A Coin Collection Spanning 2,400 Years of History From Ancient Greece to the Bourbons

Assembled between 1950 and the 1980s, this outstanding collection pays a splendid tribute to the great Mediterranean civilizations from Carthage to Rome via Greece. A historical retrospective in images.

Carthage, c. 260 BCE. Gold trihemiastater with a horse on the reverse, head looking back, diam. 22.26 mm/0.87 in., weight 12.5 g/0.42 oz. Estimate: €10,000/€15,000
Carthage, c. 260 BCE. Gold trihemiastater with a horse on the reverse, head looking back, diam. 22.26 mm/0.87 in., weight 12.5 g/0.42 oz.
Estimate: €10,000/€15,000

With the sale of over 500 lots of Roman, Greek and French coins dating from antiquity to the modern age, 2,400 years of history are evoked in this collection. And it is surely no coincidence that it came into being during a tragic and historic period in the 20th century: the Second World War. A Marseille entrepreneur was called up and posted to Algeria. One day, an acquaintance showed him an ancient coin — at the time, a great many could still be found in that country — and it ignited a passion. The young man started buying seriously in 1950. “Only some of his collection is on offer today,” says auctioneer Jean-Baptiste Renart: “the part he passed on to his grandson. It probably represents half of what he owned.” Until the 1980s, the collector — who died a decade ago — was a regular customer in numismatic circles, buying at public auctions and from dealers alike. The major stores on the Rue de Richelieu withheld no secrets from him! His exacting and meticulous standards led him to seek out coins in pristine condition, while his obsession with the Romans inspired him to build up a series of great emperors. But this sale also features some French royal coins, like a double gold Louis with eight Ls and the insignia of Louis XIV (€2,800/€3,500), struck in Paris in 1701, which is a reformed flan (or blank), i.e. a coin struck over an older type of flan: a common act of devaluation used late in the Sun King’s reign to deal with financial problems. France’s history continues with a double gold Louis with a dressed bust of Louis XVI minted in Bordeaux in 1777, estimated at €2,000/€2,800, and one of nine 100-franc gold coins with a laureate head Napoleon III dating from between 1863 and 1869 (€2,000/€2,400 each). In the overall estimate of €600,000/€700,000, supported by numismatists still very present in the market and a rising gold price, the 185 Greek and Roman coins will account for a significant portion.

Diocletian (284-305), Siscia. Aureus with on the obverse a laureate bust of the emperor wearing the imperial mantle and holding a scepter surmounted by an eagle, and on the reverse Mars advancing on the right with a spear and shield, diam. 21.11 mm/0.87 in., weight 5.16 g/0.18 oz. Estimate: €12,000/€15,000
Diocletian (284-305), Siscia. Aureus with on the obverse a laureate bust of the emperor wearing the imperial mantle and holding a scepter surmounted by an eagle, and on the reverse Mars advancing on the right with a spear and shield, diam. 21.11 mm/0.87 in., weight 5.16 g/0.18 oz.
Estimate: €12,000/€15,000
Caesar Licinius II (317-324), Nicomedia. Aureus with a front-facing bust of the caesar draped and cuirassed on the obverse, on the reverse Jupiter seated head-on leaning on a spear in his left hand and holding a Victory with his right hand, with the inscription “VOT V SIC x” on the dais, diam. 21.39 mm/0.83 in., weight 5.29 g/0.18 oz. Estimate: €12,000/€15,000
Caesar Licinius II (317-324), Nicomedia. Aureus with a front-facing bust of the caesar draped and cuirassed on the obverse, on the reverse Jupiter seated head-on leaning on a spear in his left hand and holding a Victory with his right hand, with the inscription “VOT V SIC x” on the dais, diam. 21.39 mm/0.83 in., weight 5.29 g/0.18 oz.
Estimate: €12,000/€15,000

