Eglon Hendrick Van der Neer (1634-1703),
"La Grande Dame", oil, signed and dated “
E Van der Neer, fec./1665”, 64 x 55.5 cm.
Moulins, 26 May, Moulins Enchères Sadde
auction house.
D €721,500
Dan mask, Ivory Coast, base by Kichizô Inagaki
(1876-1951), H. 23 cm.
Paris, 19 June, Christie's auction house.
D
C
€688,200
This is a Rodin expressing none of the existential
turmoil of the end of an era about to descend into
the horrors of the First World War. The subject, two
children embracing, is rather unusual for the
author of "Le Baiser", but this did not stop it from
being intensely fought over. With an initial high
estimate of €60,000, its sale price climbed to
€688,200. This was due to several reasons. Only
two bronze copies of the subject are known: the
one here and the one in the Art Institute of
Chicago. The Getty Museum has a version in
plaster and Cleveland one in marble, while the
Musée Rodin has two replicas. Making its first
appearance in the market, this casting was made
during the artist’s lifetime for “Mme Martin”, as indicated by the dedication on the bronze and an
accompanying letter postmarked 13 September
1916. This Madame Martin (who was really called
Marcelle Fedencieux) married Marcel Tirel in 1915
out of pique, her great love being the painter
Maurice Martin, with whom she lived – hence her
patronymic. She wrote a book published in 1923,
"Rodin intime ou l’Envers d’une gloire". Concerning these little children, we know through
Étienne Dujardin-Beaumetz's “Entretiens avec
Rodin" (1913) that the artist had a great admiration for Clodion, and his child subjects form part
of a long tradition going back to the 17th century.
Characteristic of the artist's work of the 1880s, this
piece can be dated to between 1885 and 1890.
Sylvain Alliod
Auguste Rodin (1840-1917), “Groupe d’enfants”,
bronze with brown-coloured patina, Alexis Rudier
foundry, before 1916, h. 35.5 cm. Paris, Drouot,
6 June, Chayette & Cheval auction house.
AUCTION RESULTS / GAZETTE DROUOT INTERNATIONAL
> €1,000,000
A
A €1,021,500
Kazuo Shiraga (1924-2008), 'Yagenko', signed in
Japanese (on the bottom left), signed, titled and
dated (on the back), oil on canvas 194 x 258 cm.
Painted in 1989.
Paris, 4 and 5 June, Christie's auction house.
B €13,537,500
Amedeo Modigliani (1884-1920, "Portrait of Paul
Alexandre", oil on canvas, 92 x 60 cm.
Paris, 3 and 4 June, Sotheby's.
C €4,353,500
Statue, Fang Mabea, early 19th century, Cameroon,
H: 67.5 cm.
Paris, 18 June, Sotheby’s.
B
HD
C
Tribal art garnered €6,267,000 here (85% by value). A world record was obtained for this Fang statue:
€4.35 M, also the third highest price for a work of African art. It goes by the name of “Fénéon”, as it
belonged to Félix Fénéon. It was also the property of Jacques Kerchache, who acquired it on 18
December 1972 during a Paris sale at Drouot (FF200,000, Loudmer, Poulain, Cornette de Saint-Cyr),
establishing a link between the two men who campaigned for the recognition of African art masterpieces in the universal history of art. This figure belongs to the body of a dozen works representing the
most restrained and distinctive Fang statuary, considered the summit of African sculptural art. It has
been abundantly reproduced. While the details are realistic, the craftsmanship and volumes evince an
idealised naturalism which breaks with the radical stylisation of other Fang groups. Sylvain Alliod
GAZETTE DROUOT INTERNATIONAL / AUCTION RESULTS
€1,375,000
This Guro mask has been attributed to the Master of
Bouaflé, an artist of whom we know less than a dozen
works, each of which are highly identifiable with their
almond-shaped eyes, rounded foreheads and
retroussé noses. The object disappeared for eighty
years after arousing lively interest, having belonged to
the leading light of Surrealism, André Breton. He gave
it to the collector and dealer Charles Ratton, who sold
it in 1931 to another collector –and it has remained in
this collector's family until now. The mask features in a
photograph by Man Ray, circa 1927, showing Simone
Breton on a sofa in her husband's legendary studio,
after being published in the famous Negro Anthology
(London, Wishart & Co, 1934) by Nancy Cunard, to
whom the Musée du Quai Branly recently paid
homage. At that time, the mask was indicated as being
from “Zuénolé”, in reality Zuénoula, a town situated in
what is now the administrative region of Marahoué,
with Bouaflé as its centre, and part of the Guro country,
whose people were divided into chiefdoms. There's no
need to be a kingdom to produce masterpieces!
S. A.
Guro people, Ivory Coast, Master of Bouaflé
style, dance mask, wood, original polychromy,
h. 57.3 cm. Base attributed to Kichizo Inagaki.
Paris, Drouot, 11 June, Tajan auction house.
73
China in Paris
After a week in which Asian art garnered well over €20M in total sales, mainly thanks to
China, the firework display reached its peak with a seal and a Tianqiuping vase belonging to
the Qianlong Emperor.
A €505.500
Statue of Guanyin in China wood, Song dynasty,
12th/13th century, traces of gold and polychrome
lacquer, H. 134 cm.
Paris, 11 June, Christie's France auction house.
B €64,000
Basin in white porcelain with blue underglaze
decoration, border ornamented with eight Buddhist
symbols, and decorated with bats flying above waves,
China, Qianlong mark of doubtful authenticity,
D. 44 cm.
Paris, 11 June, Fauve Paris auction house.
