PARIS.- Hôtel Drouot, November 30, 2023: With a total of €7.3 million, the sale of the Henson collection from their Mediterranean residence attracted bidders from all over the world, spread across the USA, Europe and Asia. The core of the collection was and historic group of works by Alberto Giacometti, probably given to the couple by Jean-Michel Frank in the early 1930s. Four plasters, made fot Jean-Michel Frank between 1930 and 1939, fetched a combined total of €6.7 million, well above their estimate.

The highest price goes to l'Oiseau, known as Albatros, a model created around 1937. Estimated between €250,000 and €350,000, this sculpture fetched €3,965,000, after competitive bidding between four telephones. This is the second-highest price ever for an Oiseau by Alberto Giacometti.

The second-highest price of the sale goes to the Lotus vase, designed around 1933, which made five times the high estimate to €1.3 million. Another million-dollar price goes to the Egyptian lamp, sometimes known as Tutankhamun, a model designed around 1933, which was sold for €1,235,000 against an estimate of €120,000 to €150,000.

This unique collection tells the story of an era, the social and cosmopolitan days of Café Society between the two world wars. Visionaries and patrons of the arts, this Anglo-American couple surrounded themselves with artist friends, creating works of art, furniture and paintings for them. Their life inspired several novels and served as models for a number of famous photographers, including Man Ray, George Hoyningen-Huene and Cecil Beaton.