Sotheby’s will hold an auction of almost 200 design pieces in an event curated by Pablo Picasso’s granddaughter Diana Widmaier Picasso in Paris later this month.
The May 24 sale, which is a mix of furniture pieces and objects, represents design creations from the early 20th century to modern day, according to a news release from Sotheby’s. The auction joins design sales from Bonhams and Christie’s also scheduled for May in Paris.
A golden apple sculpture by Claude Lalanne, La Pomme de Londres, 2007, will lead the sale and is expected to fetch between €700,000 and €1 million (US$773,479 and US$1.1 million). The apple “perfectly encapsulates the artist’s fantastical creations and builds on the longstanding art historical tradition of depicting this fruit,” the auction house wrote in the release.
Other notable pieces from the sale are a set of five duck sculptures titled Oies Sauvages, 1999, with an estimate between €500,000 and €700,000, and a bird figurine called Canard Flottant, 1998, with an estimate between €200,000 and €300,000, both by François-Xavier Lalanne, Claude’s husband.
“The work of Les Lalannes is extremely moving, and the animal motif is an essential part of their artistic vocabulary. Their entire oeuvre consists of provoking aesthetic encounters between various forms—mixing universal symbols, poetry and refinement,” said Picasso, who is an art historian and a jewelry designer. “I particularly like Claude Lalanne’s Crococurule stool, which brings the fantastical into a domestic space.”
Picasso also said in the news release that Claude Lalanne’s jewelry pieces in particular speak to her, as “jewelry always carries stories.”
Other pieces in the sale include works by Pierre Chareau, Jean-Michel Frank, Alberto and Diego Giacometti, Paul Dupré-Lafon, Charlotte Perriand, Jean Prouvé, Jean Royère, Gio Ponti, and Martin Szekely.
The auction will also feature a French private collection of Picasso ceramics, honoring the artist 50 years after his death.
Bonhams will also hold a design sale at Bonhams Cornette de Saint Cyr in Paris the week prior on May 17. The auction will feature works from 20th-century artists Line Vautrin, Jean Besnard, Alessandro Mendini, and Ron Arad.
Arad’s Pappardelle chair will lead the sale with an estimate between €60,000 and €80,000.
More than 20 ceramics in a range of colors by Besnard, a ceramist of the Art Deco era, will be featured, with estimates for the pieces ranging between €800 and €6,000.
Additionally, Christie’s will hold a design auction of nearly 200 pieces on May 26 in Paris. The sale, which has an overall estimate between €5 million and €7 million, will spotlight works from Charlotte Perriand and Jean Prouvé, while also featuring a number of lots by female designers such as Janette Laverrière, Line Vautrin, Denyse Gatard, and Claude Lalanne.
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