PARIS.- The top lot of the sale was La barre d’appui by Paul Eluard and Pablo Picasso, which sold for €532,000 against a presale estimate of €100,000-150,000 (lot 428).
Christie’s Books department is extremely pleased with the success achieved for the first part of Paul Destribats’s collection (607 lots dating from the 1910s to 1945) which realised a total of €8,116,813, far beyond its presale global estimate of €5-7 million. International interest with buyers coming from 20 countries confirms the exceptional and unique character of this collection in the history of art. The emblematic texts about Surrealism attracted institutions and bibliophiles, aware of this rare opportunity to acquire iconic books, such as the Second Manifeste du Surralisme by Andr Breton, enriched with a superb photographic binding executed by Paul Bonnet which was preempted by the Bibliothque nationale de France for €442,000, four times its presale estimate.
Further highlights included the Prose du Transsibrien by Blaise Cendrars and Sonia Delaunay which sold for €334,000 while a remarkable set of one of the most important texts signed by Cendrars, J’ai tu with a beautiful binding by Georges Leroux, realised €218,750 (estimate €60,000-80,000).
One of the two only known sets of Man Ray’s Champs dlicieux with all the photographic plates signed by the artist was acquired for €346,000.
Adrien Legendre, Director of the books department: “It was such an honor and a pleasure to organize the first sale of this extraordinary collection gathered by Paul Destribats who dedicated part of his life to the 20th century Avant-Gardes, sometimes to the point of obsession. This collection is the most important in this field and our team is pleased to have been part of ensuring that these precious books and manuscripts are now in the hands of passionate private collectors or entering prestigious French and international institutions. This recognition celebrates the knowledge, the passion and the flair of Paul Destribats, who now enters the pantheon of the most brilliant collectors.”
Jean-Baptiste de Proyart, expert of the sale: “The first three sessions of the Bibliothque des avant-gardes, a collection formed over half a century by Paul Destribats, resulted in a resounding success as demonstrated by the triumph of La Barre d’appui by Paul Eluard, illustrated by Pablo Picasso which sold for €532,000. This success highlights Paul Destribats’s genius as a collector. Further confirmation of this was the success of the Second manifeste du Surralisme (Paris, Editions Kra, 1934) at the Bibliothque nationale de France. This iconic binding, embodying the avant-garde’s innovations, is part of the 8-photographic binding-corpus by Paul Bonet exhibited at the Salon d’automne in 1934. Until yesterday, the Bibliothque nationale de France did not possess any of them. It is such a joy for the literary world and for all of us, Christie’s France, Claude Oterelo and myself, to see this gap now fulfilled”.
PREEMPTIONS
CENTRE GEORGES POMPIDOU
Lot 60 : ALBERT-BIROT, Pierre, Larountala, Paris, ditions Sic, 1919, sold for €125.
Lot 103 : VAN HECKE, Paul-Gustave, et Go NAVEZ, Miousic. Sept pomes la louange de la musique baroque. Bruxelles, ditions Slection , 1921, sold for €625.
Lot 185 : SEIFERT, Jaroslav, Na vlnch TSF, Prague, Petr, 1925, sold for €625.
Lot 186 : [AVANT-GARDE ROUMAINE] PILLAT, Ion et PERPECISSIUS, Antologia poetilor de azi. S.l., Cartea romaneasca, 1925 et 1928, sold for €250.
Lot 398 : MAN RAY, L’criture automatique, Tirage argentique d’poque, circa 1935-1937, sold for €15,000.
BIBLIOTHQUE KANDINSKY, CENTRE GEORGES POMPIDOU
Lot 481 : BRETON, Andr, L’Art de Kandinsky. Manuscrit autographe sign, dat du 2 fvrier 1938, sold for €2,625.
BIBLIOTHQUE NATIONALE DE FRANCE
Lot 211 : NADJA, [Dossier : dessins originaux et fragments autographes], 1926, sold for €50,000.
Lot 212 : NADJA (Lona-Camille-Ghislaine Delcourt, dite), Portrait d’Andr Breton, fin 1926 - dbut 1927, sold for €27,500.
Lot 213 : NADJA (Lona-Camille-Ghislaine Delcourt, dite), La symbolique trace, fin 1926 - dbut 1927, sold for €27,500.
Lot 250 : PICABIA, Francis, La Loi d'accomodation chez les Borgnes "sursum corda", Paris, Briant, [1928], sold for €9,375.
Lot 284 : Second Manifeste du Surralisme. Frontispice De Salvador Dali, Breton, Andr, Paris, Editions Kra, 1930, sold for €442,000.
Lot 556 : LELY, Gilbert, et Max ERNST, Ma Civilisation (1938-1939), Paris [Marseille], [1942], sold for €11,250.
BIBLIOTHQUE NATIONALE DE NANTES
Lot 479 : PRET, Benjamin, Lettre autographe signe, Ren Magritte, 11 mai [1938], sold for €500.
Lot 602 : PRET, Benjamin, Le Dshonneur des potes, Mexico (Paris), Posie et rvolution (K diteur), 1945, sold for €6,875.
