PARIS.- Africa is at the heart of this Parisian collection which gathers over thirty works of art, constituting the largest session dedicated to Africanism in 20 years in Paris. The sale includes 11 paintings by Jacques Majorelle as well as a collection of works of art by Belgian artists from the same movement. Estimated at 1.8 M€ / 2 M$, the collection will be previewed in Paris in September and in Brussels and Marrakech in late October, before being sold on November 9th 2015.

“This is the choice of a true African lover and an influential collector. The collection is exceptional for its quality and aesthetic aspect” explains Olivier Berman who heads Artcurial’s Orientalism department, a key department which already boasts 20 world records since 2008.

JACQUES MAJORELLE AND BLACK AFRICA
This collection which has been gathered during the past 25 years, includes 11 works of art by Jacques Majorelle (1886 – 1962). Several of the pieces are major paintings by the artist, amongst which the current world sales record which is held by Artcurial. His work, La Kasbah rouge (Freija) reached an impressive record result of 1 315 818 € / 1 926 150 $ on 9th June 2011.

Jacques Majorelle was fascinated by the beauty and sensuality of black women and from the 1930s he began painting them, often asking them to pose naked in his beautiful garden. The artist realised experiments with many colours and researched various techniques applying powdered gold and silver to his paintings. From November 1945 to 1952, Jacques Majorelle spent more and more time in sub-Saharan Africa on a quest to find out more about the origins of his models. From Sudan to Guinea, travelling through Senegal and the Ivory Coast, Majorelle immersed himself deeper and deeper into everyday life and enabled him to capture the real lives of African people, from bustling crowds, to market scenes and portraits of African women.

Estimated at 350 000 - 550 000 € / 395 000 – 620 000 $, ‘Maternité’ (dated 1940), is a masterpiece from the Africanist period and comes from Barry Friedman and Félix Marcilhac. A large and bustling market scene in Macenta in Guinea is dated 1952 and estimated at 200 000 – 300 000 / 225 000 – 340 000 $ and the exceptional piece og 1929, Aït Ben Addou, from the famous ‘Casbahs de l’atlas’ series with a touch of gold and silver.

THE AFRICANISM ARTISTS
A part of the collection is dedicated to Belgian artists with notably a masterpiece by the painter, Floris Jespers (1889-1965). This iconic Africanism piece is listed in several works (see photo below). Arsène Matton (1873-1953) and André Hallet (18901959) are amongst the other Belgian artists represented in the collection.

Three sculptures by Anna Quinquaud (1890-1984), one of the most priced sculptors on the market, are estimated at 12 000 – 40 000€ (13 500 - 45 000 $). Finally, two beautiful works by Alexandre Iacovleff and a piece by Roger Bezombes (oil on canvas) complete the collection.