PARIS.- Artcurial gathers French and International collectors for its prestigious Impressionist and Modern art auction on December 7th and 8th. Artcurial will be auctioning 20 works from Tino Rossi's collection. A passionate art lover, musician and friend to artists, Tino Rossi collected art in an eclectic manner, constantly mixing genres and styles. Artcurial will present works from artists such as Eugène Boudin, Alexander Calder and also Bernard Buffet whom Rossi had the pleasure of knowing.

Under the hammer of auctioneer, Francis Briest, several other major works signed by iconic artists will be shown alongside the Tino Rossi lots. Highlights include oil on canvas paintings by Pablo Picasso, Pierre Bonnard and sculptures by Camille Claudel and Antoine Pevsner.

20 MAJOR WORKS FROM THE TINO ROSSI COLLECTION
Tino Rossi was an artist who loved artists. In 1982 he said, “An artist is not like another man! It would be wrong however, to think that only the art world can produce one. A workman can be an artist.” Throughout his life, Toni Rossi formed strong friendships with peers of his time such as Marcel Pagnol, Vincent Scotto, Mistinguett or Pablo Picasso whom he saw in Saint-Paul-de-Vence. His friendship circles reached out beyond the world of song and music.

“What was quite moving in Tino Rossi’s collecting approach was his desire to approach fellow artists of his time. Just like he did with his public, the singer created a relationship based upon emotion, admiration and sharing. This can be seen in the wonderful photo of the moment when Bernard Buffet and Toni Rossi, met. Both men boasted strong personalities and the singer and collector greatly admired the painter.” Explains Bruno Jaubert, Director of the Impressionist and Modern department at Artcurial.

On a constant quest for beautiful and rare objects, Tino Rossi was captivated by art and used his personal judgement as a guide to acquiring artworks in an eclectic and spontaneous manner. He mixed genres and styles and surrounded himself with pieces by Utrillo, Foujita and Calder and Giacometti. During his concert tours, the singer’s favourite paintings would travel with him and decorate his dressing room and calm his nerves before going on stage.

Highlights from the 20 works from the Tino Ross’s collection which Artcurial will be presenting include an oil on canvas, Nature more aux cerises from 1942 by Bernard Buffet (estimation 70 000 – 100 000 € / 77 000 – 110 000 $), two works by André Derain, watercolours by Paul Signac, Raoul Dufy and Alexander Calder whose piece Composition from 1956 (estimation 50 000 – 70 000 € / 55 000 – 77 000 $) emphasises the links between art and music. Presented alongside oil on canvases by Georges Roualut and Léonard Tsuguharu Foujita, one can not miss the green bronze ‘Torsade table’ sculpture by Diego Giacometti (estimation : 80 000 – 120 000 € / 88 000 – 132 000 $).

CAMILLE CLAUDEL, PIERRE BONNARD, PICASSO AND ANTOINE PEVSNER
The evening sale of Impressionist and Modern art on 7 December will include 29 lots and presents a panorama of artistic creations from the 20th century.

Just as the Musée Rodin reopens on 12 November, Artcurial presents two works by his student, Camille Claudel. Two bronze statues, L’abandon (estimation 600 000 – 800 000 € / 660 000 – 880 000 $) and La valse (estimation 700 000 – 900 000 € / 770 000 – 990 000 $), depicts the scene of an embracing couple. Made in 1895, La valse is one of the sculptor’s most daring and personal works and is breathtaking and intriguing from all angles.

In his intimate paintings, Pierre Bonnard chose to honour women, La jeune fille à l’estampe japonaise (estimation 350 000 – 450 000 € / 385 000 – 495 000 $) shows a feminine model from a side view sitting in a classic portrait pose. The artist plays upon light and shadow, gracious lines on her face and gentle colour tones to carefully depict his subject. Even if the young lady remains anonymous, she appears to be familiar.

For 14 days, from 19 July to 1 August 1944, Pablo Picasso painted 14 paintings featuring the same motif, that of a glass, lemon and jug. When Pablo Picasso exhibited his still life series at the Salon d’automne in 1944, he provoked a real scandal. Artcurial will be showing the last work from the glass and Jug series which was also the most radical and complete. The painting was dedicated to the poet and artist friend of Picasso, Georges Hugnet.

The sculpture by Antoine Pevsner entitled Construction spatiale aux troisième et quatrième dimensions (estimation : 300 000 – 500 000 € / 330 000 – 550 000 $) is one of the artists most well known and distinctive works. This piece by one of the leading abstract scuptors of the 20th century, was the second to last sculpture made before his death. With its developed form this plaster model which stands at 3,15m is truly impressive. Antoine Pevsner gave it to the art critic René Massat as a gift following several writen critics. An ‘original’ example of this piece can be found at the Centre Georges Pompidou and four other monumental versions are housed in collections in Chicago, The Hague, Princeton and Geneva.