PARIS.- On 24 November, Christie's Paris will bring together approximately 180 works tracing a century of decorative arts and design. From Alberto and Diego Giacometti to Ingrid Donat and Maarten Baas, by way of Franois-Xavier and Claude Lalanne, the sale places bronze firmly in the spotlight. By turns decorative, sculptural and functional, bronze remained throughout the twentieth century a remarkable medium for experimentation. Spanning from the Belle poque to contemporary creation, the works assembled demonstrate the ability of leading creators to continually reinvent this material: sculpture transformed into functional objects by the Giacomettis, the poetic menagerie of the Lalannes, and bronze used as an architectural medium by Ingrid Donat and Maarten Baas.
A highlight of the sale, Franois-Xavier Lalanne's Grand Oiseau de Peter Branch is estimated at €1,000,000-1,500,000. This spectacular work alone encapsulates the unique dialogue the artist maintained with the animal world.
Bronze: A Century of Creativity and Innovation
From Symbolist ornamentation to functional works, from architectural decoration to furniture, the pieces assembled in this sale illustrate the creative richness made possible by bronze and the evolution of its use throughout the twentieth century. Through a remarkable selection of works spanning multiple decades through to the contemporary era, Christie's offers a true journey through the history of Design, revealing the extraordinary freedom with which artists and designers have appropriated this material.
In the 1920s and 1930s, bronze accompanied the creative flourishing of Art Deco. Several highly sought-after works from this period are brought together, from sculptural lighting by Albert Cheuret, including the 'Aloe' chandelier (€40,000-60,000), to the refinement of Jacques-mile Ruhlmann's Colette chest of drawers, enhanced with bronze mounts (€70,000-100,000). With Alberto Giacometti, the boundaries between sculpture and the decorative arts became increasingly blurred. A very rare 1935 Coupe ovale (€400,000-600,000) and a Lampadaire Figure (€200,000-300,000) reveal the singularity of his artistic vision and bear witness to his exploration of sculpture. Diego Giacometti continued this dialogue between art and function in his own way, creating a poetic bestiary, exemplified by a Chandelier deux ttes de cheval (€120,000-180,000).
The Lalannes occupy a central place in this journey through the century, With extraordinary freedom and imagination, they embody the renewal of bronze sculpture from the 1960s onwards. By erasing the boundaries between art and utility, Franois-Xavier Lalanne transformed his bestiary into a world that is both poetic and functional, where each animal becomes a unique creation. Alongside the spectacular Grand Oiseau de Peter Branch (€1,000,000-1,500,000), the sale brings together several of his iconic works: a Blier, an Agneau (€250,000-350,000 each) and a Mouton Transhumant (€200,000-300,000), all of which testify to his humour, inventiveness and exceptional mastery of bronze. During Paris Art Week, Christie's presented a selection of works by Franois-Xavier Lalanne at Le Bristol Paris, offering collectors a privileged opportunity to discover his work in an exceptional setting. Alongside these are several works by Claude Lalanne, including a pair of Feuilles de Bambou chairs (€100,000-150,000) and two Feuille candlesticks (€13,000-18,000 each), which illustrate her unique ability to transform bronze, a material traditionally associated with strength and permanence, into creations inspired by the natural world and possessing an almost fragile delicacy, a direction she pursued following her early electroplated works. Together, the Lalannes transformed bronze into a remarkable realm of freedom, where nature, imagination and functionality converge.
This creative freedom continues into the present day, with furniture of resolutely contemporary expression: Ingrid Donat's Table 360, created in 2015 (€100,000-150,000); Maarten Baas's Carapace cabinet (€60,000-80,000); a rare sofa by Hubert Le Gall (€40,000-60,000); and a large coffee table by Philippe Anthonioz (€25,000-35,000). Together, these singular visions demonstrate the enduring modernity of bronze and its ability to inspire, generation after generation, the most daring artists and designers.
The Marlene and Spencer Hays Collection: An American Perspective on French Art Deco
Following the sale of Modern works last October, a carefully selected group from the Paris apartment of American collectors Marlene and Spencer Hays will enrich the section dedicated to the great French decorators of the interwar period. Built with discernment and exacting standards, this collection reflects the couple's deeply informed passion for French Art Deco. Through an ensemble of refined pieces, the Hays Collection highlights the excellence of French craftsmen and decorators of the early twentieth century and reveals a particularly discerning eye for the most representative creations of the period.
The selection includes works by several masters of Art Deco: mile-Jacques Ruhlmann, Armand-Albert Rateau and Albert Cheuret. Highlights include a rare Fuseau vide-poche by Ruhlmann, designed circa 1921-1922 (€150,000-200,000), as well as the Colette chest of drawers from 1926 (€70,000-100,000). Works by Armand-Albert Rateau and several creations by Albert Cheuret further enhance this particularly refined ensemble.
Leading Names in Design
Beyond its focus on bronze, the sale offers a particularly rich overview of twentieth-century design and its leading figures.
A group of works by Jean Royre includes the remarkable lphanteau armchair, restored using the original upholstery techniques by Atelier Pourpre (€160,000-200,000), as well as a Tour Eiffel coffee table (€150,000-200,000). These are displayed alongside an impressive Tte de lit-bibliothque murale created by Eileen Gray for her Paris apartment (€100,000-150,000), a coffee table by Georges Nakashima (€120,000-180,000), and a rare set of chairs by Franz West (€60,000-80,000).
Works by Jean Prouv, Georges Jouve, Andr Dubreuil and Ettore Sottsass further enrich the offering, underscoring the breadth and diversity of a sale that brings together the great historical decorators, post-war design icons and the leading creators of the late twentieth century.
The Design sales will continue in New York with the exceptional collection Anthology of Design: Masterworks from a French-American Collection, to be offered on 9 December. The culmination of two decades of passion and collecting, this collection, assembled by French-American collectors, will feature some of the greatest names in design, including Jean Prouv, Charlotte Perriand, Franois-Xavier Lalanne and Ettore Sottsass.