Greek Colonization

As this collector’s passion began in North Africa, he took a particular interest in the ancient Mediterranean world and Greece’s many colonies. We thus head for Ionia (on the coast of present-day Turkey) with the oldest piece in this selection: a silver half-stater made in Teos, north of Ephesus, in 520-480 BCE, sporting a seated griffin (€200/300). Founded by the Minoans or Mycenaeans, the city of Knidos on the coast of Caria (also in present-day Turkey) was a Dorian colony before coming under Spartan and later Persian rule. It is well-known as the home of Antiquity’s most famous statue: Praxiteles’ Aphrodite of Knidos. And in fact, a profile head of the same goddess appears on the obverse of a rare silver “Timoteles, Magistrate” tetradrachm dated 390-300 BC, estimated at €2,000/€3,000. Colonized by the Greeks in the 7th century BC, Cyrenaica (now in Libya) came under the Ptolemaic dynasty’s control in 322 BC. Its coinage reflects this influence, as witness a gold stater from 323-305 BC depicting a quadriga driven by Nike and, on the reverse, a standing Zeus Ammon holding a patera and a scepter. This has an estimate of €1,500/€2,500. We then follow the coast to what is now Tunisia with a gold trihemistater struck in Carthage in c. 260 BC with an engraved decoration of remarkable quality, featuring the head of Tanit on the obverse and a horse on the reverse, and dominating the estimates at €10,000/€15,000 (see inset). The Carthaginian goddess of fertility is shown in profile wearing a wheat ear wreath, earrings and a necklace on a gold stater dating from 350-320 BC (€2,500/€3,000) or crowned with barley on a large trishekel from 264-241 BC (€4,500/€6,000),“which will be highly sought-after for its rarity, as bronze versions of it are more common,” to quote expert Corinne Rosenbaum.

Julia Domna (187-217), Rome. Aureus with a draped bust of the empress on the right on the obverse, and Venus leaning against a pillar holding a palm branch and an apple on the reverse, diam. 19.82 mm/0.75 in., weight 7.14 g/0.25 oz. Estimate: €6,500/€10,000
Julia Domna (187-217), Rome. Aureus with a draped bust of the empress on the right on the obverse, and Venus leaning against a pillar holding a palm branch and an apple on the reverse, diam. 19.82 mm/0.75 in., weight 7.14 g/0.25 oz.
Estimate: €6,500/€10,000
Pertinax (193), Rome. Aureus with a laureate, draped bust of the emperor on the right on the obverse, and on the reverse Providence standing, looking left and raising her right hand towards a star, diam. 20.86 mm/0.79 in., weight 7.27 g/0.24 oz. Estimate: €22,000/€25,000
Pertinax (193), Rome. Aureus with a laureate, draped bust of the emperor on the right on the obverse, and on the reverse Providence standing, looking left and raising her right hand towards a star, diam. 20.86 mm/0.79 in., weight 7.27 g/0.24 oz.
Estimate: €22,000/€25,000

Roman Emperors in Marching Order

Rome will impose its hegemony through 119 lots, with one great emperor succeeding another. Julius Caesar starts off this triumphant sequence, as the aureus — meaning “gold” in Latin — was created under his rule. Coinage appeared late on in Roman history, at the end of the 4th century BCE, and only in silver and bronze. It was not until Sulla’s dictatorship that gold coins were minted in 84-83 BCE, and then regularly under Caesar with the aureus. Struck in 44 BCE, this example (€2,500/€3,500) features the veiled head of Vesta and, on the reverse, pontifical instruments (lituus, sacrificial vase and axe). After Caesar’s assassination (44 BCE), Mark Antony and Octavian were allies during the second triumvirate, before facing each other off in Egypt in 31 BCE. Octavian subsequently took the name of Augustus, in 27 BCE. An aureus from 43-33 BCE immortalizes this short period of harmony with their faces in profile, one on each side. Despite its weak strike, it is expected to make €7,000/10,000. It is hard to uphold gender parity in this field, but we should note the presence of an aureus featuring Domitian’s wife Domitia (€5,000/€7,000), and another with the effigy of Julia Domna, wife of Septimius Severus, from 187 CE (€6,500/€10,000). And how could anyone resist the perfectly engraved profile of Pertinax on an aureus minted in Rome? This was struck between January and March 193 CE — the three months of his short reign. Estimated at €22,000/€25,000, this coin, acquired in Monte Carlo at a sale on December 2 and 3, 1975, still has its original new-minted shine: proof that it has circulated very little. At the same auction, the collector bought an aureus made in Nicomedia between 317 and 324, the few years during which Licinius II was made caesar and then consul, before being murdered in 325, at only 15, on Constantine’s orders. This coin shows his youthful face head-on: an extremely rare position in Roman coins. Estimated at €12,000/€15,000, it is “the only aureus produced during the reign of Licinius II, during which mainly solidi were minted,” says Corinne Rosenbaum. The aureus was permanently replaced by the solidus during Constantine’s reform in 310, which created a monetary system designed to be more stable. This stability, somewhat relative—particularly after the Roman Empire’s division in 395—is evoked by a Ravenna solidus (€3,500/€5,000) with the effigy of John (423-425). He was appointed Western Roman Emperor by local officials against the wishes of Theodosius II, who led an army against him and had him executed during the circus games, when General Aetius and the Huns, rallying to John’s cause, arrived too late to save him. Lastly, another coin bears witness to the fall of the Roman Empire. You will need €100/150 for this tremissis in the name of Zeno struck in Milan, with the effigy of a cuirassed Odoacer (476-491). This emperor was a German warrior, the son of one of Attila’s collaborators, who deposed Romulus Augustulus in 476 and caused the break-up of the Empire, leaving the way open for the Germanic kingdoms. He was in turn assassinated by the highly ambitious Ostrogothic King Theodoric the Great. A story that certainly abounds in twists and turns!

