When Cécile Bernard was recently appointed general manager of Sotheby’s France, she made the point that Paris is not just a consignment depot for the auction house’s salerooms in London and New York, and as the city’s auction season kicks off, several notable single-owner collections are coming to market.
After the success of the Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé sale in 2009, Christie’s has teamed up again with Bergé for a two-day sale of interior furnishings from the home of the Parisian collector Pierre-Yves le Diberder. Scheduled to take place at the Drouot auction rooms on 13-14 October, the sale contains an eclectic mix of around 300 antiques, Old Master and contemporary paintings, fabrics and 19th-century furniture, with an estimated total value of €1.5m.
The following week, on 17 October, Piasa is selling one of world’s finest collections of Belgian Art Nouveau posters. Dating from 1895-1905, the 130 lithographs and original pieces are a time capsule of the Belle Époque, and include works by artists such as Émile Berchmans, Gisbert Combaz and Théo van Rysselberghe. Collected by the Belgian society couturier Louis Wittamer de Camps and his wife, they have been exhibited in the US and Europe.
On 20 October, Sotheby’s is selling a collection of Art Deco furniture, sculptures and paintings belonging to Henri Chwast, the founder of Meredith, the first Parisian fashion concept store, in the 1970s. It includes seven works by Jean Dunand, two by Eileen Gray, three by Clément Rousseau and five by Pierre Chareau, among them a pair of religieuse (nun) standing lamps estimated at €300,000-€500,000 each.
Sotheby’s is also showing African tribal art from the collection of Viviane Jutheau, countess de Witt, on 5-10 September, ahead of the sale on 14 December. The 22 masks and statues, mainly of Fang, Kota and Kwele Gabonese tribal origin, will form the core of the African and Oceanic art sale, a sector where Paris has a solid claim to pre-eminence.