B
A
74
C
C €745,800
Avalokitesvara, Ming dynasty, 16th/17th century,
in gold lacquered bronze, H. 136 cm.
Paris, 9 June, Artcurial-Briest-Poulain-F. Tajan
auction house.
HD
China, Qianlong period
(1736-1795), steatite seal,
negative-carved inscription
in zhuanshu on the back,
"Suo Bao Wei Xian", carved
with nine dragons pursuing
the sacred pearl.
Paris, Drouot, 16 June,
Tessier & Sarrou et associés
auction house.
€1,860,000
This imperial seal from the Qianlong period kept all its promises, and even more, since it fetched €1,860,000 after an estimate
of €1 M. Of the twelve Qing emperors, Qianlong was the one who possessed not only the largest amount of seals – around
1,800 – but also the most beautiful. This can be seen from the picture of this example, engraved with an inscription in
zhuanshu, from a collection of political documents of sovereigns from Chinese antiquity, dating from the 3rd millenium BC to
the end of the Western Zhou period (627 BC). The sovereign affixed it on paintings and calligraphies to express his respect for
the intellectual elites. "Suo Bao Wei Xian" is the abridged form of the following motto: “If you take no heed of precious objects,
instead considering talented men as the only treasures of the State, everybody will bow down to you.” This sentence was
regarded by a number of Chinese emperors as one of the most important political principles. As we know, the nine dragons
were highly significant: the animal symbolised Imperial authority, and the number 9 – the biggest of the one-digit odd
numbers –the most powerful masculine force in nature. The Shoushan steatite in which the seal is carved was the variety of
stone most sought-after by scholars for this type of object from the 16th century onwards: the caramel-yellow Tian huang
variety, known as “the emperor of stones”. A word on the provenance of this Imperial treasure: it comes from the family of a
French diplomat posted to Beijing in the 1900s. In his letters to his mother, he describes his visits to the Imperial family and the
Sylvain Alliod
custom of official gifts – to the great joy of his descendants…
AUCTION RESULTS / GAZETTE DROUOT INTERNATIONAL
E
GAZETTE DROUOT INTERNATIONAL / AUCTION RESULTS
A
B
HD
C
A €204,000
Fragment of imperial scroll, ink and colour on silk,
China, Qing dynasty, Qianlong period (1736-1795),
54.5 x 83 cm.
Bordeaux, 21 June. Alain Briscadieu auction
house.
B €112,680
Mallet vase in porcelain with blue underglaze
decoration of two stylised phoenixes on the shoulder
and belly, Kangxi stamp in six characters of doubtful
authenticity. China, 20th century, H. 19 cm.
Paris, Drouot, 12 June. Mr Delvaux.
D
D €29,325
Pair of altar furnishings with lotus flowers
surmounting auspicious openwork symbols in wheels.
Qianlong mark in Zhuanshu in iron-red on turquoise
background with gilt edge. In the Qianlong style,
executed at a later date, H: 24 cm.
Drouot, 10 June, Aguttes auction house.
E €745,500
Gilt bronze statue of Shakyamuni Buddha, Tibet,
14th/15th century, h. 65 cm.
Paris, 10 June, Sotheby's France auction house.
C €56,340
Imperial robe in Kesi decorated with nine dragons
with five claws on a yellow background, lined with
light blue flowered silk damask, 145 x 216 cm.
Paris, Drouot, 13 June, Piasa auction house,
Cabinet Portier.
77
AUCTION RESULTS / GAZETTE DROUOT INTERNATIONAL
€189,440
Twelve works by Jiang Shanqing, a Chinese artist born
in Haining, totalled €1,014,400 at this Paris sale. One of
an international list of successes consisting solely of
inks and colours on paper, the piece shown in the
picture, "Xue Er", fetched €189,440: a world record for
the artist (Source: Artnet). It dethroned "Drizzly" (60 x
56 cm), knocked down at CNY1,265,000 (€160,935) on
2 June 2012 at Poly Auctions. In the sale here, other
noteworthy results included €172,800 for an ink on
canvas, "Jia Zhi" (215 x 90 cm), while €134,400 went to
both "Kuai Er" (135 x 98 cm) and "Bi You" (100 x 100 cm),
two inks on paper. Also worth noting was the €122,880
garnered by "Jue Wen" (125 x 90 cm), an ink on canvas
featuring calligraphy.
Sylvain Alliod
Jiang Shanqing (born in 1961), "Xue Er", ink on
canvas, 215 x 92 cm. World record for the artist.
Paris, Drouot, 6 June, Gros & Delettrez auction house.
78
GAZETTE DROUOT INTERNATIONAL / AUCTION RESULTS
B
A
HD
C
D
A €93,000
Jiang Zhaohe, "Femme assise avec son enfant",
ink and colours on paper 1965, 125 x 66 cm.
Paris, Drouot, 11 June, Auction Art Rémy Le Fur
& Associés auction house.
C €62,000
Wang Yan Cheng (born in 1960), "Composition bleue
et rouge", 2005, oil on canvas, signed and dated on
the lower right, 150 x 150 cm.
Paris, Drouot, 13 June, Drouot Estimations.
B €1,489,800
Zao Wou-ki, "26.01.60", 1960, oil on canvas.
Paris, 4 June, Artcurial auction house.
D €325,000
Chu-Teh-chun (1920-2014), "Untitled", oil on canvas,
1966, signed in Chinese and French, 65 x 54 cm.
Marseille, 21 June, Damien Leclere auction house.
