Paris , The sale of Hubert de Givenchy’s estate at Christie’s in Paris next week reflects the exact look of the designer, known as the ambassador for French taste, as the house he founded celebrates its 70th anniversary.
Under the hammer of 1,229 lots, and with a global estimate of around €50 million, it will mark the auction house’s biggest single sale ever at the Paris branch, and as a powerhouse for auctioning single-owner collections. Will strengthen Christie’s reputation. , which includes the historic sale of the collections of Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé in 2009.
On Wednesday, the House staged previews of more than 900 lots in a special presentation at its headquarters on Avenue Mattignon, which will be open to the public from Friday through June 14.
Because of the draw of the Givenchy name, Christie’s expects hordes of visitors to take in the “Hubert de Givenchy – Collector” exhibit, conceived by set designer Cecil Degos, from two of de Givenchy’s major residences – the Htel d’Or Recreates several rooms. On the Renaissance-style Château du Jonchette near the rue de Grenelle in Paris and the Loire Valley.
The two online sales of small items such as tableware began on Wednesday and will run through June 22 and 23, respectively. The most accessible lot has a malachite box, estimated at 100 euros to 200 euros, and a ’90s office chair with a starting price tag of 50 euros to 80 euros.
The live auction will run from June 14 to 17 in the sales room of the Théâtre Marigny and Christie’s in Paris, which has been temporarily converted into a replica of the Parter Garden in the chateau, with Stagg sculptures originally created for the Couture Salon She was Cristóbal Balenciaga, who gifted them to his fellow designer when he retired.
The star lot features “Woman Walking”, an artist by Alberto Giacometti, a sculpture worth about 30 million euros, and Joan Miró’s “Passage of the Migratory Bird”, which hung in the designer’s bedroom. The painting, which has never been presented at auction before, has a starting price of €2.5 million to €3.5 million.
But primarily, the collection reflects de Givenchy’s passion for the 18th century, with works of art, sculpture and furniture known as “le got française” or “French flavor” – some from fellow designers. including Gabrielle “Coco”. Chanel and Karl Lagerfeld.
It was an emotional occasion for Charles Cater, deputy chairman of Christie’s International, who worked with De Givenchy on several subsequent projects until the first sale of items from his collection at Christie’s in 1993 and the designer’s death in 2018.
“The 1993 sale was an extraordinary experience for me,” Cater recalled. “It changed my work life forever, but I think it also changed the way we sell our collections. And in fact, someone once told me that sales in ’93 set the pattern for collection sales for the next 20, 30 years.
De Givenchy was named President of Christie’s France’s Supervisory Board and a member of its International Board in 1997 and was involved in a number of exhibitions and sales, most recently, the 2017 auction of a collection of his works by Diego Giacometti.
Collecting aristocratic roots and bearing tall was a lifestyle for the designer and his partner, Philippe Venet, whose impeccable taste extended to every aspect of their home—including the garden table.
“It must be the only table that had a denim cover made by Givenchy because there were a lot of birds on top and it made them a little angry that they kept making a mess. So they made Maison de Couture a denim cover for it to take off and then.” Washable,” Cater recalled.
Cater said what linked to de Givenchy’s clothing, such as the famous black dress Audrey Hepburn wore at “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” and her furniture collection was a love of structure and a deep respect for craftsmanship.
“The chairs, it’s sculpture, it’s shape and profile,” he said as he walked through the display. “Obviously, a lot of her aesthetic is the line.”
He pointed to an 18th-century mechanical cylinder bur, by David Roentgen, which contained secret drawers and elements that are released when a key is turned. “Like a couture dress, there’s a huge amount of ingenuity in making it do what it does,” he remarked. “And I think that’s what he liked in furniture.”
De Givenchy was heavily influenced by American garden designer and socialite Bunny Mellon, who had her own bedroom at the Château du Jonchet, which has been remodeled for the Presale exhibition.