Carthaginian coinage

Carthage, c. 260 BCE. Gold trihemistater with the head of Tanit on the obverse on the left with her hair up, wearing a wheat ear wreath, earrings and a necklace; the reverse with a horse on the right on a ground line, head looking backwards, diam. 22.26 mm/0.87 in., weight 12.50 g/0.42 oz. Estimate: €10,000/€15,000
Carthage, c. 260 BCE. Gold trihemistater with the head of Tanit on the obverse on the left with her hair up, wearing a wheat ear wreath, earrings and a necklace; the reverse with a horse on the right on a ground line, head looking backwards, diam. 22.26 mm/0.87 in., weight 12.50 g/0.42 oz.
Estimate: €10,000/€15,000

Founded by the Phoenicians in the 9th century BCE, the city of Carthage gradually gained its independence and established the Punic civilization, becoming one of the foremost trading powers in the Mediterranean basin. Its expansion into North Africa, the Iberian Peninsula and Southern Italy was opposed by first the Sicilians and then the Romans, and ended with its defeat in the Third Punic War (146 BCE) and the destruction of the city, which was then incorporated into a new Roman province. In 303, under Diocletian, it became Africa Proconsularis, or Zeugitana. Despite its long period of domination, Carthage was very late in adopting the use of currency. In the 4th century BCE, the Punic colonies in Sicily issued the first coins in order to pay their troops on site, in a style strongly influenced by the Greek coins then in use. The iconographic model came from Syracuse, particularly the designs of the engravers Euainetos and Kimon. Carthage was inspired by these Siculo-Punic coins. Eager to facilitate trade, it minted its own currency from the middle of the 4th century BCE, especially as it had an abundance of gold. Like this gold trihemistater with its extraordinarily high-quality engraving, its shekels, didrachms and staters bore the head of the Phoenician fertility goddess Tanit with a wheat ear wreath: iconography that drew inspiration, through cultural syncretism, from the goddess Persephone found on the Syracusan prototype. The other side always featured a horse, like the superbly naturalistic one on the reverse of this coin. An obscure reference, but one that could have originated from Virgil’s Aeneid, which tells how the Phoenician colonists who founded Carthage were summoned by Juno (or Tanit) to start the new colony at the place where a horse’s head was discovered in the ground. A similar trihemistater fetched €29,624 at the sale of the Jean Louis Noisiez collection on November 23, 2023 in Paris (Osenat auction house; Ms. Berthelot-Vinchon).

A NUMISMATIST’S TREASURES

Thursday 20 March 2025 – 10:30 (CET) – Live

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Lark Mason Associates Unveils Blockbuster Quartet of Asian Art Sales on iGavelAuctions.com in Celebration of Asia Week New York

18th-century Korean Eight-Panel Screen in ink on paper, estimated at $20,000 to $30,000 Each panel is 66 1/2 by 18 1/2 inches.
18th-century Korean Eight-Panel Screen in ink on paper, estimated at
$20,000 to $30,000 Each panel is 66 1/2 by 18 1/2 inches.

New York and New Braunfels, TX:  In celebration of Asia Week New York, Lark Mason Associates is proud to present four major sales of Asian art on iGavelAuctions.com, featuring a dynamic selection of Chinese, Japanese, and Korean works of art, alongside European and American pieces that span over 5,000 years of artistic innovation.  From rare Chinese bronzes and jades to iconic anime cels, 18th-century Korean screens, and Spanish Colonial masterpieces, these sales feature an extraordinary range of works spanning over 5,000 years of history and artistic achievement.