79
AUCTION RESULTS / GAZETTE DROUOT INTERNATIONAL
A
B
C €66,356
Statuette in gilt bronze of the three-headed divinity
Parnashavari, Tibet, late 16th/early 17th century,
H. 17 cm.
Paris, Drouot, Christophe Joron-Derem auction
house.
C
HD
D
A €88,600
Pair of quatrefoil flared flower pots from the Qianlong
period (1736-1795), bronze and gilt copper,
translucent polychrome enamel and glass jewels,
L. 19.5 cm.
Paris, 10 June, Tajan auction house.
B €161,740
China, Qianlong period (1736-1795), musical chime
in green nephrite with painted decoration in gold,
"Da Lu" character on the side, l. 48 cm.
Paris, Drouot, 13 June, Piasa auction house.
80
D €51,332
Set of five rectangular painted papers of different sizes
decorated with horsemen, young women, couples
and children in mountainous landscapes, 18th
century, 313 x 324.5, 321.5 x 453.5, 309.5 x 152.5,
309.5 x 156.5, 314 x 115 cm.
Paris, Drouot, 13 June, Thierry de Maigret
auction house.
GAZETTE DROUOT INTERNATIONAL / AUCTION RESULTS
€2,135,000
You needed to be at Ivoire Saint-Étienne's sale to
hear the highest bid of Asian Art week ringing out
for this imperial vase. Maître Agnès Carlier had stumbled upon the well-wrapped vase in a cupboard
when compiling an inheritance inventory last year.
It belonged to a family of bankers and silk manufacturer / traders, to whom Napoleon III had presented
it on the inauguration of the Le Forez canal in 1865.
Estimated at around €400,000, it had several attractive features. Firstly, it was offered in excellent condition, as it had been carefully preserved in the same
family since the end of the 19th century. Secondly,
with its magnificent blue and copper red decoration, it turned out to be similar to a model in the
imperial collections of the Gugong, at the National
Palace Museum in Beijing. The skilled savoir-faire of
ceramicists is expressed here in the diverse shades
of polychromy, which enhances the delicacy of the
ornamental motifs. The vase has the form of a "tianqiuping" or bottle, and boasts a formidable threeclawed dragon emerging from stormy clouds as it
chases the sacred pearl, source of power and wealth.
The vase roused the passions of art lovers in the
auction room and on eight or so telephones. After a
tough bidding battle, the Chinese market finally
carried it off at five times its estimate. Chantal Humbert
China, Qianlong period (1736-1795), vase in "Tianqiuping" form,
porcelain with underglaze decoration in blue and copper red,
marked on the underside of the base with Qianlong's 6-character
stamp in Zhuanshu, H. 49.5 cm. Saint-Étienne, 19 June. Hôtel des
Ventes du Marais auction house.
81
RESULTS
A
HD
In the world
B
A DKK3,900,000
Georges Braque (1848 -1903), “Le Compotier”,
oil on canvas, 35 x 46 cm, 1942.
Copenhague, 17 June, Bruun Rasmussen
Auctioneers.
B CHF 2,553,600
Ferdinand Hodler (1853 -1918), "Kiental mit
Blüemlisalp", 1902, oil on canvas, signed F. Hodler
on lower right, 102.5 x 71 cm.
Basel, 21 June, Bailly & Beurret.
C
C £1,035,000
Falk, Robert (1886-1958), “Boy with a Cap, Sitting
on a Chair”, double-sided composition with two oil
paintings, “Fisherman Smoking” and “Wild Flowers”,
on the reverse, oil on canvas, 122.5 x 75 cm.
London, 4 June, MacDougall's.
D €30,679
Ado Chale (b. 1928), rectangular low table with
rounded corners. Resin, jasper stones and black
lacquered metal. Signed, c. 1970, 124 x 112 x 34 cm.
Brussels, 5 June, Pierre Berge & Associés.
D
82
The Unique British Guiana 1856 One-Cent,
Black on Magenta Surface-Coloured Paper
(Stanley Gibbons no. 23, Scott no. 13).
Initialled EDW, cut octagonally clear of design,
April 4, 1856 DEMERARA circular date stamp.
New York, 17 June, Sotheby's.
$9,480,000
By definition, comparisons are impossible with a
unique object. So who can say whether the only
example of the British Guiana "One Cent" went for a
good or bad price? But though specialists had put
forward a sum somewhere between $10 and 20 M, we
can only be impressed by the $9.48 M achieved by this
stamp. This is an absolute record in philately – one that
far outstrips the previous heights reached in this field,
i.e. the $2.2 million paid in 1996 for the "Treskilling
Yellow" (a Swedish 3-skilling stamp, mistakenly printed
in yellow, a colour normally used for 8-skilling stamps)
and the $4 million registered in 1996 for the so-called "
Bordeaux cover", an envelope with two stamps from
Mauritius. All these rarities once had the same owner:
Count Philippe La Renotière von Ferrary, an Austrian
living in Paris, whose collections were sequestered
after the First World War and dispersed in Paris
between 1921 and 1926. Knocked down for the equivalent of $35,000 (already a record price) in 1922, the
British Guiana "One Cent" went to auction on two
other occasions, setting a new record each time. In
1970, a consortium of investors acquired it for
$280,000, then put it up for sale again in 1980. This
time, in exchange for $935,000, it entered the collection of John F. Dupont, where it remained until a few
days ago.
