PARIS.- Christie’s presents Le théâtre de l’imaginaire, Collection Paul et Jacqueline Duchein sale taking place in Paris on 24 September. The passion and uniqueness that define this pair of collectors can be felt throughout the 150 works selected for auction. The lots are a fine tribute to the couple’s unique artistic heritage and trajectory, one fundamentally entwined with their home city of Montauban – a city whose very history they marked.

This collection – a true theatre of the imagination that perfectly captures its founders’ creativity and intellectual curiosity – is deeply inspired by Surrealism. As such, the sale revolves around artists like Marie Toyen, Yves Tanguy, Max Ernst, Wolfgang Paalen, André Breton, Salvador Dalí, Victor Brauner, and, of course, Man Ray. The global estimate is €4.6-7M.

Surrealism September at Christie’s!

Paris will soon celebrate Surrealism’s 100th anniversary! Starting in September and continuing throughout autumn, Christie’s is honoured to participate in a programme celebrating a centenary since André Breton published the seminal Manifesto. A series of events will pay tribute to one of the 20th century’s most significant movements, as well as the artists who made history.

-Selling exhibition: Images du labyrinthe, l’atelier Surréaliste : carte blanche à Audrey Guttman from 12 September to 2 October 2024

- Public Viewing: Le théâtre de l’imaginaire, Collection Paul et Jacqueline Duchein, from 18 to 24 September

-Sale: Le théâtre de l’imaginaire, Collection Paul et Jacqueline Duchein, 24 September

PAUL AND JACQUELINE DUCHEIN

Paul and Jacqueline Duchein met in 1938 in the town of Montauban, where they would remain for the rest of their lives. Paul, a pharmacist, and Jacqueline, a biologist, shared a passion for art – an enthusiastic, indefatigable passion that gave rise to a moving and eclectic collection combining Surrealism with folk art, Art Brut, and tribal art. Their home would become a cabinet of curiosities, rapidly earning a reputation as the city’s second major museum alongside the Musée Ingres Bourdelle.

Paul Duchein, a jack-of-all-trades, successfully embarked on a series of careers, becoming by turn an exhibition curator, an art critic, and an artist in his own right close to the Surrealists. He left a lasting impression on the art world with an influence that far exceeded the confines of Montauban. The articles he published in a professional pharmaceutical journal led generations of art enthusiasts and collectors to discover Picasso, Gleizes, Masson, Bissière, Zack, and Poliakoff.

Paul and Jacqueline Duchein preferred meeting artists rather than visiting galleries, and forged close ties with several figures, notably Georges Braque, Henri Michaux, Josef Šíma, Maria Helena Vieira da Silva, and Sam Francis. A commitment and intimacy reflected in a collection inextricably tied to their daily lives. In the 1970s, Paul Duchein invited Georges Mathieu, Jean Hélion, Olivier Debré, and Léonor Fini to design apothecary jars made of Limoges porcelain. These were exhibited at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in 1980.

A DEFINED TASTE FOR SURREALISM

Featuring works by Yves Tanguy, Marie Toyen, Max Ernst, Wolfgang Paalen, Joan Miró, and André Breton, the Collection Paul et Jacqueline Duchein is imbued with a palpable interest in Surrealism.

Highlights of the sale include Flux et reflux de la nuit by Marie Cermínovà, also known as Toyen (€800,000–1,200,000), and Trois monstres ou la Horde, a remarkable oil on canvas painted by Max Ernst in 1927 (€400,000–600,000). Among the auction’s most remarkable pieces are Les fantômes de la pyramide by Wolfgang Paalen (€50,000–70,000), a Surrealist composition by Salvador Dalí (€15,000–20,000), and a Baladin Spermostésique by Victor Brauner (€100,000–150,000). L’hôtel meublé by Man Ray – a central and unmissable figure in such a definitively Surrealist collection – will also be showcased (€30,000–50,000), as will works by Dorothea Tanning (Une belle langage pour naufragés, 1961 – €50,000–70,000) and Yves Tanguy (La Cage du temps – €180,000–250,000).

Alongside these major figures, the Collection Paul et Jacqueline Duchein also includes a piece by Pierre Roy (Le papillon de la nuit – €40,000–60,000). At last, is a box that André Breton adorned with beetles (estimate: €1,000–1,500) – a rare example of Breton’s visual art, seldom seen on the market. Inspired by the latter, Paul Duchein created Surrealist-style ensembles of objects, also for auction. Unleashing his boundless creativity, he designed Théâtres de l'imaginaire that were displayed in Montpellier’s Musée d’Art Brut in 2017.

Remarkable in every way, the Collection Paul et Jacqueline Duchein was part of the Passions privées exhibition at the Musée d’art Moderne de Paris, curated by Suzanne Pagé in 1995.

THE FRENCH AND INTERNATIONAL SCENE

Aside from Surrealism, the 24th September sale boasts a fine selection of French artists from the 40s and 50s, such as Jean Fautrier, Henry Michaux, Serge Poliakoff, Jean Dubuffet, and Olivier Debré. An abstract 1969 composition by Serge Poliakoff is the cornerstone of a striking series of non-figurative works (€300,000–500,000). L’emmitouflé by Jean Dubuffet (1957) is a defining piece from his series of India ink imprint composites (€200,000–300,000), whereas the later Psycho-site avec deux personnages E162 (1981) dates from the artist’s final years (€120,000–180,000).

Alongside these major French artists, the collection features a range of international names like Sam Francis, Wifredo Lam, Paul Klee, Louise Nevelson, and Josef Šíma – and special mention must be made of Šíma’s 1968 Archéoptéryx (€200,000–300,000) and Corps rouge (€30,000–50,000). Several works by Maria Helena Vieira da Silva will also be available, including Curiosités and Les irrésolutions résolues IX (€80,000–120,000 each).

FOLK ART

The Collection Paul et Jacqueline Duchein is also an illustration of the couple’s taste for folk art. Paul and Jacqueline Duchein applied the same exacting standards to more humble craftsmanship as they did to works by masters, demonstrating fine artistic sensibilities and an eye for synthesis.

Earthenware finials and quilled reliquaries epitomize the Ducheins’ enthusiasm for oft-overlooked art forms with rich, storied histories. This passion is further reflected in a tarasque—a legendary creature from French Provençal folklore—that serves as a reminder of ancestral cultural traditions, forming an eclectic ensemble with an aripa amulet and a Pietà.

From 18 to 24 September, the magic of the Montauban cabinet of curiosities will be recreated within Christie’s premises on Avenue Matignon in Paris.