MARCHÉ DE L'ART
Christie’s Paris
PARIS—Christie’s is preparing a series of fall events in
Paris that attest to the vitality of its African and Oceanic
art department. There are two dates to remember. The
fi rst is October 17, 2019, the day of the Paris Avant-
Garde auction, a modern and post-war art sale that will
also include—and this will be a fi rst for Christie’s—a
selection of major works of African art. These will, of
course, attest to the aesthetic trends of the time that the
Western artists of the period drew so much inspiration
from. A beautiful, powerful, and yet balanced Baule
mask, formerly in the Helena Rubinstein Collection, will
be among the emblematic works that will be offered.
On October 30, a few days after this event, a sale
titled Splendeurs: art d’Afrique, d’Amérique du Nord et
d’Océanie (Splendors: Art of Africa, the Americas, and
Oceania) will be held. It will be made up of a relatively
small number of lots—about fi fty—but the level of quality
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of the artworks offered will be exceptionally high.
There will be two main groups of pieces. The fi rst is a
selection of eighteen beautiful Northwest Coast objects
from a private collection that includes Tlingit, Tsimshian,
and Haida works, among others. The second is from a
royal collection assembled by a refi ned and keenly honed
eye. Although some Oceanic objects will be included in
it, the twenty-two pieces in this group are mostly examples
of classical West and Central African art. The
Côte d’Ivoire Ligbi mask formerly in the Barbier-Mueller
Collection and the Songye fi gure from the Democratic
Republic of the Congo, formerly the property of Robert
Rubin, are among them. The sale will be completed by
a number of pieces with various provenances, including
several once in the collection of Pierre Matisse. In short,
excellence will be the order of the day here.
Finally, as in past years, Christie’s will present a preview
of the highlights of its sales in its Paris headquarters in
September, taking advantage of the concentration of collectors
and enthusiasts from around the globe who will
be in the city to attend Parcours des Mondes. A lecture
by Marie Mauzé on the connections between Northwest
Coast art and the Surrealist movement is scheduled for
September 13 and promises to be an instructive event.
ABOVE LEFT: Mask.
Baule; Côte d’Ivoire.
Ex Helena Rubinstein.
To be offered by Christie’s, Paris,
on 17 October 2019.
© Christie’s Images Ltd, 2019
ABOVE CENTER: Power
fi gure. Songye; DR Congo.
To be offered by Christie’s, Paris,
on 30 October 2019.
© Christie’s Images Ltd, 2019.
BELOW: Janiform rattle.
British Columbia or Alaska.
To be offered by Christie’s, Paris,
on 30 October 2019.
© Christie’s Images Ltd, 2019.
ABOVE: Mask. Ligbi;
Côte d’Ivoire.
To be offered by Christie’s, Paris,
on 30 October 2019.
© Christie’s Images Ltd, 2019.
BELOW: Mask. Tsimshian;
British Columbia.
To be offered by Christie’s, Paris,
on 30 October 2019.
© Christie’s Images Ltd, 2019.