Xavier Narbaïts
83
AUCTION RESULTS / GAZETTE DROUOT INTERNATIONAL
D
84
GAZETTE DROUOT INTERNATIONAL / AUCTION RESULTS
B
A $106,250
Winslow Homer, “Fresh Air”, study pen and ink,
circa 1879.
New York, 12 June, Swann Auction Galleries.
B €24,000
Kupka, "Portrait of Camille Renaud", 1906,
33 x 23 cm.
Brussels, 16, June, Horta.
A
C
D €1,260,000
Günther Uecker 1930 Wendorf , "Homage to
Fontana I", 1962.Object. Wood, nails, canvas, acrylic
and pencil. Honisch 237 with illu. on p. 72. Signed
lower left, 110.1 x 84.8 cm.
Munich, 7 June, Ketterer Kunst.
C £31,722,500
Claude Monet (1840 - 1926), "Nymphéas", signed
and dated 1906 (lower right) oil on canvas,
88.5 x 100 cm.
London, 23 June, Sotheby's.
The German auction house ended its spring sales on a high note, especially at the sessions devoted to modern, post-war and
contemporary artists on 6 and 7 June. A watercolour by Vassily Kandinsky, "Gewebe", up for sale for the first time, was carried off for
€1,320,000 by a German enthusiast, after a battle involving several bidders from Britain, Russia and Brazil. Yet another German
buyer won a tussle between several nationalities over a work by Günther Uecker. Here, the object of desire was "Homage to Fontana
I" painted in 1962, which came from the Lothar Wolleh collection in Düsseldorf. As we know, Lucio Fontana was the spiritual father
of the young generation of artists in the Zero group; the German artist was one of its most faithful members. Estimated at €200,000,
this "homage" finally danced up to €1,260,000, setting a world record for Günther Uecker, ahead of a work sold for £825,250 in
London by Sotheby's in February 2010. We can also mention the fine results obtained by Hermann Max Pechstein (€660,000) and
Stéphanie Perris-Delmas
Otto Mueller (€550,000).
85
© Fondation Claude Monet, Giverny
magazine
EXHIBITIONS
Monet’s house
i
n 1883, Claude Monet and his family settled at
Giverny in a large house on a plot of over a
hectare. Ten years later, he enlarged it by digging
the waterlily pond. Although an excellent
gardener, he remained a painter first and foremost, and made the grounds a painting "straight from
nature". He chose the flowerbeds in the same way that
he put colours on his palette. Composing a space full of
subtle shades, James Priest, the head gardener, works
to reproduce these varied, radiant ambiances by referring to the artist’s works: blue and pink dominate in
April, lilac and white in May, pink and mauve in June,
pink and red at the beginning of July. Changing colour
with each season, the garden brings out the subtle
play of light inseparable from Impressionism.
The rowing boat, still tied up on the pond’s edge,
enabled Monet to move among the waterlilies and
paint them. In these works, space escapes perspective
and the subject disappears, leaving the field open to
painting in its purest form. The artist passed his passion
for canoeing and fishing on to his step-daughters. One
of them, Blanche, the daughter of Alice Raingo and
Ernest Hoschedé, had asserted her talent when she
was 11, and began to learn painting from the master in
his studio. She was then put in charge of carrying his
equipment, and worked outdoors at Pourville during
the summer of 1882, painting the same landscapes
side by side with Monet. He willingly looked at what
she did, but the only advice he gave her was to observe
nature and paint what she saw. Blanche, who fifteen
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© Fondation Claude Monet, Giverny
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Claude Monet’s house at
Giverny, covered with roses
and Virginia creeper.
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© Fondation Claude Monet, Giverny
EXHIBITIONS / GAZETTE DROUOT INTERNATIONAL
Restored bedroom of Blanche
Hoschedé-Monet (18651947), with "Meule, effet de
neige", circa 1891.
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GAZETTE DROUOT INTERNATIONAL / EXHIBITIONS
years later married the painter’s eldest son Jean,
painted various views of Rouen and its surrounding
area. After her husband’s death, she settled in Giverny
in 1914 with Monet, now widowed for the second time.
As the painter’s step-daughter and daughter-in-law in
one, she became the perfect lady of the house.
She abandoned painting for a while to entertain
guests and watch over her father-in-law during his last
years, dedicating herself to his well-being. According to
her brother Jean-Pierre Hoschedé, she even came to
like the salads the painter loved to over-season with
pepper. The reconstructions carried out since 2010 by
Hugues Randolph Gall, director of the Foundation,
immerse visitors still more in the intimate world of
Monet and his family. After the renovation of the left
wing on the first floor, it was the turn of the bedroom
occupied by Blanche, nicknamed “the Blue Angel” by
Clemenceau: “She must have blue in her soul to counterbalance Claude Monet’s bitumen!” Using no writings
or documents, Hubert Le Gall has restored it in
harmony with the other rooms in the house. He has
drawn inspiration from Vuillard’s interior scenes, decorating it with Japanese flowered wallpaper, matching
curtains and light voile. Observing the taste of the
period, he has embellished it with the kind of pitchpine furniture then much in vogue in middle-class
homes, and added Louis-Philippe furniture inherited
from the Hoschedé family, such as this comfortable
commode mounted on lion paws. Placed next to the
black marble and white ceramic fireplace, a painting
entitled "Meule, effet de neige" reminds us that
Blanche was also an artist. Her landscape paintings of
Giverny, the Normandy coast and the banks of the Eure
and the Seine certainly show Monet's influence, but
also evince more personal qualities, notably their soft,
radiant treatment of light. Blanche’s bedroom opens
out on to the magnificent garden where strollers can
breathe in the delicious scents of flowers. With their
wealth of sparkling colours, they perpetuate the quintessential Impressionist spirit.
