Saint Laurent’s art treasures go on show
Güncelleme Tarihi:
AFP
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Şubat 24, 2009 00:00
PARIS - Museum buyers, dealers, collectors, and wealthy art lovers have snapped up all 1,200 seats at Paris' Grand Palais, where the art treasures amassed over half a century by Yves Saint Laurent and his lifelong companion Pierre Berge went on show Saturday in a stage-set recreating the couple's ornate interiors
Hundreds of art treasures amassed over half a century by Yves Saint Laurent and his lifelong companion Pierre Berge, went under the hammer Monday in a spectacular farewell to the couture giant.
After Saint Laurent's death last June aged 71, Berge chose to part with the 732 pieces, collected across the world to grace the couple's apartments and country retreats, from Paris' Left Bank to sun-kissed Marrakech.
One of the world's great private collections, it takes in masterpieces by Picasso, Mondrian and Matisse, old masters, Art Deco gems, bronzes, enamels and antiques, including two Chinese relics whose planned sale has angered Beijing.
Coined the "sale of the century," the three-day auction is expected to fetch up to 300 million euros, setting a new record for a private collection and giving a welcome boost to a depressed global art market.
Works on show
Museum buyers, dealers, collectors, and wealthy art lovers from around the world have snapped up all 1,200 seats at Paris' Grand Palais, where the works went on show Saturday in a stage-set recreating the couple's ornate interiors. Sign of Saint Laurent's iconic status in France, more than 20,000 people queued up to five hours in wintry weather for a once-in-a-lifetime chance to view the eclectic collection, and catch a glimpse into the designer's life.
Berge, a 79-year-old business tycoon and patron of the arts, said that the collected artworks "reflect exactly who Yves was, and who I am." "But the day Yves Saint Laurent died, I decided this collection had run its course," he said.
Berge added in the auction catalogue that he hopes "everything that we have loved with so much passion finds a home with other collectors." Christie's, which is organizing the sale with Berge's own auction house, sees the event as "a milestone in the history of great auctions," comparable to a 1987 sale of the Duchess of Windsor's jewels.
Leaving no stone unturned, Christie's toured star pieces to New York, London and Brussels, while some 600 high-end buyers were offered private viewings inside Saint Laurent's apartment.
Auction proceeds will be split between a fund for medical research and the fight against AIDS, and a Berge/Saint Laurent Foundation honoring the designer's work.
Monday's sale was devoted to impressionist and modern art, including a Cubist-period Picasso estimated at 25 million to 30 million euros, and an early 20th century Brancusi sculpture never seen in public.
The wooden sculpture titled "Portrait of Madame L.R." and estimated at 15-20 million euros, was first acquired by Leger in exchange for one of his own works.
A youthful Degas painting of an Italian landscape, which hung beside Berge's bed for 20 years and for which he claims a "special affection," is the first item in the sale.
Works by Giacometti, Klee, Duchamp, and a Mondrian that once belonged to film director Otto Preminger, also figure alongside paintings by Cezanne, Manet and Gauguin. There will be a focus on old masters, 19th-century art and Art Deco, including a brown leather Dragons armchair by Irish designer Eileen Gray.
Blocking the sale
The auction ends Wednesday with sculptures, archaeological pieces, ceramics, Islamic and Asian art Ğ including the disputed Chinese animal bronzes.
A Paris court was to rule Monday on a bid by a Chinese association to bloc the sale of the two pieces Ğ the heads of a rabbit and a rat, stolen from the Old Summer Palace during the second Opium War in 1860.
Christie's said there were no legal obstacles to the sale of the relics, estimated at 10 million euros each. But the association is hoping the French state will exercise its right to pre-empt the sale Ğ seizing a chance to patch up ties with Beijing frayed by tensions over Tibet.
After Saint Laurent's death last June aged 71, Berge chose to part with the 732 pieces, collected across the world to grace the couple's apartments and country retreats, from Paris' Left Bank to sun-kissed Marrakech.
One of the world's great private collections, it takes in masterpieces by Picasso, Mondrian and Matisse, old masters, Art Deco gems, bronzes, enamels and antiques, including two Chinese relics whose planned sale has angered Beijing.
Coined the "sale of the century," the three-day auction is expected to fetch up to 300 million euros, setting a new record for a private collection and giving a welcome boost to a depressed global art market.
Works on show
Museum buyers, dealers, collectors, and wealthy art lovers from around the world have snapped up all 1,200 seats at Paris' Grand Palais, where the works went on show Saturday in a stage-set recreating the couple's ornate interiors. Sign of Saint Laurent's iconic status in France, more than 20,000 people queued up to five hours in wintry weather for a once-in-a-lifetime chance to view the eclectic collection, and catch a glimpse into the designer's life.
Berge, a 79-year-old business tycoon and patron of the arts, said that the collected artworks "reflect exactly who Yves was, and who I am." "But the day Yves Saint Laurent died, I decided this collection had run its course," he said.
Berge added in the auction catalogue that he hopes "everything that we have loved with so much passion finds a home with other collectors." Christie's, which is organizing the sale with Berge's own auction house, sees the event as "a milestone in the history of great auctions," comparable to a 1987 sale of the Duchess of Windsor's jewels.
Leaving no stone unturned, Christie's toured star pieces to New York, London and Brussels, while some 600 high-end buyers were offered private viewings inside Saint Laurent's apartment.
Auction proceeds will be split between a fund for medical research and the fight against AIDS, and a Berge/Saint Laurent Foundation honoring the designer's work.
Monday's sale was devoted to impressionist and modern art, including a Cubist-period Picasso estimated at 25 million to 30 million euros, and an early 20th century Brancusi sculpture never seen in public.
The wooden sculpture titled "Portrait of Madame L.R." and estimated at 15-20 million euros, was first acquired by Leger in exchange for one of his own works.
A youthful Degas painting of an Italian landscape, which hung beside Berge's bed for 20 years and for which he claims a "special affection," is the first item in the sale.
Works by Giacometti, Klee, Duchamp, and a Mondrian that once belonged to film director Otto Preminger, also figure alongside paintings by Cezanne, Manet and Gauguin. There will be a focus on old masters, 19th-century art and Art Deco, including a brown leather Dragons armchair by Irish designer Eileen Gray.
Blocking the sale
The auction ends Wednesday with sculptures, archaeological pieces, ceramics, Islamic and Asian art Ğ including the disputed Chinese animal bronzes.
A Paris court was to rule Monday on a bid by a Chinese association to bloc the sale of the two pieces Ğ the heads of a rabbit and a rat, stolen from the Old Summer Palace during the second Opium War in 1860.
Christie's said there were no legal obstacles to the sale of the relics, estimated at 10 million euros each. But the association is hoping the French state will exercise its right to pre-empt the sale Ğ seizing a chance to patch up ties with Beijing frayed by tensions over Tibet.