MARRAKECH.- Artcurial will return to the Es Saadi Palace, in Marrakech, on 30th December 2018 for the third edition of Paris#Marrakech, an event taking place during the new Marrakech Art Week, initiated by Artcurial and hosted simultaneously.
The first auction will disperse an exceptional Italian Orientalist private collection: From Constantinople to Tangier, the collection of an Italian enthusiast. It includes 40 works, including 3 signed Hermann Corrodi and 6 Théodore Frère, 3 Alberto Pasini and is estimated 2.5 to 3 M€.
A selection of works from the collection will be presented in Artcurial’s Milanese office on 12 and 13 October 2018.
A voyage around the Mediterranean
The Italian Orientalists
The works gathered by this Italian collector offer a rare insight into Italian Orientalism. The historical natural links between the Italian peninsula and the east, the image of Venice’s central position in trade between the two extremities of the Mediterranean Sea are a source of inspiration and fascination for Italian artists. The many voyages feed their imagination.
Hermann Corrodi, represented by three pieces in the collection, travels to Syria, Egypt and several countries of the Middle East. His Vue de la fontaine sacrée de Jérusalem (estimate: €100,000 - 150,000) combines one of his favourite subjects, the landscape, with a romantic aesthetic. We note the presence of architecture and ruins alongside warm and enveloping light, evoking the relaxed pace of life in this idealized East. We yet again witness his talent for landscape in Place Hassan au Caire (estimate: €100,000 - 150,000), a large panoramic painting marked by iridescent light and the ochre sand of the houses and ground.
After having studied at the School of Fine Arts of Parma and specializing in landscapes Alberto Pasini studied with Théodore Chassériau in France. He begins to take an interest in the East and joins a diplomatic mission for the French State in March 1855. He paints at every step of his travels in Persia, Turkey, Syria, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, such as in Amarage du navire sur le Bosphore (estimate: €50,000 - 70,000) or Le Kiosk in 1870 (estimate: €40,000 - 60,000). He will not hesitate to step out of his comfort zone of landscape to paint scenes such as La preparation du pain in 1885 (estimate: €25,000 - 35,000). These images of daily life are particularly popular. They illustrate the effervescence of Arab cities, as in Marché by Fabio Fabbi (estimate: €50,000 - 70,000).
Alongside these pieces meant to document everyday life yet above all reflect an exotic idealised image catering to European imagination, the artists are inspired by Eastern mythology brought back to fashion in literature. John Paul Sinibaldi stages a dramatic and passionate episode of Salammbo in a painting of exceptional dimensions (191 x 353 cm). Gustave Flaubert’s romantic heroin appears on the terraces of the palace of Carthage, beneath a full moon, imploring the goddess Tanit (estimate: €150,000 - 200,000).
The French Orientalists
Alongside Italian painters, we naturally encounter the essential masters of French Orientalism French: Theodore Frère (with an impressive collection of 6 pieces), Eugène Girardet and Etienne Dinet.
In 1836, Theodore Frère moves to Algiers, after traveling throughout Africa and the Middle East. He enjoys representing the Caravane vers la Mecque in an almost mystical light, certainly one of the foremost works by the artist known to this day (100 x 170,50 cm, estimate: €150,000 - 200,000) and his immobile pendant the caravanserai. On every occasion, the landscape is neat, almost fantastic, with marginalized human presence in the desert’s immensity, symbolised by La caravane vers la Mecque.
Eugène Girardet and Etienne Dinet are recognised for their colourful scenes featuring young women in picturesque poses, underlined by the explosion of patterns and colours of their opulent clothes. La gazelle apprivoisée by Eugene Girardet is one of the most important works of this renowned artist and the only known representation of this character in his body of work (estimate: €250,000 - 350,000). Etienne Dinet’s piece, La cueillette surprise us again with this completely modern take in the Orientalist painting of the period (estimate: €300,000 - 400,000).
3rd edition of Paris#Marrakech
Artcurial reinforces its presence in Morocco in the cultural sector: organisation of exhibitions, cultural engineering services via the Artcurial Culture Agency for the Mohammed VI museum in Rabat, annual auctions in Marrakech, in duplex with Paris... This dynamism reflects that of the Kingdom which has become in a few years the cultural and trade hub between Africa, Europe and the Middle East.
After totalling €3.5 M / $4.2 M in December 2017 (an increase of 50% compared to 2016), and established 6 new world records, Artcurial will host 4 auctions this year in December 2018: From Constantinople to Tangier, A private Italian collection, Majorelle and his contemporaries, African spirit and Made in Morocco.
This third edition of Paris#Marrakech will take place under the patronage of Corice Arman.
