PARIS.- Christie’s will offer the Collection Zeineb et Jean-Pierre Marcie-Rivière, un couple de grands amateurs et mécènes, on 8 and 9 June 2016. This unique sale, gathering major modern and contemporary artworks, antiquities and decorative arts is among the most prestigious private collections of art and design organised by Christie’s in France. This sale, comprising 370 lots, estimated in the region of €18 million, will pay tribute to the discerning eye of Zeineb and Jean-Pierre Marcie-Rivière, a couple well known for their hospitality and generosity.
François de Ricqlès, President of Christie’s France: “This collection is a testament to the passionate connoisseurship of Monsieur and Madame Marcie-Rivière, who were often ahead of their time in their selection of a very subtle mix of styles and periods, with works of art from renowned artists. It is a collection of high quality which cannot be compared to any other.
Zeineb and Jean-Pierre Marcie-Rivière were inspired by the tradition of the most prestigious 20th century French connoisseurs, who looked to the 1920s decoration of the Viscount and Viscountess de Noailles’s private mansion decorated by Jean-Michel Frank. Zeineb and Jean-Pierre’s exquisite taste, combined with the talent and expertise of Renzo Mongiardino and Alberto Pinto, resulted in a collection which provides an exceptional opportunity for those wishing to acquire some of the most magnificent works of art offered in Paris since the Yves Saint Laurent-Pierre Bergé or Hélène Rochas collections.”
A magnificent setting housed the collection
When Zeineb Levy-Despas settled on the first floor of a private mansion located on rue de Varenne in Paris, she entrusted Renzo Mongiardino with the decoration of her apartment. This became a magnificent place to house the Nabis paintings which she acquired with her first husband André Lévy-Despas. After his death in 1974, Zeineb continued to take pleasure from art, music and literature. In 1990, she met Jean-Pierre Marcie-Rivière who went on to become the Vice President of the National Modern Art Museum Friends from 1997 to 2013. They married in 1992, going on to establish together a remarkable Post-War and Contemporary art collection. In 1991 Jean-Pierre Marcie-Rivière moved in to the second floor of the private mansion situated on 60 rue de Varenne which went on to be decorated by Alberto Pinto in a very sober and elegant style.
The Collection
Zeineb and Jean-Pierre Marcie-Rivière acquired signed artworks by many leading 20th century artists including Francis Bacon, Nicolas de Staël, Jean Dubuffet, Anselm Kiefer, Richard Serra, Brice Marden, Julio González, Max Ernst, François-Xavier and Claude Lalanne, among others.
The top lot of the sale is the final painting of the Men in Blue series by Francis Bacon painted between March and June 1954. Men in Blue continues the theme already explored by the artist in the iconic series of ‘Popes (Study for a Portrait I-VIII)’, completed the previous year. Paul Nyzam, Contemporary art specialist: “Immersed in a deep sea of midnight blue, the slender figure of a man is seen cast into the shadows, isolated, trapped in the dark. The twilight tones of the painting are only relieved by the striking pink and alabaster white of the man's grimacing face above his starched white collar. The expression of Bacon's genius lies precisely in this face, whose features have been meticulously distorted with an impulsive sweep of the brush. In this final incarnation of ‘Man in Blue VII’ Bacon achieves what mattered most for him in his work – creating a pictorial sensation that "acts directly on the nervous system””. This major artwork, which was hung in the entrance of Monsieur Jean-Pierre Marcie-Rivière’s apartment, is estimated to achieve between €5-8 million.
A welded iron by Julio González (estimate: €1-1.5 million) stood on the fireplace of Jean-Pierre Marcie-Rivière’s living-room. This Forme rigide, conceived in 1937, is a dramatic and powerfully expressive sculpture that, in the simplicity and geometric angularity of its forms, at first seems to suggest a link to the aesthetics of constructivism. Of the ideals of constructivism, however, González was somewhat critical, writing: "One will not make great art in making perfect circles and squares with the aid of a compass and ruler... The truly novel works... are, quite simply, those which are directly inspired by nature, and executed with love and sincerity." (Julio González cited in, J. Withers, Julio González: Sculpture in Iron, New York 1978, p. 76).