“They obviously made wonderful clothes for her, but at the same time, they were interested in interiors, collecting and having a lot of fun looking at things together, and I think she was always interested in simplicity and everything. She was very impressive at striking a balance with. She had, but I think she insisted on it,” Cater said.
Her bedroom’s blue-and-white decor was an anomaly for De Givenchy, favoring a palette of green, gold, white, and black. The first floor of Christie’s exhibition includes a replica of the charming Green Velvet Room in her Paris apartment. “He said, ‘Tujours le vert, tujours le vert, Charlie,'” Cater recalled with a smile.
De Givenchy would often reupholster the chairs to make them to his liking. “He was clearly, in his metre, incredibly interested in fabrics and materials, and he would sometimes use old materials or often plain materials,” Cater said.
In contrast, de Givenchy updated the Louis XVI Bergre chair with a textile designed by artist Georges Braque, and Givenchy glove makers embroidered elaborate leather and suede upholstery for a series of Claude Sene chairs dating from the 18th century. Had it.
He was sensitive to the origins of pieces such as one of his first major purchases, an uproar created by King Louis XIV’s furniture maker André-Charles Boulle, an exhibition running concurrently at the Kugel Gallery in Paris. is the centerpiece of. Thursday to June 15.
First owned by Chanel friends José-Maria and Misia Sert, the armoire stood in their living room with a painting by Mark Rothko, reflecting his early knack for mixing eras.
From Chanel, who invited her regularly to dinner, she bought a Regens gilt-oak console table, from circa 1710 to 1720, and from Lagerfeld, a pair of Louis XVI-era fireplace accessories—both Estimates ranged from 60,000 euros to 100,000 euros. ,
“The interesting thing about the collection is that there is such a vast range, because it is his eye all the way from the grand to the ordinary,” said Cater.
He believes the discerning eye is what keeps interiors from feeling oppressive, despite the staggering amount of items they contain, including 440 examples of seat furniture alone.
“There was an incredible harmony and peace in the rooms because they had a tremendously strong structure. And then you can layer, because people say, ‘Well, with so many things in these rooms, how can you say they’re very Are you calm?’ But really, really, they were, and I think that’s because there was an underpinning,” Cater explained.
What sets the collection apart from estate sales by other designers such as Saint Laurent and Lagerfeld is that Givenchy bought pieces specifically for their homes.
“He understood how to use furniture, but he didn’t just buy things for them, so it’s different,” Cater said. “He was focusing more on the rooms he had and how to make them look as wonderful as possible.”
Kugel Gallery co-owner Alexis Kugel said he and his brother Nicolas expressed their gratitude to the long-standing client de Givenchy, who designed the gallery’s stand for the Biennale des Antiquares in 1994, which The famous Boule was centered around Armoire. Which he sold them two years ago.
“He taught us a certain restraint in terms of presentation, a taste for symmetry. They were great lessons and for the next 20 years, he remained a very regular customer, who liked to constantly improve his collection,” Kugel remembered.
The “Homage Hubert de Givenchy, Collecteur” exhibition offers members of the public a rare opportunity to enter the grand Kugel gallery on the banks of the River Seine, which spans more than 10,765 square feet over three floors.
“For us, the most important thing is to provide people with a real-life portrayal of what you might call ‘le grand goit francais’. It’s hard to explain, but it’s a mix of luxury without pretentiousness, perfection in proportion and There is design intelligence, and you find it in each and every one of these pieces of furniture,” Kugel explained.
“We’re Relying Strongly on Hubert De Givenchy Sales” [at Christie’s] To help a new generation that may have been a little forgotten 18th-century French, perhaps tired of the minimalism of white loft, to rediscover the infinite joy of being surrounded by beautiful objects,” he said .
See all:
Hubert de Givenchy’s 91. have died in
A Look Back: Givenchy on the Changing World of Fashion
Documentary depicts the grand life of Hubert de Givenchy
Originally published at Pen 18
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