Chantal Humbert
I
Claude Monet Foundation, 84, rue Claude-Monet, 27620
Giverny. House and gardens open until 1 November.
www.fondation-monet.com
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ART FAIR
London Art Week
T
hanks to London art week, the heart of
the city will be beating in time with art
and the art market : a young event that
has won its stripes… In fact, not as
young as all that: this venture, which
started up in 2013, actually brings together “Master
Paintings Week”, now in its 6th edition, and “Master
Drawings”, celebrating its 14th anniversary – two
events that have successfully attracted an audience
of connoisseurs and well-informed collectors in the
past. The rediscovery of a painting by Lucas Cranach,
sold by Colnaghi to a princely collection in Liechtenstein, was a highlight of the last edition. The concept
– bringing together some of the top international
galleries for a weekend or longer, and communicating on the unifying theme of expertise and quality –
has become an alternative to the dominant larger
fairs. The phenomenon appeals not only to professionals (who are hosts in their own premises and thus
do not have to finance a stand), but also to private
individuals: privileged guests invited to move around
from gallery to gallery. Around 50 dealers will be
presenting their best pieces in the neighbourhood of
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Mayfair andSt James's, from 4 to 11 July. Four new
participants have swelled the ranks of Master
Drawings and Sculpture Week (MDSW), including
Ariadne Galleries, specialising in Greek and Roman
art, and Richard Nathanson, who will be featuring
drawings by Amedeo Modigliani. The Daniel Katz
Gallery, which in 2013 sold an ivory Saint Sebastian
and a bronze of the Emperor Vitellius, both for
around £100,000, is proposing "Divine forms": a selection of religious paintings and sculptures, including a
marble Saint John the Baptist by Auguste Rodin
(photo). Meanwhile, Didier Aaron will be exhibiting a
panoramic landscape drawn by Louis-Nicolas de
Lespinasse: a view of the banks of the Neva. The
Master Paintings Week group is joined this year by
the Aktis and Brun Fine Art galleries, which will be
respectively presenting a work by Victor Brauner and
a portrait of a man by Domenico Fetti. Masterpieces
by the square metre, you might say!
Stéphanie Perris-Delmas
I
London Art Week, 4-11 July, London, Mayfair and St James's
www.londonartweek.co.uk
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TRENDS
Paris is
a celebration
a
t last! The city of Paris is paying homage to
Paris itself, with a lavish and varied retrospective exhibition inside one of its own
flagship buildings, the Petit Palais. “Paris
1900: The City of Entertainment”, opened
on 2 April: a date carefully chosen to resonate with the
Universal Exhibition of 1900, which opened on 15 April.
This extraordinary showcase spawned a number of structural projects which had a profound impact on the urban
landscape, from the Pont Alexandre III (whose first stone
was laid by the Tsar during his official visit in 1896) to the
Invalides and Orsay train stations, not to mention the
construction of the Grand and Petit Palais and the development of the metro system. This was a time to forget
the humiliating defeat of 1870 and the horrors of the
Commune, and move boldly into the 20th century in
spectacular, glittering style! Collectors have not been
slow off the mark. For years, with the enthusiast's eagle
eye, they have hunted down souvenirs from the time in
auctions and bric-a-brac shops. Honour to whom honour
is due: naturally, the grand old dame of steel, the Eiffel
Tower, enjoys continuing universal acclaim. In 1900, the
tower had already been standing tall for eleven years,
dominating the capital’s skyline at 312 metres – its initial
€11,150 Paul-Charles Chocarne-Moreau, "Petit brocanteur et
marmiton, place de la Concorde", oil on canvas, 45.5 x 55.5 cm.
Paris, Drouot 17 and 18 October 2010.
Auction Art Rémy Le Fur & Associés auction house.
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© Bridgeman Giraudon
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, "Marcelle
Lender dansant le boléro dans Chilpéric",
1895-1896, oil on canvas, 145 x 149 cm
(detail), National Gallery of Art,
Washington (U.S.A.), 190.127.1. Don
Betsey Cushing Whitney, 1990.
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TRENDS / GAZETTE DROUOT INTERNATIONAL
€24,225 Hector Guimard, set of seven ornamental
metro plates in cast iron with green patina and
stylised plant decoration, h. 100 cm, l. 700 cm.
Paris, Drouot, 14 November 2012.
Aguttes auction house.
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GAZETTE DROUOT INTERNATIONAL / TRENDS
height. New safety measures imposed in 1983 led to the
dismantling of one of its staircases. It was cut into 24
sections measuring 2 to 9 metres long, each given a
numbered plaque as proof of their authenticity. The first
of these is displayed at the site. Three were offered to
museums (the Musée d’Orsay, the Musée de la Villette
and the Museé de l’Histoire du Fer in Nancy), while
twenty went to auction under the hammer of Rémi Ader.
Thirty years later, he remembers the event with great
emotion, as the sale staged on the first floor of the Tower
made a deep impression on people, and attracted journalists from across the world. Acquired by enthusiasts,
some sections then found themselves in the auction
spotlight once again, with ever-mounting prices! Nineteen steps and 750 kilos of steel went for €180,000 in
November 2007 at the Ader auction house, and for
€220,000 at Artcurial in 2013.
