Auction Result

A White Glove Sale and Preemptions for Toshio Bando

By La Gazette Drouot

Published on Apr 23, 25

The one-of-a-kind group of 121 works by the Japanese artist collected by the gallery owner Jacques Boutersky over nearly 40 years provided a comprehensive overview of the art of a painter who is still little-known. It also delighted collectors and the Cernuschi Museum.

Toshio Bando, Self-portrait with Brush, 1925, oil on canvas, 61 x 45 cm./24 x 17.7 in.
Sold for: €98,800 — **Toshio Bando**, *Self-portrait with Brush*, 1925, oil on canvas, 61 x 45 cm./24 x 17.7 in.
Sold for: €98,800

Never before had such a large number of works by Toshio Bando come up at auction. With 121 lots, the sale felt like a positive retrospective. It was above all a reflection of the passion of Jacques Boutersky, who owned galleries in first Nice and then Paris, and discovered Bando’s work by chance at a Drouot sale (Ader-Picard-Tajan) on June 26, 1986. After that, his enthusiasm grew ever stronger, as he became friends with the painter’s widow, Toji — a professional pianist who died in 1994. — and acquired more works by this artist of the Paris School, who was friends with Foujita. Numerous art lovers turned up in Room 9 at Drouot, eager to secure one of the paintings on offer. All of them found buyers for a total of €1,293,370: proof, if any were needed, of how much the Japanese artist is admired. The most sought-after work was of course his Self-Portrait with Brush, or Buddha Composition, seen on the cover of Gazette No. 5, which at €98,800 achieved three times its high estimate, setting a new world record for the painter (source: Artnet). The previous record was also set by Ader, in 2022. While Bando featured himself in several works throughout his career, nudes were another favorite subject of his. Discerning buyers responded well, bidding a splendid €52,000 for Nude with a Gold-Ground Fan (see Gazette No. 12) and €46,800 for the Large Nude (Andrée), 116 x 89 cm/45.7 x 35 in., in which Foujita‘s influence is palpable. His landscapes were also popular, like The Basilica of Saint-Denis (see same article), which went for €14,950, as well as numerous still lifes, including this Pipe And Tobacco Jar in Satsuma Porcelain, sold for a fragrant €28,600. The Cernuschi Museum, keeping a watchful eye, preempted two works: a Virgin and Child of 1924 (73 x 50 cm/28.7 x 19.7 in.) for €12,350, and a Self-Portrait in Top Hat for €10,400. A fine tribute to Toshio Bando.