Press release : Results of the summer prestige auctions - August 13th to 16th, 2023
Results of the summer prestige auctions - August 13th to 16th, 2023
Sold for 106 000 €
On August 13th and 14th, this summer event at the Hôtel Martinez in Cannes once again offered lovers of fine wines the chance to acquire some magnificent bottles offered by Besch Cannes Auction and appraised by Pascal Kuzniewski, including an assortment of 14 bottles of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti 2011 (sold for 59520€ - lot 500), 6 bottles of Petrus 1989 (sold for 22940€ - lot 1223) and a case of 12 bottles of Petrus 1985 (sold for 22950€ - lot 1221).
Jean-Pierre Besch presented three remarkable works by Jan ZRZAVY (1890-1977) on Tuesday August 15th, ranging from Impressionist to contemporary, some of which belonged to prestigious private collections. These works have attracted a great deal of interest from international collectors, including many Czechs. There are very few works by this artist on the art market, so it was exceptional to present three works from the collection of Professor Édouard Dolléans, donated by the artist for taking him in at his Paris home in the 1930s. The tempera signed and dated "Zrzavý 32" lower right, located on the hull of a ship, "Vue du port de Camaret, 1932", sold for 307500€ out of an estimated 25/30000€ (Lot 137), 131775€ for an ink on pencil lines and tempera signed and dated in pencil Zrzavý 1937 (Lot 136) and 144300€ for a tempera on canvas monogrammed "Vierge à l'enfant, 1930" dated and dedicated "à Madame Dolléans 1/1/1930 J. Z." at top right (Lot 135).
Although linked to the Fauvist and Expressionist movements, the work of Georges ROUAULT (1871-1958), which is difficult to classify, is also influenced by Christian Art. According to him, "Everything is imponderable in the spiritual regions where the artist ventures, but there reigns an order truer than that of the controller of weights and measures". Georges Rouault followed a classical training, entering the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris and then joining Gustave Moreau's studio. In 1898, he was appointed Curator of the Gustave Moreau Museum alongside the most illustrious Fauvists.
Initially attracted by the fauvism that Henri Matisse, Albert Marquet and Henri Manguin introduced him to, he gradually detached himself from it to arrive at a more personal conception of his art, as can be seen in these 3 canvases with their simplified forms and strongly marked outlines, a characteristic pictorial style that has contributed so much to his international renown. Georges Rouault's oil on paper on canvas "Aglaé" has been shown in numerous exhibitions over the last 50 years, in prestigious international galleries and institutions including the Kunstmuseum Moritzburg, Halle, Germany in 2017. (Sold for 106700€ - Lot 175). Like "Aglaé", the ink and pastel on paper mounted on canvas "Anouchka" has remained in the painter's family to this day (Sold for 59000€ - Lot 177). It was exhibited at the famous Galerie Tamenaga in Paris, Tokyo and Osaka.
Another painter, and by no means the least, was Pablo PICASSO (1881-1973), whose incomparable style set him apart from previously established standards, and who, along with Georges Braque, created a movement that revolutionised pictorial art : cubism. Picasso invented, innovated and took an interest in all art forms, and it was only natural that he should turn to the art of ceramics from 1947 onwards. A year earlier, with Françoise Gillot, he had visited the Madura pottery in Vallauris run by Suzanne and Georges Ramié and was seduced by this multi-faceted art. He joined the Ramié team in July 1947 and experimented with new processes in all areas of ceramics. The glazed white earthenware pitcher "Taureau, 1955. 29 Mars", decorated in the artist's hand, which fetched 120400€ (Lot 166), was created in 1955 in Suzanne and Georges Ramié's Madoura workshops in Vallauris.
We should also mention the very high bid for the canvas "L'Autoportrait, vers 1695" by Nicolas de LARGILLIERRE (1656-1746), which was marked on the reverse "Largillierre peintre/peint par lui-même/16//" and sold for 87975€, out of an estimate of €12/18000€ (Lot 72).
This auction was followed on August 16th at 10.30am and again at 2pm by a sale of important diamonds, signed jewellery and collector's watches with Edouard Degaro, Expert, including a deep blue Burmese sapphire weighing 6.33 carats, oval in shape and set with approx. 1.50 carat of calibrated baguette diamonds, all mounted on a contemporary white gold ring (sold for 32000€ - Lot 338) or a Patek PHILIPPE ladies' watch "Calatrava" ref. 4897G6001 with white gold dial and bezel set with brilliant-cut diamonds (0.52 ct) (sold for 14900€ - Lot 362).
BESCH CANNES AUCTION Maître Jean-Pierre BESCH, Commissaire-priseur habilité SVV n° 2002-034 - Sis Résidence Grand Hôtel - 45, Boulevard de la Croisette, 06400 Cannes - Tel : 33 (0)4 93 99 22 60 - 33 (0)4 93 99 33 49 - Fax : 33 (0)4 93 99 30 03 - besch@cannesauction.com - www.cannesauction.com
Press contact : Isabelle de Puysegur - Tel : 33(0)6 60 57 58 78 - i.puysegur@wanadoo.fr
