PARIS.- A collection shaped by four decades of close looking, regular visits to the H魌el Drouot and a lifelong familiarity with the Paris art trade will come to auction at Gros & Delettrez on October 22, 2026.
The collection belonged to the son of a Parisian gallery owner and brings together works by leading figures of the School of Paris alongside French colorists associated with Fauvism and the artistic life of Montmartre. Among the artists represented are Mo飐e Kisling, Pinchus Kr閙鑗ne, Jules Pascin, Hermine David, Toshio Bando, Ossip Zadkine, Charles Camoin, Louis Valtat, 蒷is閑 Maclet and Gen Paul.
The collector grew up around the art market. His father founded Galerie 93 at 93 rue du Faubourg-Saint-Honor, a gallery specializing in na飗e painters, and the younger collector later worked alongside him before building an independent collection of his own.
According to Cabinet Chanoit, the expert for the sale, his choices were marked by an unusually strict standard. Rather than collecting broadly, he assembled a focused group of works reflecting an eye sharpened by years of direct contact with galleries, dealers and auction rooms.
At the heart of the collection is the School of Paris, the loose designation given to the international community of artists who settled in the French capital during the early decades of the 20th century. Many came from Central and Eastern Europe and gravitated toward Montparnasse, where studios, caf閟 and artists' communities such as La Ruche helped make Paris one of the centers of the European avant-garde.
A major highlight is Mo飐e Kisling's Still Life with Pitcher and Fruit from 1915, a Cubist composition that appears in the artist's catalogue raisonn. Painted during a dramatic year in Kisling's life, the work dates from the period when the Polish-born artist was discharged from the French Foreign Legion after being wounded at the front. The painting carries an estimate of €25,000 to €35,000.
Kisling is joined by six works by Pinchus Kr閙鑗ne, as well as works by Jules Pascin and Hermine David. Toshio Bando, the Japanese painter who was part of the Parisian artistic circle that included Foujita, is represented by Smoked Herrings, while works on paper by sculptor Ossip Zadkine broaden the view of the School of Paris represented in the sale.
French colorists form another important strand of the collection.
Charles Camoin's Pine Trees at the Edge of the Cliff (Bay of Santa-Lucia), painted in 1954, depicts the Est閞el coast near Saint-Rapha雔. Camoin studied alongside Henri Matisse and Albert Marquet in Gustave Moreau's studio and remained closely identified with the expressive use of color associated with Fauvism. The landscape is estimated at €15,000 to €20,000.
Louis Valtat is represented by three still lifes, including Bouquet of Lilacs in a Vase, estimated at €8,000 to €12,000; Basket of Peaches, estimated at €5,000 to €8,000; and Still Life with Almonds from 1907, estimated at €4,000 to €6,000.
Montmartre also has a strong presence through 蒷is閑 Maclet and Gen Paul, while southern French landscapes by Jean-Baptiste Olive and Jean Pesk extend the geographical range of the collection.
The works on paper offer another window onto early 20th-century French modernism. The group includes Andr Lhote and Roger de La Fresnaye, together with a substantial selection of etchings and engravings by Jean-蒻ile Laboureur, including examples from his Cubist period. Pierre Bonnard, Charles Dufresne and Marcel Gromaire are also represented.
Taken together, the collection reflects less the ambition of building a survey of modern French art than the habits of a committed connoisseur. Its coherence comes from repeated choices made over decades, combining recognizable names with works selected for their quality rather than their market prominence.
Many of the pieces have not appeared on the market for decades.
Among the other highlights is Kr閙鑗ne's Red Door, Cagnes, dating from 1926–29 and estimated at €1,500 to €2,500, while Bando's Smoked Herrings carries an estimate of €2,000 to €3,000.
The collection is currently on view at Cabinet Chanoit, 12 rue Drouot, Paris, through October 9. The works will then be exhibited at Gros & Delettrez Rive Gauche on October 20 and 21 ahead of the auction on Thursday, October 22 at 2 p.m.
The sale will take place at Gros & Delettrez Rive Gauche, 2 rue de B閞ite, in Paris's 6th arrondissement.
