The Journey of a Contemporary Collection from Abstract to Figurative Art

In twelve works, the collection that a couple began in 1980 proves that abstract and figurative art are not mutually exclusive.

Dialogue keeps a collection alive, dynamic and coherent. A look at Dr. Jean-Charles C. and his wife Christiane M.’s paintings makes it obvious that they not only must have frequently talked to understand what motivated each other’s choices and preferences, but also enjoyed conversations about the artworks. They collected “objects that speak to you rather than objects that are spoken about,” says Nicolas Landau, the “Prince of Antique Dealers”. “It’s more a selection than a collection,” adds Auction Art auctioneer Grégoire Veyres. “Each piece was carefully chosen to get straight to the point. They attest to the desire to seek the best in an artist.” In the late 1980s, the Lyon-born couple visited Jacques Verrière’s gallery, one of the city’s few contemporary art galleries, with Denise Mermillon’s and the Espace Saint-Georges. Drawn to a painting by André Lanskoy (1902-1976), they took the plunge and made their first purchase. Like many artists who attended the Grande Chaumière School in the Montparnasse quarter in the late 1930s, Lanskoy was an abstract painter. The work the couple acquired, offered here at €20,000/30,000, is a prime example of his talent, combining a varied palette of colors and rigorous triangulation. Lanskoy was among the first to pave the way towards lyrical abstraction, which many New York artists would emulate after the Second World War. During a trip to Paris shortly after purchasing Lanskoy’s painting, “Jean-Charles and Christiane were amazed by the vanishing point in Maria Elena Vieira da Silva’s Drive In, a 1971 tempera on paper (€30,000/40,000) they saw in Jeanne Bucher’s gallery,” says Mr. Veyres. The couple bought it. In the spirit of discovering the Second Paris School, next came Hans Hartung’s pastel P.1961-51 (€20,000/30,000), Serge Poliakoff’s gouache Composition with White Triangle (€15,000/20,000) and an abstract, geometrical oil on canvas by Chilean painter Roberto Matta (€20,000/30,000).

An Endless Quest

“Art dealers, who sometimes introduced the couple to new trends, often advised them what to buy,” says Mr. Veyres. “They would hang some acquisitions on the walls of their home for a few days to make sure they did not upset the balance of the whole. During their many trips, the passionate, inquisitive couple scoured modern and contemporary art museums to explore the history of painting, encounter new artists or discover a hitherto unknown aspect of an artist whose work they had already purchased. They also wanted to keep their collection alive: they sold a Bernard Buffet still life, a Jean Paul Riopelle oil on canvas, and a painting by Lyon artist Jacques Truphémus to finance new revelations.” Looking at the sale’s 12 works, a leitmotiv quickly emerges: all the painters, French or foreign, worked in Paris at one time or another. However, it also becomes clear that the collection is divided into two parts.

A Collection in “Motion”

A tipping point that marked the collectors’ shift towards another artistic world can be perceived. After buying one of the auction’s most beautiful pieces, Victor Vasarely’s 1956 acrylic on canvas Bi-Syrom, 1956/76 (€80,000/120,000), perhaps they felt as though they had reached the end of their abstract art road. The mid- to late 1950s were key years for Vasarely. In April 1955, the artist published his Notes pour un manifeste (Notes for a Manifesto) during the Denise René Gallery’s “Movement” show, which brought together Vasarely, Agam, Pol Bury, Marcel Duchamp, Calder, Jacobsen and Soto. The document, today known as the Manifeste Jaune (Yellow Manifesto), developed a concept of “visual movement”, where abstract art is recomposed with algorithms and generates optical illusions. Vasarely abandoned color at this point, known as his “white-black” period, to emphasize the inalienable oneness of form and color. The manifesto was the founding act of op art. The acrylic on canvas bought by the couple was one of the first answers to the questions Vasarely raised, which continuously enriched his vocabulary throughout his life. Jean-Charles C. and Christiane M. went in the opposite direction, back to figurative art. Their tastes and encounters led them to take an interest in an artistic current that shook up the French scene in the 1960s: narrative figuration. The collection includes paintings by the movement’s leading figures, such as Hervé Télémaque, Erró and Peter Klasen, whose work was a reaction to pop art and the new realism promoted by art critic Pierre Restany. Nevertheless, they took different roads to express their opposition. Voûte n° 3 (Vault No. 3), Télémaque’s 1972 acrylic on canvas (€30,000/40,000), reveals the legacy of Surrealism, and especially of René Magritte. The white cane motif, which appears in his work from 1968 on, refers to Baron Samedi, a major voodoo priest in Haiti, the artist’s native country.

Works that Accompany Daily Life

Télémaque borrowed the clear line from cartoonist Hergé (of Tintin fame) to compose a scene where geometrical space has not totally disappeared. Comic strips, especially the American ones popularized by Marvel and DC Comics, are at the heart of Icelandic painter Erró’s experiments. Brakat, from 1987 (€8,000/12,000), illustrates his fascination with speed and the aestheticized violence of comic book or film heroes, which he puts into perspective in a mythology of colonial references. The couple seem to have been particularly touched by Klasen, four of whose works, acquired from Paris gallerist Michel Chiche, are in their collection. Klasen’s world is complex: he combines graphics, collage, photography and graffiti to provide a perspective on 20^th-century Totalitarianism. The use of airbrushes allows him to physically distance himself from his work and narrative. It is easy to imagine that, throughout their lives as collectors, the Lyon couple sought to narrow the distance between themselves and the paintings that adorned their walls and brightened up their daily lives. Accounts by friends and family reveal that their modernity was not always well understood by guests, who sometimes made thoughtless remarks. However, by all accounts, the bonds forged with the works, acquired until the early 1990s, were unbreakable and unalterable. Jean-Charles C., bedridden in his twilight years, asked to be taken into his living room every day to enjoy his collection.

20TH CENTURY PAINTINGS & ART

Friday 28 June 2024 – 14:00 (CEST) – Live

Salle 1 – Hôtel Drouot – 75009 Paris

Auction Art Rémy Le Fur & Associés

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