PARIS.- Sotheby’s Paris announced the sale of the Françoise Mayer and Marc Sohier collection. The collection, comprising seventy-four works, serves as a testament to the visionary journey of Françoise Mayer, a prominent figure in Brussels’ cultural landscape. From 1966 to 1975, Françoise Mayer ran her legendary gallery at 8 Rue du Monastère, where she was the first to give real support to the avant-garde in Brussels, viewing each artist she supported as innovative endeavour in pursuit of radical modernity.
The collection is distinguished by a notable coherence of style, with a pronounced emphasis on abstraction, American abstract expressionism, spatialism and kinetic art. Featuring significant works by artists such as Alexander Calder, Josef Albers, Kenneth Noland and Lucio Fontana, the Françoise Mayer and Marc Sohier collection is an ode to form, light and movement, offering a nuanced representation of the avant-garde style of the 1960s and 1970s. Beyond the rarity and artistic quality of the works, this collection reflects the taste and visionary personality of Françoise Mayer and her husband. It also bears witness to the personal connections that the couple forged with the artists who accompanied them and were an integral part of their daily lives, in the context of the exhibitions and cultural events held at the Brussels gallery.
Françoise Mayer: a woman of the media and a passionate and revolutionary gallery owner
Prior to establishing her own gallery, Françoise Mayer commenced her professional journey as a broadcaster and journalist-producer of cultural programmes for the Institut National de Radiodiffusion de Belgique (INR). From 1956 to 1965, she hosted a number of programmes, including 'Plaisir des arts' and 'L'oeil écoute', which were devoted to the promotion of contemporary artistic trends. This included coverage of the 1958 Universal Exhibition. At this event, she encountered the works of Alexander Calder, a seminal figure in the field of kinetic art, which she subsequently championed and showcased. An astute gallery owner and committed promoter, Françoise Mayer made a significant and enduring impact on the art scene of her time by supporting and exhibiting the most prominent figures of kinetic art and geometric abstraction. In a similar vein to Iris Clert, who supported the Nouveau Réalisme movement, and Denise René, who championed kinetic art, the Françoise Mayer gallery provided invaluable assistance to numerous artists and played a pivotal role in advancing new artistic endeavours.
On 19 November 1966, Alexander Calder presented the inaugural retrospective of his recent works, including Totems, mobiles and gouaches. This marked the beginning of a decade of emblematic exhibitions. These included Hommage à Fontana in 1968, which constituted the inaugural posthumous tribute to the Italian master, and Pol Bury's Art Electroniques. Collectively, these works served to underscore Mayer's pioneering role on the international art scene.
Françoise Mayer was resolute in her determination to defend her artistic convictions. She established her gallery in the wake of the great names of European modern art, thereby establishing it as a key venue for the development of the European avant garde in the second half of the 20th century. « You know how important this exhibition is to me. As I told you, it would inaugurate my gallery, which I want to be a living centre of contemporary art, and in which I plan to organise, in addition to temporary exhibitions and events, a permanent home where works by the most outstanding artists of the various current trends will be exhibited and offered for sale ». -- Françoise Mayer on the forthcoming exhibition, ‘Totems, mobiles et gouaches récents de Calder’, in a letter to Daniel Lelong, director of the Galerie Maeght, 2 September 1966.
An invaluable testament to the twentieth-century avant-garde
Among the most significant lots in this extraordinary sale are:
• Lucio Fontana, Concetto Spaziale, 1962 (Estimatate: 800,000 – 1,200,000 EUR)
• Alexander Calder, Polychrome Six, 1973 (Estimatate: 300,000 – 500,000 EUR)
• Josef Albers, Homage to the Square : “Despite”, 1963 (Estimatate: 500 000 – 700 000 EUR)
• Kenneth Noland, Paced, 1967 (Estimatate: 200,000 – 300,000 EUR)
• Lucio Fontana, Concetto Spaziale, Ellisse, 1967 (Estimatate: 250,000 – 350,000 EUR)
Additionally, an exemplary work by Pol Bury, SC boules en perspective (1988), will be showacsed as part of this exhibition. Offered by the heirs Jean-Marc and Jérôme Sohier to the Musée d'Ixelles as a tribute to their parents, this work underlines the profoundly human and historical dimension of this sale. As Claire Leblanc, Director of the Musée d'Ixelles, has observed:
“The donation of the work ‘SC boules en perspective’, created by Pol Bury in 1S88 for the Musée d'Ixelles collections, by Jean-Marc and Jérôme Sohier in honour of the memory of their parents Françoise Mayer (1S35- 2014) and Marc Sohier (1S27-2024), is a remarkable acquisition. From one perspective, the acquisition serves to enhance the inventory with an exemplary piece by a seminal figure in the history of Belgian art, whose contributions are currently underrepresented in the existing collections. Secondly, it provides an opportunity, and will do so in the long term, to maintain the memory of the Mayer-Sohier couple, who were both fervent connoisseurs and defenders of modern art, as well as invaluable supporters of the Musée d'Ixelles. An initial donation was made in 2015 by Marc Sohier, comprising the work ‘Spacescape’ (1SC3) by Paul Van Hoeydonck. The entire team is eagerly awaiting the opportunity to welcome the work to the museum and share it with the public upon its reopening.”
This exceptional sale is not merely an act of disseminating rare works of art; it is, above all, an effusive tribute to the spirit of a couple who dedicated their lives to the advancement of the avant-garde. The collection provides an invaluable opportunity for art enthusiasts and collectors to gain insight into a specific era, location and passion that significantly influenced the development of modern European art.
