Press release - Easter sales from April 07th to 10th, 2023

Bernar VENET
Bernar VENET
"Ligne indéterminée", 2016

This Easter meeting at the Hôtel Martinez in Cannes will offer, on April 7th and 8th, once again the opportunity to wine lovers to acquire magnificent bottles, including 13 bottles of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti 2009 offered by Besch Cannes Auction and appraised by Pascal Kuzniewski in a catalogue of 2000 lots.

The first of the four major events that Maître Jean-Pierre Besch organises throughout the year, the sale on April 9th will be placed under the sign of modernity as it will present works by artists representing some of the main currents of Modern & Contemporary Art, including a mixed technique on paper by Bernar VENET, born in 1941.

The artist developed his taste for experimentation very early on, particularly with materials such as tar and steel. This approach was essentially guided by his faculty of intellectual abstraction and gradually led him to what was to become conceptual art, an artistic trend in contemporary art in which the idea takes precedence over the realization. Known worldwide for his indeterminate lines, a theme emblematic of his work, he exhibits his monumental sculptures in numerous urban spaces and public collections in France, Germany, Japan and the United States. A concept that he also reproduces on canvas, as shown in "Ligne indéterminée", a mixed technique on paper (charcoal, collage, oil pastel) signed and dated on the back in 2016.

Founded in 1878 in Nancy, the Daum crystal works quickly made the capital of Lorraine a reference in the field of French decorative arts. Always striving for excellence, it enlisted the talents of collaborators whose names would go down in history. Among them was Louis Majorelle (1859-1926), one of the leading figures of Art Nouveau, an artistic movement born at the end of the 19th century that drew its inspiration from floral decorations and curved lines, as shown by this gilded bronze wall lamp decorated with blown glass tulips. A special commissioned piece that could be admired at the International Exhibition in Nancy in 1909.

Considered one of the founding fathers of spatialism, a movement that would influence many abstract artists, Lucio Fontana (1899-1968) wanted to turn his back on "the use of known forms of art" in favour of "the development of an art based on the unity of time and space". His aim? To create a pictorial construction of a three-dimensional nature on the canvas, which he achieves by means of large scratches applied to a monochrome support, thus highlighting the flaws - which will become symbolic of his work. An artistic approach that can also be seen in the large photograph entitled "Project for a monument to the Resistance in Cuneo", circa 1962, produced in collaboration with Francesco Somaini.

A major artist of the 20th century, Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) left his mark on many disciplines. Painting, drawing, sculpture and engraving are all areas in which the master - who was also the originator of Cubism - excelled. A talent that he also knew how to exploit, sometimes in contrast to the abstract or unstructured representations that made his reputation, as shown by this delicate "Dove", dated 1948 and which is reminiscent of his famous "Dove of Peace"; a theme dear to the artist, this bird being one of the favourite models of his father, who was a painting teacher at the time.

These works, as well as an exceptional pair of 19th century Vietnamese swords and numerous paintings, sculptures, ceramics and tapestries will be presented by Maître Besch on April Sunday 9th during his traditional Easter sale. This will be followed on April 10th by a sale of diamonds, signed jewellery and prestige watches, including a superb high jewellery bracelet in yellow gold with articulated sections by Alexandre Reza, a rare Art Nouveau brooch "La femme chauve-souris" stylising the body of a woman who is half-human and half-bat, with plique-à-jour wings terminating in a fine pearl (C), enhanced by an old-cut diamond by Léopold Albert Marin GAUTRAIT (1865-1937).

Cartier will be particularly well represented with a superb and rare watch in pink gold, the dial set with approximately 2 carats of brilliant-cut diamonds, metallic back, Roman numerals, winding mechanism set with an inverted brilliant-cut diamond, as well as a "turtle" clip in yellow gold, the shell embellished with coral discs (TC) iridescent with cabochon emeralds. A platinum Burmese sapphire set in the centre with a beautiful oval sapphire weighing 3 carats and enhanced with brilliant-cut and baguette-cut diamonds completes this set.

Press contact : Isabelle de Puysegur - Tel : 33(0)6 60 57 58 78 - i.puysegur@wanadoo.fr

The documents :

Wines and spirits83Paintings73XX° century69Jewellery63Watches44Decorative arts45
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