Les Collections du Château de Gourdon at Christie's Paris
29-31 March '11
Palais de Tokyo
Paris
It is not often that a collection the breadth and scale of Les Collections du Château de Gourdon comes to auction in its entirety. Spread over three days the auction presents buyers with hundreds of lots with a total estimated value of 40 to 60 million euros.
Including important one-off pieces, important prototypes, special commissions for prestigious patrons, and historic furniture and objects created by some of the artists for their own use, the collection comprises around 500 exceptional works by Louis Majorelle, Maurice Bouval, Emile-Jacques Ruhlmann, Jean Dunand, Eileen Gray, Pierre Chareau, Pierre Legrain, Jacques Adnet, Charlotte Alix, Louis Sognot, Georges Djo-Bourgeois, Jean Burkhalter, Francis Jourdain, Jan and Joël Martel, Boris Jean Lacroix, Hélène Henry, Charlotte Perriand, René Herbst, Jacques le Chevallier, Robert Mallet Stevens, Eckart Muthesius, and Jean Perzel, among others.
“The exceptional Gourdon auction presents a landmark opportunity for institutions and serious connoisseurs. It is totally unique, in that it unites all the different movements of the Art Deco period, which are at times contradictory: from the classicism of Ruhlmann and Dunand to the modernism of Eileen Gray, Pierre Chareau and Francis Jourdain,”
said François de Ricqlès, President of Christie’s France.
Throughout the next week, we will have daily coverage of this monumental sale; posting lots to watch and results as they come in.