Paris will always be Paris
Enthusiasts are also on the look-out for typical Paris signs
in painted sheet metal, zinc counters, streetlamps and
metro benches. One auction house saw how the land lay
a long time ago: Lucien, which organises an annual
session appropriately named “Paris, mon amour”. Its fifth
edition took place on 19 May, and was once again a
success, with something for everyone. A little piece of
"Paname" (meaning Paris and its suburbs), starting at €30,
could be a song by Arletty! The catalogue – a real hodgepodge – offered advertising panels in enamelled sheet
metal (€115 for a plate from Le Petit Parisien), street
lamps, metro benches, kiosks, café and bakery ceilings
and even dustbins –"poubelles": those indispensable
items named after the prefect who introduced them in
1883 in the interests of public hygiene. Prices obviously
depended on the interest and rarity of the proposed
pieces. For example, an enthusiast spent €500 on a set of
three armchairs from the Eiffel Tower’s old cinema hall –
perhaps to watch Hôtel du Nord in… We now leave the
stars for the bowels of the city. Another name symbolises
Paris: that of Hector Guimard (1867-1942). The architect
and furniture designer made a name for himself in 1898
when he built the Castel Béranger, his first creation in
what would become his trademark style. Straightaway,
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Joseph-Marius Avy,
"Bal blanc", 1903, oil on
canvas, 139 x 219 cm (detail).
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© Paris, Petit Palais / Roger-Viollet
TRENDS / GAZETTE DROUOT INTERNATIONAL
GAZETTE DROUOT INTERNATIONAL / TRENDS
he earned himself ardent admirers… and detractors, too.
Fortunately, the former carried the day, and the banker
Adrien Bérard, President of the Board of the Metropolitan
Company, asked him to design kiosks to cover the
entrances and surrounding areas of metro stations.
Guimard chose cast iron as his material, and the
dragonfly as his emblem, thus linking nature and city
together. While 66 station entrances have survived, more
or less, the Porte Dauphine metro station now has the
only remaining kiosk, which became a listed historical
monument in 1978.
As we see from the title of the exhibition at the Petit Palais,
Paris has always been a city of entertainment, and in 1900,
cabarets and theatres thrived on the slopes of Montmartre and in the Nouvelle Athènes quarter. Parisians had
a wealth of amusements to choose from. One artist made
himself the champion of this Belle Époque: the “great”
Toulouse-Lautrec. His paintings are rare and expensive,
but we can console ourselves with his coloured posters,
notably those published by Les Maîtres de l’Affiche.
Posters of Aristide Bruant and La Goulue, each a speaking
symbol of Parisian nightlife, can be had for a few thousand euros. Whilst the Parisians were slumming it in
Pigalle , Sarah Bernhardt was illuminating the stage. She
triumphed in Edmond de Rostand’s “L’Aiglon” and Alfred
de Musset's “Lorenzaccio”, in which she played the leading
roles. The critics were unanimous in their praise for this
liberated woman, whose acting rendered all the ambivalence and fragility of a male character. And true to the
saying that if you want something done you should do it
yourself, she became a theatre manager: first at La Renaissance, then the Théâtre des Nations, later renamed the
Théâtre Sarah-Bernhardt, in which she gave the first
performance of “L’Aiglon” on 15 March 1900. Between
1894 and 1900, she asked Alfons Mucha to design her
posters. Here the arts of stage and painting combined
through the boldness of this exceptional, free-spirited
woman. Painters also sought to depict everything that
made Paris unique: its boulevards, its lively quaysides and
its inhabitants in all their variety – first and foremost, its
elegant ladies. Those who created the evergreen myth of
the Parisian woman were revealed through the brushstrokes of Jean Bottini, Giovanni Boldini and Jean Béraud.
One last little tour to explore the minor trades so
touchingly immortalised by Chocarne-Moreau and
Poulbot, and the curtain falls… for the time being.
Anne Doridou-Heim
I
“Paris 1900: The City of Entertainment”, Petit Palais, Musée
des Beaux-Arts de la Ville de Paris, Avenue Winston-Churchill,
Paris 75008. Until 17 August.
www.petitpalais.paris.fr
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The Glittering Belle Époque at the Petit Palais
1900 was the year of the fifth and most spectacular World Fair hosted by Paris, with 51 million visitors over 212 days.
The Petit Palais, itself built for the event to house art exhibitions, like the Grand Palais opposite, is recreating some
of this golden age. Over 600 objects can be seen at “Paris 1900: The City of Entertainment”. The Belle Époque was
the period when Art Nouveau was emerging as a style, characterised by fluid curves drawn from nature, as seen in
Émile Gallé’s floral-themed vases. Loïe Fuller, considered the very embodiment of this movement, is here shown on
film, illuminating one of the corridors joining the exhibition rooms, and echoed in the dancing women sculpted by
Théodore Rivière and Agathon Léonard. In Albert Maignan’s painting ‘La Muse verte’, a young muse in an absinthecoloured dress personifies the drink so popular at the time. We see a similarly suggestive, green-tinged wash over
Toulouse-Lautrec’s picture of Marcelle Lender. This work – the exhibition’s poster-image – is fittingly staged in the
final rooms, which immerse visitors in the world of Paris as the Mecca of entertainment, with legendary haunts like
the Moulin Rouge and the Chat Noir at the heart of the city's night life. Until 17 August 2014.
