STARTING ON 22
HD
>
Drawing at auction
Each year, auction houses all focus on drawing events
in Paris (Salon du Dessin, Drawing Now) with sales
devoting the lion's share to this much sought-after
medium. Artcurial starts the ball rolling with the collections of Gaston Delestre (22 March) and Georges
Dormeuil (23 March). The latter includes an "Homme
au bonnet de profil" by Jean-Antoine Watteau with an
impeccable pedigree (€150,000/200,000). The same
day, Christie's is selling 55 drawings by Degas, which
date from his early career and come directly from the
heirs of the artist's own brother, and Sotheby's a broad
selection of 20th-century drawings by artists including
Signac (€4,000/5,000) and Picasso (€300,000/400,000).
We find the same eclecticism at Piasa (28 March) and
Leclere (24 March), the latter with a fine mix of Old
Masters and modern pieces, from Foujita to Van
Dongen (around €20,000). These works will be exhibited at Hôtel Drouot, with a variety of other pieces to
be equally dispersed in the auctions during the week
dedicated to drawing. Worthy of admiring there : a
study for "Mademoiselle Pogany" signed Constantin
Brancusi (Ader, 24 March, €80,000/120,000) and an ink
drawing of Victor-Marie Hugo (Aguttes, 27 mars,
€80,000/120,000, illustrated). Ending on a high note,
the Sceaux sale room and Cabinet Chanoît are proposing Indian ink drawings - some with watercolour highlights - by Henri Michaux and Joan Miró, together with
a "Barbe" by Jean Dubuffet (€350,000), straight from
the overflowing apartment of a collector couple,
friends of gallery owner Daniel Cordier. These gems are
up for sale on 26 March.
Céline Piettre
39