Important group of modern, surrealist and contemporary paintings and drawings
Sale in aid of the Institut Pasteur.
Public exhibition at Hôtel Drouot on :
- Thursday September 19, 11 am to 8 pm,
- Friday September 20, 11 am to 6 pm,
- Saturday September 21 from 11 am to 6 pm,
- Sunday September 22, 11 am to 6 pm,
- Monday, September 23, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m,
- Tuesday, September 24, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m,
- and the morning of the sale from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Experts:
- Cabinet Perazzone-Brun (01 42 60 45 45) for lots 1 to 13, 16 to 23, 25 to 40, 43 to 78, 80, 81, 83, 84, 89, 93, 96, 99 to 108, 110 to 114, 116 to 152, 154 to 164.
- Sculpture and collection - Lacroix-Jeannest, (01 83 97 02 06) for lots 41, 42, 79, 97, 153.
- M. Jean-Marc Maury (06 85 30 36 66) for lots 82, 85 to 88, 90, 91, 94, 95, 98, 115.
A few words about this collection
The history of this collection is unknown to us. For us, it began with a chance discovery, during a routine estate inventory meeting; that of a man about whom we know nothing except that he was at one time an antique dealer.
In the Porte Dauphine district, this opaque, cluttered apartment gradually revealed its contents to us, revealing what we're all looking for: abundance and taste. Here, almost 800 paintings and some 20,000 sheets of paper (drawings, prints, photos) accumulated, sometimes anarchically.
We know almost nothing about this unmapped collection, a collector unknown to the leading experts. What emerges from this heap is the character of a solitary man, an art history buff, a tireless defender of the Artist, whether painter, draughtsman, sculptor or photographer. We would like to understand, to know more, to interpret what drove this man to accumulate, often without exhibiting them, so many paintings and drawings. We can only speculate.
The dispersal of this collection over nearly seven sales reflects this quest and mystery. They give us a shadowy view of this man with a passion for art and discovery. It also reveals that this aggregation, the quest of a lifetime, was not in vain: his entire collection, now revealed, will be sold for the benefit of the Institut Pasteur.
Romain Nouel
Auctioneer