Anna Stephens
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EVENT
A distinctly
French way of life
F
rom the strong hues of the absolute rule of
the Sun King to the livelier, more varied
colours of the "Beloved's" reign and the
softer tones of his successor's times, the
Musée du Louvre’s new rooms dedicated to
the arts of three Louis of France lack neither panache nor
typically French rigour as far as museography is
concerned. The project, already planned under Daniel
Alcouffe, then brought to life by his successor Marc
Bascou, has benefited from the French touch of a big
name in interior design: Jacques Garcia, the master
behind the Château de Champ de Bataille. Here at the
Louvre, he wanted to establish a circuit with a quasiinstinctive grasp of the evolution of styles, offering
To read
“Décors, mobilier et objets d’art du musée du Louvre. De Louis XIV
à Marie Antoinette”, edited by Jannic Durand, Michèle Bimbenet-Privat
and Frédéric Dassas, with the collaboration of Catherine Voiriot.
Jointly published by Somogy/Musée du Louvre,
552 pages and 500 illustrations. €45, in French and English.
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“a moving walk through time”. On the first floor of the
Richelieu wing, everything is skilfully composed to
immerse the visitor in the refined world of 18th centurykings, princes and Superintendants of France. With digital
features, period rooms and thematic displays, all it needs
is the music of Lully or Rameau to transport us for a
moment back to the time when France dominated
Europe and the art it produced was the envy of the world.
It required nearly ten years for this project to take shape,
thanks to the generosity of numerous patrons, first and
foremost the watch company Breguet and the Louvre’s
Cercle Cressent: ten years to rethink the setting for some
of the most important collections in the world from royal
and princely provenances, such as the set of furniture by
André Charles Boulle displayed in the former Council of
State rooms. The chemistry between the works and the
decor, which is speaking throughout, is perhaps less so
here, under these 19th century ceilings; the ambiance is
impressive, with a portrait of Louis XIV by Rigaud and the
masterpieces of the great cabinetmaker, yet the space
seems unpopulated, disembodied. But this feeling is
soon left behind, thanks notably to the succession of
period rooms in the north wing: a real success, and a feast
Study of the
apartment on the
Hôtel Dangé court
© 2014 Musée du Louvre, dist. RMN-GP/ Olivier Ouadah
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© RMN-GP (Musée du Louvre) / Droits Réservés
GAZETTE DROUOT INTERNATIONAL / EVENT
Key Figures
2,183 m2 - 33 rooms - 2,000 objects
Closed for 9 years
A budget of €26 million
Armchair “à la reine” from
Marie-Antoinette’s bedroom
in the Château de Saint-Cloud.
Paris, 1787. Jean-Baptiste-Claude
Séné, carpenter, Alexandre
Régnier, sculptor, and LouisFrançois Chatard, gilder, sculpted
and gilded walnut. Modern
embellishment, 105 x 63 x 60 cm.
for the eyes. Recreating a Rococo salon with panelling complemented by tapestries, furniture and a diverse range of small
objects – where you can just imagine the elegant Madame
Marsollier emerging at any moment – is certainly the best way to
illustrate the refinement of an era which set the trend for a lifestyle
enhanced by art. Here, visitors discover the country scenes
painted by Jean-Baptiste Oudry from the Château de Voré in la
Perche: delicious compositions of flowers, birds and people in
landscapes with the colours of a spring bouquet, matching the
armchair “à la reine” by Nicolas Heurtaut. A few metres from there,
the panelling of a study from the apartment at the Hôtel de Villemaré-Dangé offers rare evidence of a typically Rococo interior of
the mid-18th century, basking in harmonious blues and shades of
gold. Further along, and therefore later in time – for the curators
have adopted a chronological approach – visitors can discover
one of those “follies” popular in the Paris of the second half of the
18th century, or rather, what remains of it: “La Toilette de Vénus”, a
painting by Antoine François Callet that once decorated the
cupola in the drawing room of the small mansion (or “petits appartements”) in the Palais Bourbon, residence of the Prince de Condé,
destroyed in 1846. Recently restored, and shown for the first time
here at the centre of the Marengo wing, it illustrates the Neoclassical reaction which marked the last years of Louis XV’s reign.
This developed more fully during the reign of his grandson and
successor, Louis XVI. The taste for Antiquity, also known as the
“Greek” taste, is magnificently illustrated in the Piranesi Room,
where marble sculptures from Italy stand tall against a backdrop
of pale pink walls. It is only a short step from pink to white, taking
visitors into the rooms of Marie Antoinette and the masterpieces
created for her apartments in the Tuileries and at Saint Cloud by
the top cabinetmakers of the day, including Weisweiler and
Reisener. The century, and with it the circuit, thus ends on a high
note, with a “moment of perfection” in French art.
Stéphanie Perris-Delmas
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IN PARTNERSHIP WITH
MUSEUM
Tattoo
W
hile tattooing has a long history
in both technical and aesthetic
terms, one that has already been
largely studied and described,
the tattooers and the tattooed
are its spokespeople in everyday life. For the first
time, the approach adopted by a major exhibition at
the Musée du Quai Branly focuses on its practice as a
form of artistic expression and pays tribute to
contemporary pioneers: artists who have taken the
art of tattooing to new heights, but whose role has
never been fully acknowledged. Created specifically
for the exhibition, 13 "volumes" – hyperrealistic
prototypes reproducing parts of the human body –
have been made especially for the exhibition out of
an experimental material, and tattooed by master
tattoo artists including Tin-tin (France), Horiyoshi III
(Japan), Filip Leu (Switzerland), Jack Rudy (US), Xed
LeHead (UK) and Chimé (Polynesia). Also on show are
19 "body suits": tattoo designs painted on kakemonos by professionals who combine respect for
their art with decidedly modern inspiration and the
desire to highlight genuine originality in their work.
