CHRISTIE'S PARIS - 20EME SIECLE - 20/22 OCTOBER 2016

AN EXCEPTIONAL SEASON OF PRESTIGIOUS COLLECTIONS AND
MASTERWORKS IN PARIS DURING FIAC
FROM 20TH TO 22ND OCTOBER
-The Bjäringer Collection (20th October)
-Paris Avant-Garde (20th October)
-Modern Art (21st October)
-The Claude Berri Collection (22nd October)

Paris – Christie’s France is proud to celebrate its dedicated 20th century sale season during the week of the international contemporary art fair (FIAC) from October 19th to October 22nd. During this exceptional week, Christie’s will offer more than 200 lots by leading international artists and offered across four different sales.

François de Ricqlès, President of Christie’s France: “During one week in October, Paris will become the center of the art world. Our four sales organised during this international event will span the 20th century and will include rare works from prestigious provenance carefully selected by our specialists. The auctions will offer masterworks from the early 20th century signed by Pierre Bonnard, Frantisek Kupka, Henri Laurens and Pablo Picasso, as well as major works by Jean-Paul Riopelle, Alexander Calder and Jean Arp which define Parisian Modernism. The departments have worked closely together to build this impressive sale season which will certainly attract connoisseurs from around the world”.

COLLECTIONS, 20TH & 22TH OCTOBER

THE BJÄRINGER COLLECTION – 20TH October 2016 AT 7PM

Christie’s France will present the Bjäringer collection on October 20th. This collection offers a panoramic view of the Parisian avant-garde over the course of the 20th century. Assembled by two generations of Swedish connoisseurs initiated by pharmaceuticals entrepreneur Erik Bjäringer, the collection features paintings by a selection of artists from the School of Paris, with highlights including an important painting by Fernand Léger, L’arbre vert, 1932 (estimate:
€1,500,000-2,000,000), unseen on the public market since the 1960s, alongside works by Marc Chagall, Joan Miró, and Salvador Dalí. Inspired by his father’s legacy, Martin Bjäringer and his wife Helena have focused their development of the collection on the post-war artists of the second School of Paris, with works by Serge Poliakoff, Pierre Soulages and Jean-Paul Riopelle as well as Alexander Calder. These artists challenged the geometric abstraction of their avant-garde predecessors in favour of a more invigorated spontaneity of expression. In bringing these works together, the family have added a new dimension to the Bjäringer collection, establishing a dynamic and sophisticated dialogue between these two groundbreaking schools of painting. Amongst the 20 lots offered, collectors will also discover a major painting by Nicolas de Staël, Paysageaunuage, providing a superb example of the artist’s unique ability to walk the line between abstraction and figuration. The painting makes its very first appearance on the auction market since it was painted by the artist in 1953 (estimate: €1,200,000-1,600,000).

Jussi Pylkkänen, Global President, Christie’s: “It is a true honor for Christie’s to offer this splendid selection from one of the great Scandinavian collecting families which we have known for over 20 years in the very city where these artists have lived and worked. The Bjäringer collection tells the story of two generations of educated, passionate Swedish collectors who expressed their love for French abstraction through a comprehensive collection of paintings by artists, both French and from other parts of the world, who have been attracted by the creative frenzy of Paris. From Marc Chagall to Alexander Calder and from Salvador Dalí to Karel Appel, the group shows pays tribute to Paris as the epicenter of the art world from the beginning of the 20th century until the 1960s.”

HE CLAUDE BERRI COLLECTION – 22ND OCTOBER AT 3PM

The entire Christie’s team is pleased to present the outstanding collection of Modern and Contemporary art, thoughtfully accumulated over decades by Claude Berri (1934-2009), the Oscar-winning director and a tremendously successful producer. An important selection of works will be offered in a dedicated auction on October 22nd during FIAC. This main auction will be followed by three other sales organized later this year in order to demonstrate the multiple facets of this eclectic collection: Photographs sale, taking place during Paris Photo in November, and two sessions of Online-only Contemporary Art sales in October and December.

As Claude Berri once declared: “Art changes lives. It changed mine, to the point of taking precedence over cinema. Today, I have the feeling I’m better for paintings than for movies. ”

Edouard Boccon-Gibod, Managing Director of Christie’s France: “Christie’s France is very proud to have been entrusted with the sale of this fabulous collection of nearly 400 works of art. This auction will also be the occasion for international collectors, present in Paris during the international fair, to pay a last tribute to Claude Berri “.

