Modern and Contemporary Art, Art Deco and Design: The Collection of a Passionate Entrepreneur

For almost twenty-five years, a couple acquired works created, for the most part, in the first part of the 20th century. Pieces marked by their personalities and those of the dealers they worked with.

This collection of 20th-century furniture and objets d’art belongs to a couple, the husband of which is described by Isabelle Lucie Thompson – one of his closest collaborators – as “a great French business executive, a workaholic, very meticulous, who spent a lot of time thinking about his business, but also passionate about culture, totally invested with his wife in the development of his interior.” It all began with a move in the early 2000s, when the couple decided to leave the wood panelling and exposed beams of their 18th-century apartment in Paris for another residence, located on the Left Bank. While the spaciousness of their new home immediately appealed to them, its refurbishment by an architect heavily influenced by the Art Deco movement rendered obsolete the 18th-century furniture and objets d’art that had occupied the spaces of their former home.

No matter, this ensemble would join their bastide in the South of France, opening up a new and exciting mission for the couple: to redefine the decoration of their home. Twenty-five years later, some 150 pieces will take their place in the sale to be held at Drouot, painting a portrait of their owners’ personalities. This collection is that of a true gentleman,” continues Isabelle Lucie Thompson. An avid reader, he was never pressed for time, preferring reflection and study to compulsive buying. There were times when I did little investigations into a work before buying it from a gallery or auction house.

One of these decisive purchases was Météorite, SFS 290, 1986, a silkscreen print by Sam Francis, (edition of 65, €10,000/12,000). Looking at the photographs taken of the apartment reveals a surprisingly large number of books. Logically, they colonize the library and two desks, but are in fact everywhere. As soon as you enter, you are greeted by a bookcase set behind a tribute to the Vienna Secession, featuring a sellette attributed to Josef Maria Olbrich (€2 ,000/2,500 ) and a brass lamp by Josef Hoffmann (€500/700). Next to it, on a glass wall, hang an oil on panel, Femmes nues dansant by Fauvist precursor painter Louis Valtat (€4,000/5,000 ), and a 1955 painting by Jean Bazaine, Ruissellement ( €40,000/50,000). “Modern and contemporary art is the entrepreneur’s other passion. He has made friends with gallery owners such as Franck Prazan, from whom the Bazaine comes, as does the painting by Atlan (Untitled, 1959, €40,000/50,000 ) and the diptych by Jean-Pierre Pincemin (Untitled, 1977, €12,000/18,000).”

Classicism and Radical Design

A decisive meeting presided over the tone set by the interior design of the residence: that of Parisian gallery owner Yves Gastou, who quickly became a friend. Gastou’s signature style can be seen everywhere, as he has never ceased to make connections between French classicism and radical design. In the library, two patinated bronze armchairs by André Arbus (Blanchet casting, posthumous, €20,000/30,000) stand alongside a pair of sofa ends by Guy de Rougemont (Diane de Polignac edition, €6,000/8,000). The two study cabinets are home to a cherrywood desk and armchair by André Arbus, c.1950 (€30,000/40,000 and €5,000/7 000 ), and a large conference table by one of the masters of ironwork : Gilbert Poillerat (modern top, €15,000/20,000 ). The owner also loved to visit the studios of artists with whom he sometimes formed friendships,” says his collaborator. For example, not far from Poillerat’s table was a work by Richard Texier, Hysme des deux mondes (€2,000/2,500 ), acquired directly from the artist.” The living room was the ceremonial room for this couple, who loved to entertain friends, inviting them to sit on Gerrit Rietveld’s Utrecht sofa (Cassina edition, €1,200/1,800 ), in front of two large coffee tables by Ettore Sottsass (€10,000/15,000) .