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From the global to the marginal
A graphic medium with a universal language,
tattooing has taken on different meanings over the
course of its history. Its age, its omnipresence in
very varied societies, the diversity of its forms
and its many different practices throughout the
world form the linchpin of the exhibition. In the
mid-19th century, tattooing became the expression
of intimate or social messages, personal convictions or identifying membership of a group.
A secret language was printed on the bodies of the
tattooed, such as soldiers and prisoners, perpetuating both a social legend and graphic styles
dictated by the rudimentary techniques of the
period. The tattooed person, considered as
marginal, became an exhibit in 1840 during
the Chicago World Fair, which acted as a catalyst
for the first travelling circuses. These would feature
tattooed people in their shows in the same way
as bearded women or sword swallowers, or
display them in sideshows at the entrance to
the big top.
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TO SEE
"Tattoo", Musée du Quai Branly,
west mezzanine - until 18 October 2015.
Catalogue jointly published by the Musée du Quai
Branly/Actes Sud, 288 pages, French and English
publications. Price: €45 .
www.quaibranly.fr
© Jake Verzosa, Collection de l'Artiste
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The last tattooed Kalinga
woman, 2011, Philippines.
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© musée du quai Branly, Thomas Duval
Tin-tin, tattoo created on silicone human body
moulds for the Musée du quai Branly as part of
the exhibition "Tatoueurs, tatoués".
Silicone, France.
GAZETTE DROUOT INTERNATIONAL / INSIDE THE MUSEUM
In Edo (the ancient name for Tokyo), the birthplace of
traditional Japanese tattooing in the 17th century, the
illustrations of Hokusai and Kuniyoshi started up a craze
for tattooing. A much-prized symbol of protest among
the lower classes and numerous guilds – firemen, ostlers,
artists, and so on –, the practice was finally forbidden at
the end of the 19th century. By an irony of history,
tattooing disappeared in Japan just when the rest of the
world was discovering it. In North America, while every
native tribe had practised the art of tattooing since the
dawn of time, Samuel O’Reilly (who died in 1908), one of
its pioneers in the US, developed the electric tattooing
machine in 1881. In the early 20th century, tattooing
was featured in sideshows, and became very fashionable. Then the thick, bold outline style known as "old
school" became popular. The exhibition puts the spotlight on the work of great masters who have revolutionised the milieu of its practice today, including the artist
Ed Hardy, who has fostered and popularised international artistic exchanges. In Europe, the mummy of Ötzi,
more than 4,500 years old, provides us with the oldest
evidence of tattooing in Western Europe. 2,000 years
later, some of the 200 Celtic peoples who had settled in
a large part of the region – France, Belgium, Italy and
Western Germany – also sported marks on their bodies.
Colonial pressure and evangelism led the West to stifle
and sometimes eradicate religious and identity-conferring tattooing in Europe, as well as in colonised territories. Tattooing then reappeared in the urban environment through the increasing number of trade
exchanges with the colonies.
© Cedric Arnold. Courtesy Galerie Olivier Waltman
A new order: Japan, North America and Europe
Yantra: Muay Thai boxer, Bangkok, France 2008-2011.
Photograph mounted on Kapa board, wooden slats.
The revival of traditional tattooing
in Asia and Oceania
Traditional tattooing in Oceania and South East Asia
also underwent a revolution in its ethnographical,
tribal and magical conception as from the late Seventies. Through the incessant exchanges brought about
by the development of transport and tourism, the practice of traditional tattooing was subject to a network of
influences between all societies on a global scale.
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INSIDE THE MUSEUM / GAZETTE DROUOT INTERNATIONAL
©Schwarz-weiß © Courtesy Herbert Hoffmann and Galerie Gebr. Lehmann Dresden/Berlin
While consumer societies and the endless succession
of playful images have influenced painting, literature
and contemporary cinema, they have also had an
impact on tattooing. The transnational aspect of ethnic
tattooing means that traditional motifs can be reinterpreted from a modern perspective, making the art a
living, dynamic practice perpetuated by individuals or
families of tattooers. The exhibition puts the spotlight
on the diversity of tattooing traditions, their aesthetic
and ritual aspect, and the revival and development of
these practices in modern times.
Flottenbesuch in Hamburg, 1966.
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New territories: Chicano and Chinese tattoos
Chicano tattooing appeared during the Seventies via
the "Chicana" aesthetic transmitted within prisons,
which notably contained members of gangs from
Central America, and Latino populations who had
settled in the region bordering the US. Chicano
tattooing mainly developed in first California, then
Mexico into a new school that was both graphic and
cultural. Tattooers revisited the incredible imagery of
their history and brought about graphic revolutions
through a bold reinterpretation of the past, reviving
the symbols of a cultural heroism in new compositions
with a new range of colours. In China, tattooing has
taken on many different forms of social status over
thousands of years. Depending on the successive
imperial dynasties and their religions, tattooing was
associated with the marginal and criminal populations,
or was adopted by the noble and/or bourgeois classes.
However, it has always been an ancestral practice with
the minorities living in territories not administered by
the central powers, because they were too far away –
for example, the Drung and the Dai. It was forbidden
during the Cultural Revolution in the Sixties by Mao
Zedong, who considered it a manifestation of impurity
and dishonesty. Today, asserting a globalised pop
culture, younger generations have adopted tattooing,
despite it being frowned upon by the majority of the
Chinese, who are still hostile to it.
Curators: Anne & Julien,
founders of the review HEY!, modern art & pop culture,
and also performers, journalists, authors and film directors.
© Tatttooinjapan.com / Martin Hladik
Traditional Japanese
tattoo.