Other major artists from the 20th century include: Pablo Picasso, Diego Giacometti, Max Ernst, Brice Marden, Robert Motherwell, Richard Serra, Sol LeWitt, Cy Twombly, Anselm Kiefer and Jean Dubuffet. From the latter, five emblematic artworks from the 1950’s, will be offered for auction such as Barbe des songes fumeux (estimate: €300,000-500,000) or Trois personnages de peu de présence (estimate: €350,000-550,000). François de Ricqlès: “A monumental work on paper by Richard Serra takes our breath away”. Out of round II presents a huge, round, deep-black form absorbing the light. Paul Nyzam adds: “The monumentality of the work creates a sense of vertigo in whoever looks at it. The footprints on the tar-like surface further disorient viewers, who suddenly seem to see on the wall what they usually see at their feet. Here, just as with his sculptures, Serra achieves his intention: inciting the viewer to experience weight and gravity. This work is estimated to realise between €600,000 and 900,000.
A beautiful oil and charcoal work on paper by Willem de Kooning completes this section (estimate: €500,000-700,000). Created in 1962, it featured in the major exhibition La sculpture des peintres, organised at the Maeght Foundation by Jean-Louis Prat in 1997.
Exemplary works by François-Xavier and Claude Lalanne welcomed visitors from the moment they arrived at the entrance of Zeineb Marcie-Rivière’s apartment, where a beautiful blue stone rhinoceros of 80 cm, which is thought to be unique, stood (estimate: €120,000-180,000). In the living room were a delightful couple of Colombes de Zayneb, dating from 1999, in plaster and golden bronze (estimate: €20,000-30,000). In the dining room, hung the elegant branches of a splendid chandelier, realised in 1996 by Claude Lalanne (Structure végétale) (estimate: €250,000-350,000). Comprising 24 lamps, this poetic masterpiece is offered alongside a set of four wall lamps by Lalanne which date to the same year, each comprising three lamps and all monogrammed CL (estimate:€100,000-150,000).
Antiquities
A beautiful section of Antiquities featuring objects from the Middle-East, Egypt, Greece and Rome include monumental pieces, marble fragments, divinities and pharaohs’ heads, all carefully chosen by Zeineb and André LévyDespas. A magnificent Dancing Faun, dated from the first two centuries A.D and positioned majestically in the entrance, is a leading highlight (estimate: €200,000300,000, illustrated left). Acquired in 1975 at the Galerie Simone de Monbrison by Zeineb, this faun belonged to the Duke of Westminster, Robert Grovesnor, having been discovered in 1777 in Rome. It came as a complete statue, as one can see in a painting by Charles Robert Leslie (17941859) executed in 1831, which presents Robert Grovesnor surrounded by 11 of his family members. Now free of all appendix added during the 18th century in Rome in order to be sold to British connoisseurs, the torso is today recognisable only by the tail located in his back. No other Roman version of this statue is known to exist.
Esteemed Egyptian pieces include a superb Pharaoh’s head representing Hatshepsut or Thutmose III in granite, dating from the 18th dynasty (circa 15501292 before J.-C) estimated €200,000-300,000. A rare goose made of bronze and stucco wood from the late period of ancient Egypt is estimated between €100,000 and 150,000.
Furniture
The Marcie-Rivière Collection also offers an important array of classical furniture. The atmosphere of this very Parisian interior is punctuated by some neoclassical pieces from Russia and Austria, such as a Viennese commode from the mid-19th century (estimate: €3,000-5,000) and an elegant armchair from the same period from Russia (estimate: €2,000-3,000). A further highlight is the beautiful pair of Louis XVI marquises stamped by Georges Jacob (estimate: €60,000-100,000).
The marquises stood in the main living room where the most important Nabis paintings, recently donated to the Musée d’Orsay, were hung, alongside a Louis XVI commode stamped by Poix which dates from the 1780’s, coming from the Château de Mentmore, formerly the property of the Baron Mayer Amschel de Rothschild (estimate: €70,000-100,000). Standing on this mahogany commode was a charming pair of Regency porcelain vases in bronze, gilded and adorned with birds and foliage (estimate: €12,000-18,000). In the second living room, enlightened by a sumptuous white porcelain chandelier from Berlin (estimate: €60,00080,000), was a two seated sofa drawn by Renzo Mongiardino (estimate: €4,000-6,000).