Claude Berri’s great success first as an actor and later as an Oscar-winning film director and producer was due to a tireless dedication to the cinema, and he pursued collecting with the same passionate determination and energy. He developed interest in art and collecting in the 1970’s when he first bought a gouache by Magritte. He then discovered the work of Tamara de Lempicka before falling in love with the work of Robert Ryman. Berri was one of the world’s most important collectors of Ryman paintings, one of which, Venue, was sold for $9,349,000 last May at Christie’s New York during the Post-War & Contemporary art sale.

Claude Berri was assembling his collection across many years, and his interest evolved from his initial obsession with Post-War abstraction – Jean Dubuffet, Yves Klein, Jannis Kounellis, Dan Flavin, Henri Michaux, Daniel Buren towards more contemporary artists such as John Baldessari, Paul McCarthy, Berlinde de Bruyckere, Joana Vasconcelos, Pascale Marthine Tayou and Gilles Barbier (all of them presented in the sale). Featuring signature works by some of the most celebrated artists of the 20th century, this auction will be led by a rare UntitledMonogold(MG44) by Yves Klein. Dating from 1961,this work initially comes from the collection of the prominent French art critic Pierre Restany and his wife Jeannine. Another iconic work from the collection is Untitled,1960 by Jannis Kounellis (illustrated on the first page). This 3-meter-large work belongs to L’alfabetodiKounellisseries, other examples of which are now in the collections of MoMA in New York, Tate Modern in London and in the François Pinault collection. This monumental canvas was executed during the early years of the artist’s career in Rome, when he was only 24 years old. Other major artists such as Bruce Nauman, Juan Muñoz, Eduardo Chillida, Tatiana Trouvé and Sean Scully will feature in the auction.

Laetitia Bauduin, Director of the Post War & Contemporary art department: “It is a real honor to organize such an important auction at Christie’s in Paris. Claude Berri had an exquisite taste for modern and contemporary art and this sale reflects his skill for selecting the art works of talented artists who are now renowned and established on the market such as Bruce Nauman or Berlinde De Bruyckere”.

Other major works include a rare watercolor and graphite on paper by Francis Picabia. Realised in 1913, in the same year that Picabia went to New York with Marcel Duchamp for The Armory show, a milestone exhibition showcasing the best of European Avant-Garde Art in the United States, he executed this radically modern work inspired by the famous French-Polish dancer Stacia Napierkowska. Prefiguring his mechanical portraits from 1915-16, this fascinating and rare work, which was first in the personal collection of Tristan Tzara before being acquired by Claude Berri, is estimated between €200,000 and 300,000. Modern art connoisseurs will also have the opportunity to acquire works by Roberto Matta, Fernand Léger and Julio González.

Tudor Davies, Director of the Impressionist and Modern art department: “We are very proud to present an extremely rare work on paper by one of the founders of the Dada movement. This work represents an important period in Picabia’s career and we are confident that it will be very much appreciated by the collectors present in Paris during FIAC”.

MASTERWORKS

PARIS AVANT-GARDE – 20TH OCTOBER 2016 AT 6PM

During FIAC, Christie’s Paris will launch an entirely new auction platform entitled Paris Avant-Garde. This curated evening sale will be the latest in a series of highly innovative and successful auctions pioneered by Christie's in order to evolve our business within the arena of 20th Century collecting.

Throughout the 20th Century, Paris occupied the role of capital of the Avant-Garde, attracting artists from around the globe to contribute to the development of new artistic ideas. From the melting pot would come many of the fundamental artistic themes which would inform

The art of the 20th Century, from Fauvism, Cubism and Surrealism through to the beginnings of Lyrical Abstraction and New Realism. Our sale will present carefully-selected works from the leading names behind these movements, many of which are appearing on the market for the first time in our sale.

The sale’s over lot is a memorable mobile sculpture by Alexander Calder gifted to the photographer Agnès Varda (estimate €1,500,000-2,000,000).

The top lot of the sale is a 1924 painting by Pierre Bonnard, Grand Nu à la baignoire (estimate €3,000,000-5,000,000) which has remained in the same Parisian family since acquired in 1925.

