GENEVA.- Piguet Auction House will present an exceptional group of modern and contemporary art at the December auction, featuring many major 20th century artists. Works of museum quality by the most important masters in the history of art will be brought together for the first time in Geneva and will be put on show before being sold at auction!
The Grodtmann collection
The Grodtmann name is perhaps less well known than those of other important collections entrusted to Bernard Piguet for auction, names such as Aga Khan, de Balkany, Givaudan, Romanov etc. However, the names of the artists who adorned the walls of these two art-loving spouses are amongst the most known in the art world. Picasso (lot 184-185), Henri Matisse (lots 179-180), Amedeo Modigliani (lots 181-183), Paul Klee (lot 178), Odilon Redon (lot 169), Da Silva (lots 208-209)... and so it continues!
He is a successful entrepreneur who has been in Switzerland since 1938 and is active in import-export. She is self-taught, acquiring a thorough knowledge of art history and appreciation for art. Both are passionate about the artistic movements that challenged and revolutionised the history of art in the 20th century (cubism, expressionism, surrealism, symbolism...). They collect the greatest actors of modern painting by visiting the best gallery owners of the time: Galerie Rosengart (Lucerne), Galerie Alice Pauli (Lausanne), Huguette Berès (Paris)...
Their collection of some 200 lots is not limited to paintings. Through their travels, the Grodtmanns begin to appreciate other cultures, as evidenced by a Kota reliquary (lot 101) from the Galerie Ratton. Their interests range from classical furniture to precious objects from Japan (lots 115-117) and contemporary sculpture (lots 200-202).
Picasso: A gouache “Still life with a pedestal table” and “The Harem”, precursor to Demoiselles d’Avignon never before seen on the auction market
Painted in the summer of 1919 from a room at the splendid Hôtel Continental in Saint-Raphaël, "Still Life on a Pedestal Table" is symptomatic of Picasso's turn towards the most abstract of Cubism. The gouache entitled “Still life on a pedestal table in front of an open window” is one of the most accomplished examples of this important series in which Picasso brilliantly combines the modernism of the scene with the classicism of the background. This work has an exemplary provenance. It was acquired by the Grodtmanns from the famous collector and art dealer Siedfried Rosengart (1894-1985). He was Picasso's friend, collector and dealer, whose collections are now kept in the Rosengart Foundation and the Picasso Museum in Lucerne. After this purchase, the gouache was carefully preserved in the family for more than 50 years before being exhibited for the first time and offered at auction at Piguet on 8 December (lot 185 illustrated on page 1 and estimated at CHF 300,000-500,000).
The Harem, 1906, is a preparatory drawing for an important oil painting of the pink period and the forerunner of one of the most important works in the history of twentieth-century art: Les Demoiselles d'Avignon of 1907. This Sketch for the Harem immediately refers to the finished work now in the Museum of Art in Cleveland (USA). In view of the correspondence found at the Grodtmann home, this drawing was selected by the curator of the Picasso Museum in 1987 to be included in an exhibition in 1988 on Les Demoiselles d'Avignon, bringing together "various works whose composition and theme announce Les Demoiselles". According to the curator, "the Harem drawing necessarily finds its place in this series, in that it also shows the importance of the reference to Ingres's Turkish Bath" (lot 184 above, estimated at CHF 60,000-80,000 - provenance: Purchased from the Rosengart Gallery and then kept in the same family to this day).
Swiss and Contemporary Art also in the spotlight
For lovers of Swiss art, the paintings sale offers a work dating from 1905 by Albert Anker, which has never been offered on the market as it was acquired directly from the artist and has remained in the same family to this day. A letter to the last owner signed by the artist is included, indicating the ideal frame for the watercolour - estimate CHF 30,000-50,000 (lot 163). International collectors can also bid on two Rudolf Bauer oils from the former Solomon R. Guggenheim collection, estimated at CHF 150,000-250,000 (lot 174) and CHF 200,000-300,000 (lot 175, see above); or on a Christo diptych estimated at CHF 30,000-50,000 (lot 193). This work is very much in the news, as Christo recently made a big splash with the completion of his large-scale project to pack the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.
