GENEVA.- Piguet Auction House in Geneva announced the upcoming sale of a remarkable selection of works by great European masters. These pieces span three centuries of pictorial creation, offering a unique journey through art history. From Jan Brueghel, a key figure in Flemish landscape painting, to Eugène Boudin, a pioneer of Impressionist modernity, and including Giovanni Battista Cimaroli’s captivating vedute of Venice, each work reflects a distinct evolution in how artists have portrayed nature and the urban landscape.


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Adding to this exceptional group is a rare drawing by Jean-Baptiste Greuze, Le Ménage ambulant, as well as one of Yves Klein’s earliest blue monochromes (IKB 328), never before seen on the market. These outstanding works will be offered at auction during a special evening sale on Thursday, June 19, in Geneva, both in the saleroom and live online.

A Rediscovered Masterpiece: Le Ménage ambulant by Jean-Baptiste Greuze

Rediscovered after a long journey through the centuries, Le Ménage ambulant by Jean-Baptiste Greuze (1725–1805) powerfully embodies the social and moral sensitivity of 18th-century art. Executed in black chalk, pen, brown ink, and wash, this poignant drawing depicts a moving scene: a group of villagers on the move, who “carry all they own with them and are no less cheerful or happy for it,” as described in the reverse engraving made by Louis Binet, published in Paris around 1762. Once part of the prestigious collection of Jean-Louis-Antoine Le Vaillant de Damery, known as "Chevalier Damery," the drawing later belonged to Maurice de Rothschild, from whom it was seized during World War II. It was resituated to him in 1946. A compelling testament to Greuze’s sentimental yet moralizing view of modest families, Le Ménage ambulant has since been held in a private Swiss collection.

Three Centuries of Landscape Masterpieces by the Great European Masters

As part of this exceptional sale, several works by renowned masters will be offered at auction, spanning nearly three centuries of European painting. Dating from the late 1620s, Wooded Landscape with Resting Figures by Jan Brueghel The Younger (1601–1678) is a striking example of landscape mastery. The work demonstrates both technical finesse and a refined sense of narrative. (Est: CHF 20,000–30,000)

Circa 1745–1750, Giovanni Battista Cimaroli (c. 1687 – c. 1753) painted two monumental views of Venice — The Doge’s Palace and The Customs House. This masterful pair of large-format oil paintings reflects the serene elegance of the late Baroque period. Centered on vedute — highly realistic cityscapes — these works capture, with striking fidelity, the atmosphere of Venetian life and the bustling activity around the city’s most iconic landmarks. Cimaroli seamlessly blends topographical precision with refined aesthetic sensibility. (Est: CHF 150,000–250,000)

Coinciding with the current retrospective at the Musée Marmottan Monet in Paris, two works painted in 1871 by Eugène Boudin (1824–1898) — Anvers, Le Port et Bruxelles, le canal de Louvain — embody the emergence of modernity in landscape painting. Marked by their atmospheric quality and free brushwork, these paintings foreshadow the Impressionist movement and reflect Boudin’s pioneering spirit. Estimate for each: CHF 40,000–60,000. A rare opportunity to witness, across centuries, the evolving vision of the European landscape.

One of the First Blue Monochromes (IKB 328) by Yves Klein Unveiled and Offered to the Public for the First Time

Among the Contemporary Art selection of the evening sale on Thursday, June 19, is one of the first blue monochromes by Yves Klein, completely new to the market.

Dated 1959, the work is executed using the famous International Klein Blue (IKB), a pigment patented by Klein in 1960, which gives the canvas a unique luminous intensity, where colour becomes the subject.

Coming from the collection of Muriel and Gérald Minkoff, this emblematic work embodies all the aesthetic and philosophical ambition of Klein, for whom monochromy became a language in its own right. Artists themselves, the Minkoffs were used to exchanging their works with fellow contemporaries such as Arman, Ben, Man Ray, Spoerri, and Tinguely, whose works often adorned the walls of their Geneva apartment. It is therefore very likely that Yves Klein offered this work to the couple — an intimate gift, carefully preserved above the headboard of their bed. Thanks to research by specialists at Piguet Auction House, this painting — until now unknown to all — was registered in the Yves Klein Archives in 2025. (Est: CHF 100,000–150,000)

Bernard Piguet, auctioneer and founder of Piguet Hôtel des Ventes, states: "The fact that this work by Yves Klein is completely unknown to the art world offers future buyers a true exclusivity. It is always exciting for an auction house to present previously unseen and unique works by great masters, as is the case in June with Picasso’s ceramics and Klein’s monochrome."


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