Other works include František Kupa’s seminal 1912-14 painting, Formes Allongées (estimate €800,000-1,200,000), one of the artist’s earliest forays into Lyrical abstraction to appear on the market, and consigned to our sale from the family who acquired it from the artist in the mid- 1950s. Appearing on the market for the first time in the sale will be a cast of Henri Laurens’ Grande caryatide, a large scale bronze sculpture from 1930 (estimate €800,000-1,200,000, illustrated right).

The sale otherwise includes key works by artists as diverse as Pierre Soulages, Jean Arp, Simon Hantaï, Salvador Dalí and Jean Dubuffet among others.

In addition to these remarkable works, Christie’s is proud to have been entrusted with the sale of works from the Collection of Bernard Monnier (the late husband of Jacqueline Monnier Matisse). The group of seven lots includes a wonderfully vibrant and lyrical Miró gouache dating from 1950 and a selection of rare objects by Alberto Giacometti, including a cast of his celebrated Lamp coupe aux deux figures.

Francois de Ricqlès, President of Christie’s France: “At the heart of our marquee week of sales during FIAC, Christie’s sale of Paris Avant-Garde will pay tribute to the central role that the City of Light played in the development of the artistic scene across the last century. We are pleased to have been able to source works which we feel will undoubtedly be of interest to the world’s collectors as they gather in Paris during this cultural highlight week.”

MODERN ART – 21st OCTOBER 2016 AT 4PM

On October 21st, the ImpressionistandModernartdepartmentwill invite collectors to acquire some modern artworks from prestigious collection such as a group of ceramics by Fernand Léger coming directly from the ceramist’s heirs, Roland Brice. This auction will also offer some works by the greatest artists of the 20th century such as Pablo Picasso who will be represented with an impressive Buste d’homme realised in 1969 and estimated between €2,000,000 and 3,000,000. This painting depicts a musketeer, a subject which entered Picasso’s repertoire in the spring of 1966. His inspiration came from Alexandre Duma’s novel “LesTrois Mousquetaires” and would hereafter become a leading character in Picasso’s visual repertoire, making frequent appearances in his work across all media. In her memoires of the time she spent with Picasso, Hélène Parmelin testified to the amusement the artist enjoyed ascribing personalities to his different paintings, saying ‘watch out for this one’, ‘that one makes fun of us’, ‘he is enormously satisfied’ or even ‘and that one look how sad he is, the poor guy. He must be a painter’ (quoted in Picasso: Tradition and Avant-Garde, exh. Cat., Museo del Prado, Madrid, 2006, p. 340). Busted’hommeis an energetic romantic vision of a virile character from the past, resurrected by Picasso as part of his engagement with his artistic forerunners. Painted with a verve which belies the artist’s age, it is testament to the lust for life which Picasso continued to exhibit in his later years. “You see, this isn’t over! I still have things to say.” (The artist, quoted in Hélène Parmelin, Picasso on his little terrace, reprinted in Picasso Mosqueteros, exh. cat. Gagosian Gallery, New York, 2009).

The highlights of this sale will also include a vibrant 1939 oil on canvas by Fernand Léger and a beautiful still life by Georges Braque. La saucière realised in 1942 was acquired successively by Alfred Poyet, Sam Salz and the famous collector Alex Lewyt who kept the painting in his collection all his life (estimate: €450,000-650,000). Also included in this auction is an important Portraitdefemmeby Foujita and one of the largest oil on canvas by Maurice Utrillo to come to the market representing a view of a Parisian street under the snow: Rue du Mont-Cenissousla neige (estimate: €250,000-350,000). The Mont-Cenis Street is part of the Montmartre village that Utrillo loved to represent in his paintings.

Fanny Saulay, Specialist at the impressionist and modern art department: “We are proud to present our Modern art sale, in the context of a very exciting sale week at Christie’s Paris. Led by a monumental Picasso, offered for the first time at auction, the sale will present a large variety of artists and estimates which we expect to appeal to the international crowd gathered in Paris at this very special time of the art market calendar.”

Sales dates:

Paris Avant-Garde: Thursday 20th October at 6 pm – 35 lots – Estimate: €15M to €24M
The Bjäringer collection: Thursday 20th October at 7pm – 20 lots – Estimate: €5,1M to €7,1M Modern Art: Friday 21st October at 4pm – 83 lots – Estimate: €6,8M to €9,8M
The Claude Berri Collection: Saturday 22nd October at 3pm – 78 lots – Estimate: €5,5M to €8M