Among the highlights of the sale is a gigantic work by Bernard Buffet, Bigoudi, measuring almost 2 metres in height. Estimated at CHF 200,000-300,000, this oil painting was created shortly after the artist met Pierre Berger, with whom Buffet would have a love affair for more than eight years. A daring subject for its time, the character Bigoudi is a transvestite dressed in feathers on his head and a provocative cabaret outfit that looks like a movie poster (lot 188, see opposite).
The sale also includes works by Ernest Bieler, Oscar Dominguez, Gustave Loiseau, Le Corbusier, Joseph Sima, Emil Schumacher, etc., as well as an important work by Paul Klee from 1915 (lot 178, estimated at CHF 200,000-300,000 - Grodtmann Collection).
Grand auction of Christmas trees in aid of Action Innocence
After the sale in aid of the Helvetas association, which raised CHF 100,000, Piguet Auction House is pleased to support a new charity: the Action Innocence Foundation.
As part of the launch of its new jepassealaction.org platform dedicated to fundraising, Action Innocence is organising for the first time a major 100% digital Christmas project. Benefiting from the support of important personalities such as Jean-Claude Biver, Michel Leeb and Elsa Zylberstein, the Foundation has chosen the Genevan auction house Piguet to handle its traditional Christmas tree auction. Seven original Christmas trees over 1m high, created especially for the occasion by Chanel, Chopard, Gucci, Mauboussin, Loro Piana, Piaget and the international artist Leloluce, will be sold to the highest bidder on www.piguet.com from 25 November to 5 December.
The exhibition of each of these exceptional unique pieces has already begun. Since 15 November, the trees have been on display in the Geneva boutiques on the rue du Rhône and the Mauboussin and Leloluce trees have been in the salons of the Hôtel President Wilson. Between 2 and 5 December, all the trees will be brought together in the Piguet showrooms where visitors will also be able to discover the luxurious gifts offered with the purchase of each tree.
For this first Christmas tree sale to be held exclusively online, Piguet is committed to offering all its services to Action Innocence. As the sale will take place without fees or commission, all the money paid by the buyers will be entirely allocated to the Foundation's "Growing up with screens" project.
Japanese prints from the Catherine Gide Collection
After the success of last September's sale of paintings and sculptures from the Catherine Gide collection (1923-2013), Piguet Auction House is offering a continuation of its collection, this time mainly composed of Japanese prints.
This remarkable collection, inherited from Théo Van Rysselberghe (1862-1926) and André Gide (1869-1951), Catherine Gide's grandfather and father respectively, was built up at the height of the golden age of Japanism at the end of the 19th century, following the opening of Japan in 1868. The Belgian artist and the French writer were fond of this new aesthetic that intrigued and fascinated the whole of Europe. They surrounded themselves in their homes with prints by Kikugawa Eizan, Torii Kiyonaga, Isoda Koryusai, Utagawa Kuniyoshi and Utagawa Utamaro, not forgetting the essential Utagawa Hiroshige, represented by a very poetic triptych in homage to the moon (lot 122 above, estimated at CHF 10'000-15'000). This new group once again opens the door to the personal lives of André Gide and his family through some thirty lots (lots 122 to 126 and 4095 to 4124).
Sale of the entire contents of an elegant chalet
Piguet presents the exclusive sale of the entire contents of a refined chalet. For more than twenty years, the owner of the pieces presented here has researched, selected and collected high quality furniture, paintings and decorative objects related to the mountains. All of this forms a perfect harmony, typical of the interior of a chalet or to complete a collection.
Jewellery and watches
Jewellery lovers will also discover a fine selection of designer jewellery, diamonds and coloured stones. Of particular note is an impressive pair of diamond-set earrings (lot 272, see opposite, estimate CHF 50,000-70.000). In the watch sale, a limited edition Hublot Big Bang, circa 2013, is expected to attract collectors (lot 237, estimate CHF 15,000-20,000).
The auction house also organises its biannual sale of rare books, consisting of a very fine collection of modern books, with artists' covers, bindings and signed plates.
Finally, the December auction sessions will include a wide range of Hermès bags, stamped furniture, antique works of art, silverware, tableware, etc.
