Inside the Grand Palais, Collection Yves Saint Laurent et Pierre Berge
23, 24, 25 February 2009 Grand Palais, Paris
It is with this post that I bid farewell to the legend Yves Saint Laurent. In February of 2009, the world watched as the private collection of Saint Laurent and Berge sold on the Christie’s auction block. It was an unprecedented global event breaking every record imaginable and grossing almost a half billion dollars. Although it was a huge financial success, I write this post with a heavy heart. This art represents the life they had together ~ the elation of a new discovery, the comfort of a familiar face. In yesterday’s post I quoted Madison Cox saying, “choosing paintings together was one of the strongest dialogues between Pierre and Yves, the discussion, the chase, the passion.”
Their collection may have moved on, but their legacy lives forever.
first four photos from Time magazine online (Christie’s Images), below ~ text from Christie’s
Paris – The three-day sale of the magnificent Collection of Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé at the Grand Palais, offered by Christie’s in association with Pierre Bergé & Associates auctioneers, realised in total €373,935,500 / £332,802,595 / $483,835,144. A remarkable 95.5% of lots sold by lot, and 93% sold by value. This historic sale set a world record for the most valuable private collection sold at auction, was the highest grossing sale in Europe on record, and set multiple world records for Impressionist and Modern Art, 20th Century Decorative Arts, Silver, Sculpture and Works of Art. One of the most exceptional and significant collections of art in private hands, it generated unprecedented interest from bidders throughout the world and the pre-sale estimates for both the sale as a whole and the individual works, were significantly exceeded.
Highlights of these exceptional and rare works of art, each with impeccable provenance, captured the attention of international collectors as they were exhibited by Christie’s, in association with Pierre Bergé and Associates, in New York, London, Brussels and Paris in the last four months. The spectacular public exhibition at the Grand Palais in Paris, a once in-a-lifetime opportunity to see this unique curated collection of art and to experience the evocative atmosphere of Yves Saint Laurent’s apartment at rue de Babylone, was viewed by over 30,000 visitors over 3 days (21-23 February), and over 1500 people gathered for each of the sales, held in a specially built saleroom, the largest in Christie’s history. The top lot of the sale was Les coucous, tapis bleu et rose, 1911 by Henri Matisse, which sold for €35.9 million / £31.9 million / $46.4 million. 16 works of art sold for over €5 million and 61 works of art sold for over €1 million. Numerous world auction records were set in each sale, and in almost every part of Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé’s Collection, a tribute to their discerning eye for provenance and museum quality. The proceeds of the sale will go to the Pierre Bergé – Yves Saint Laurent Foundation, created to prolong the history of the House of Yves Saint Laurent, and to a new foundation that will be set up for scientific research and the fight against AIDS.
below ~ Inside the Christie’s Auction of Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé’s Collection, with Exclusive Photos from the Architectural Digest Archives (Christie’s Images), Text by Mark Ginsburg, Published July 2009
1. Constantin Brancusi $37,623,104
2. Jean Dunand (pair) $3,982,106
1. Gustave Miklos (pair) $2,249,523
2. Egyptian $403,496
1 to 3. Italian $109,576
4. James Ensor $6,436,600
1. Italian (18) $1,238,849
2. Attributed to Maison Bagues $128,139
3. Gobelins $712,886
1. Jean Dunand $32,228
2. Jean Dunand $29,005
3. Jean Luce $70,90
GRAND SALON, 1976
Architectural Digest shot the couple’s apartment in 1976.
1. Italian $109,576
2. Émile-Jacques Ruhlmann $202,393
3. Jean Dunand $418,966
4. Armand Albert Rateau $1,455,422
5. French (pair) $125,045
6. Émile-Jacques Ruhlmann $94,106
7. Jules Leleu $44,604
8. After Giambologna and Pietro Tacca (pair) $388,027
9. Pierre Legrain $589,130
10. Armand Albert Rateau $388,027
11. French $148,249
12. Eileen Gray $28,238,277
GRAND SALON, 1976
Architectural Digest shot the couple’s apartment in 1976.
1. Jean Dunand $81,731
2. Attributed to Pierre Reymond $137,421
3. Jean Dunand $125,045
4. Jean Dunand $66,261
5. Albert Cheuret $403,496
6. Sir Edward Burne-Jones $774,764
7. Alfred Porteneuve (pair) $155,984
8. French (four) $132,780
9. Ernest Boiceau $774,764
GRAND SALON, 2008
When Christie’s photographed the apartment in the fall of 2008, the grand salon remained mostly unchanged, although the walls were now lined with paintings.
1. Giorgio de Chirico $14,233,226
2. Augsburg $233,332
3. Fernand Léger $7,158,509
4. Fernand Léger $4,559,634
5. Augsburg $233,332
6. Nuremberg $148,249
7. 19th century $140,515
8. Fernand Léger $4,848,398
9. Thomas Gainsborough $2,827,050
10. Henri Matisse $10,623,677
11. Juan Gris $1,383,231
12. Probably Italian $47,698
SALON DE MUSIQUE
Hall of Mirrors
Saint Laurent and Bergé were patrons of art and design as well as collectors. In 1974 the couple commissioned a pair of mirrors from Claude Lalanne for the music room of their rue de Babylone apartment. Ultimately, 15 bronze mirrors with foliate motifs by Lalanne covered the walls. Visible through the space is a Roman torso in the entrance hall.
1. Claude Lalanne $94,106
2. Roman $1,671,995
3. Claude Lalanne (15) $2,393,905
4. Jean Dunand (pair) $808,660
BIBLIOTHÈQUE
Light and Bright
“There is a theme and a continuity to my collections. Of course, there are always fantasies, but it is the base that counts,” Saint Laurent told Architectural Digest in 1976. During AD’s visit, a Joseph Csaky bas-relief was on the fireplace.
1. Joseph Csaky $186,923
2. French $32,228
3. Vilmos Zsolnay $44,604
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Fetish, by Louboutin and Lynch, Monday, August 16th, 2010
a thoughtful eye 