Next to the window, a bronze sculpture by Antoniucci Volti, Nikaia (Clementi cast, posthumous, €20 ,000/30,000 ) was paired with a pair of polymethacrylate consoles by Jean-Claude Farhi, acquired from Galerie Gastou (€3 ,000/5,000 ). On one of the two stands a Soucoupe lamp (small model) by artist-designer Yonel Lebovici (copy no. 8, €10,000/15,000), acquired from Galerie Jacques Lacoste. The sculptor seems to have intrigued the collector, who loved the career of this unclassifiable, iconoclastic creator, whose pieces are crafted with great precision.

Next up were the purchases, again from Jacques Lacoste, of the floor lamp Les Yeux sans visage (copy no. 7, €20,000/30,000 ), and a large bookcase in black epoxy sheet and glass (€3,000/5,000) , this time from Galerie Chastel-Maréchal. A more feminine touch is provided by various objects. These include artifacts from the Daum and Lalique factories (acid-etched vase, €1,500/2,000 , or Danaïde model vase, €500/800), the Jean Després workshops (silver pewter coffee service or hammered pewter vase, €3 ,000/4 ,000 each), the Desny firm (silver-plated metal bowl, €600/700) or from Boris Lacroix (glass and metal pocket tray, €800/1,200). Isabelle Lucie Thompson emphasized in her presentation of the collector that he was entirely devoted to his work. Yet there was one place where she felt he liked to recharge his batteries: the living room, more specifically by contemplating a painting by Jean Paul Riopelle, Écarlate, an oil on canvas exhibited in 1969 at the Pierre Matisse Gallery in New York and estimated at €200,000-250,000.

In spite of everything, they always bought together. Yves Gastou often said that to be a great dealer, you have to meet a great collector. The Z. couple seem to have been one such collector. Their tastes changed with my father, and he undoubtedly gave them the desire to transgress codes,” concludes Victor Gastou. My father also evolved a lot through their contact. What they had in common was a love of sharing.This collection is very moving because it brings people together. Madame Z. was a woman of boundless energy, while her husband kept a very intellectual spirit. The Z. couple looked for furniture and objets d’art for their new apartment and, quite logically, found their way to Galerie Gastou. The intellectual and aesthetic connection between my father and the collectors happened very quickly,” recalls his son. The couple also left their mark on my world; they were a whirlwind when they arrived at the gallery, approaching objects in very different ways. Mrs. and Mrs. Century. So, in 2000, Mr. e” The 1990s, with the first Gulf War, marked a decline in interest in avant-garde creations, and perhaps collectors wanted to be reassured rather than rushed, Victor Gastou recalls.My father took advantage of this to return to his first love, French neoclassicism of the mid-20th century: Alessandro Mendini, Andrea Branzi, Gaetano Pesce, the Alchimia Studio, as well as Japan’s Shiro Kuramata, Britain’s Tom Dixon and France’s André Dubreuil . The gallery’s façade was created in black and white terrazzo by his friend Ettore Sottsass, who inaugurated the space with a solo exhibition. The great names of Italian design followed,” says his son Victor, who took over the gallery after Yves’ death in 2020. In 1985, the latter decided to move to Paris and took over the space of the famous M.A.I. (Meuble Architecture Installation) gallery, founded by Yvonne Zervos at 12, rue Bonaparte in the 6: André Arbus. It was also in Toulouse that he met Jean Galvani, a gallery owner who was a passionate advocate of contemporary design, particularly Italian. “When my father accompanied Annie and Jean Galvani to the Salone del Mobile in Milan, it was a shock for him. The fun, iconoclastic contemporary design of the time was totally in tune with him Z.’s encounter with Parisian gallery owner Yves Gastou was fruitful and decisive. When they met in the early 2000s, the Parisian dealer already had a successful career behind him. Perhaps a sign of his non-conformist nature, he opened his first gallery in Carcassonne in… 1968. A lover of Art Nouveau, he later discovered a cabinet-maker in Toulouse who was to be particularly dear to him all his life , and who was to become his mentor. That of M.