PARIS.- This season, the department will present exceptional pieces coming from several historical commands. From Jean-Michel Frank and Alberto Giacometti and from Charlotte Perriand and Pierre Jeanneret to the Martel brothers, the 180 lots present in this sale are globally estimated around 5,5 million.
Christie’s will present sixteen pieces coming from the famous Born family who entrusted Jean-Michel Frank to decorate their new villa in San Isidro, not far from Buenos Aires.
The Born Family, originated from Argentina, first discovered the work of the famous French Art Deco designer Jean-Michel Frank during one of their numerous trips to Paris. Jean-Michel Frank had opened a shop in 1935 rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, with the help of his dear friends, Elsa Schiaparelli, Charles de Noailles and Emilio Terry and in collaboration with Adolphe Chanaux. The opening of this shop will be the starting point of numerous prestigious commissions such as the one for Nelson Rockefeller or the Guerlains.
The Born family was so enthusiastic about the creations of the French designer that in 1938, they decided to entrust him with the decoration of their entire villa in San Isidro, not far from Buenos Aires.
Facing this incredible project, Frank decided to collaborate with Alberto Giacometti. Both have been working together since 1930 for several creations such as lamps, tables, vases … For this specific project, Frank will order new creations to Giacometti such as monumental stands weighing almost one ton each for a height close to three meters.
Before shipping everything to Buenos Aires, the furniture pieces and wall panels were displayed at the exhibition halls at the Porte de Versailles in early 1939.
In addition to Giacometti, Frank called on other renowned artists such as Salvador Dalí, Christian Bérard and Paul Rodocanachi. The spectacular interior design of the born family mansion was one of Jean-Michel Frank last but most significant projects which allowed him to begin working as soon as he arrived in Buenos Aires in the summer of 1940.
Christie’s will offer collectors the chance to acquire a piece from this fantastic project. From desks to boxes and from table lamps to ceiling lights, overall, the sale will present nine works by Jean-Michel Frank and six by Alberto Giacometti.
On an island in Britany named Bréhat, Lola and Jean Pluet entrusted Pierre Jeanneret to build a beautiful house in 1947. Jeanneret created a resolutely modern house named Tan ha Dour (Water and fire) which reminds us of the interior of a boat. Indeed, there is no space for superficiality and all the openings give different points of view of the sea. All the furniture inside is signed by Charlotte Perriand and Pierre Jeanneret who created several pieces especially for this house, adopting the space. Georges Blanchon, who was editing the creations of these two artists brought up this project as he was a close friend of the Pluet family. Everything stayed in its original state until today. Chairs, stools, desks, tables, bahuts, overall 14 pieces fresh to the market will be presented such as this unique desk illustrated left estimated at €15,000-20,000.
During his career, Alberto Giacometti worked closely with his brother Diego Giacometti. This sale will present 10 pieces from the latter, coming from prestigious collections such as Pierre Matisse, Alicia Moï and Arlette Susse. Amongst the highlights, Christie’s will present a beautiful Osselet floor lamp estimated at €70,000-100,000 and three animals: a fox, a wolf and a deer in patinated metal and patinated plaster (estimate: €10,000; €10,000; 30,000 respectively), coming directly from his fantastic bestiary. Of small size, these animals recall the brother’s wood toys with which they were playing in the Stampa mountains. To honor the memory of this great artist, the sale will also be presenting his armchair and his hat.
Christie’s will also present a beautiful collection coming from the German collector Ingelore Böstge, who wrote the monography of Agathon Léonard. This ensemble of Art Nouveau sculptures brings us back to Paris in the years 1900 through several bronzes and Sèvres sculptures of women wearing long dresses inspired by the ballets of Loïe Fuller. His most famous models are the iconic scarf dancers which will be edited by the Sevres Manufacture and presented at the Universal Exhibition of 1900. The top lot of this collection is The Vampire estimated at €70,000-100,000.
A section will also be dedicated to the Martel brothers with nearly 30 works of art coming from the family. Their studio situated rue Mallet Stevens in the 16th district of Paris is a mystical place for its Art Deco architecture. This group synthetize all the different themes the brothers particularly enjoyed such as the animal figure, sport or cubist women. This selection recalls the great success of the collections of the Château de Gourdon in 2011 which presented masterpieces by the artists such as the Nu féminin, dit de l’UAM sold for 313,000. Our sale will present another version in stone dating from circa 1930 and estimated at €10,000-15,000.
Five other pieces from the UAM (Union des Artistes modernes) will be presented in this sale. Following the great retrospective at the Centre Georges Pompidou, this selection will offer works created by the most important designers of this period. An iconic Bookcase-vitrine in duralumin designed by Boris Lacroix for the fashion designer Madeleine Vionnet will lead this section (estimate: €70,000-90,000). This unique piece was designed for Vionnet’s hôtel particulier in the 16th district in Paris. During their fourteen years of collaboration, Boris Lacroix designed perfume bottles, dresses and motifs but was also chosen by Vionnet to decorate three of her interiors. This piece remains as a unique testimony of the collaboration between one of the most famous fashion designer and one of the best decorator of the 1930’s. Another highlight of this section is a pair of chairs by Charlotte Alix and Louis Sognot in lakarmé. This new material which was used in the 1930’s by several artists, gave them the opportunity to explore new shapes and design. This pair of chairs was exhibited at the Salon d’Automne in 1932. These chairs are the unique examples known and show us the early signs of modern design in 1932.
Finally, The Design department will welcome the Studio NOCC in Christie’s premises during the presale exhibition from 16 to 19 November with an exceptional vase, “Neró Vázo A”, created by the two founders of Studio NOCC, Juan Pablo Naranjo and Jean-Christophe Orthlieb, in collaboration with Christian Escoffre and his team, as well as with Christophe Dubignard from Bois Antique.
Juan Pablo Naranjo and Jean-Christophe Orthlieb: « Nero Vazo A is a design piece titillating with the boundaries of art, archeology, history, science and the very basis of woodworking craftsmanship; it’s design seen with a wide-angle lens. This exhibition was initiated by Karine Scherrer of the Art Design Lab ».
This vase, created in water-saturated bogwood (also known as “morta”) is 8 millennia old and stands as the first of a series which design corresponds to the original era of the wood in which it was made and follows the concept, developed by Studio NOCC, of Utopian Archeology. This vase sculpted in a wood dating from the 6th millennium BC is placed into an acrylic vessel immersed in water to keep it from degradation.