“We are excited to offer an extraordinary array of Asian, European, and American works of art, representing more than five millennia of creative expression and cultural history,“ says Lark Mason, founder of Lark Mason Associates.

Now open for bidding through March 20, the first of these exciting sales is Retro Anime: Original Cels and Other Items from the 1980s–2000s, a two-part sale benefiting the San Antonio Museum of Art. This nostalgic collection showcases iconic anime history with rare original cels and drawings, including a standout original Sailor Moon cel and drawing featuring Usagi and Luna from Episode 12, estimated at $500 to $800, YuYu Hakusho, Original Anime Cel and Drawing, Yusuke Urameshi, (Estimate: $300-500) and Inuyasha, Original Anime Cel and Drawing, Inuyasha (Estimate: $300-500).

Running concurrently through March 27 is Chinese Bronzes and Ceramics from a Prominent Collector, a remarkable assemblage of works from the Estate of Daniel Wolf (1955–2021), acquired between 1997 and 2007. Reflecting the refinement of ancient Chinese ritual bronzes, is a powerful Chinese Bronze Tripod Cooking Vessel (Ding) from the Western Zhou Dynasty, circa 1046–256 BCE, estimated at $5,000 to $8,000.

Also, on offer through April 1, is Chinese Jade Carvings from the Collection of Sam and Myrna Myers, featuring significant jade works, many with distinguished provenance and some previously published. Leading this group is an exceptional Chinese Jade Dragon Bi Disk from the Han Dynasty, with an estimate of $15,000 to $20,000, showcasing the elegance and symbolic artistry of early jade carving traditions.

Taking place later in the season, from March 25 through April 8, is Asian, Ancient, and Ethnographic Works of Art, featuring an eclectic mix of jades, paintings, bronzes, porcelain, and lacquer objects from Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and other cultures. Highlights include a striking 18th-century Korean Eight-Panel Screen in ink on paper, estimated at $20,000 to $30,000, and an impressive Chinese Red Lacquer Chest from the Qianlong Period, expected to realize between $20,000 to $40,000.

Last but not least, running from April 3 to 17, is Spanish Colonial and Other Paintings and Works of Art, which will explore the fascinating cross-cultural influences of Asian-inspired Spanish colonial art. Says Lark Mason, “Rarely can these works be seen side by side showing the various cultural influences.” This rare group of early works features richly carved baroque frames and dramatic imagery, including a 17th-century oil on canvas of Our Lady of Chiquinquirá, estimated at $25,000 to $40,000, and a powerful Cristo de Burgos, also from the 17th century, with an estimate of $15,000 to $25,000. 

The sale will also feature American pottery and furniture from the Estate of Daniel Wolf, including a Large American Tramp Art Bookcase Cabinet circa 1900, estimated at $2,000 to $4,000, and an American Arts and Crafts Bronze Twelve-Light Chandelier, circa 1900, estimated at $1,000 to $1,500.

With its broad scope and exceptional quality, Lark Mason Associates’ Asia Week New York sales present a unique opportunity for collectors, scholars, and art enthusiasts to acquire rare and important works that bridge cultures, time periods, and artistic traditions.

For more information, visit iGavelAuctions.com.

To Boldly Go: Doyle’s Iris Apfel Collection Sale Yields Fabulous Results

Style icon and influencer Iris Apfel (American, 1921 – 2024) lived life to its fullest. Her signature mantra, “More is more and less is a bore,” was apparent in the way she dressed, ran her businesses, and encouraged her followers to fearlessly pursue their authentic paths. Doyle of New York, NY presented its two-day Iris Apfel Collection event on March 4 and 5, 2025. Lots #1 – 300 were sold on the first day, and lots #400 – 733 were sold on the second day. According to Doyle, the auction realized more than twice its presale estimate and featured a 99% sell-through rate. 

Doyle’s sale followed on the heels of Christie’s Unapologetically Iris: The Collection of Iris Apfel auction. Christie’s 220-lot Apfel sale, which closed on February 13, 2025, realized nearly USD 930,000. Here are some highlights from Doyle’s recent event that caught the eye of the Auction Daily team.

Lot #299, a collection of vintage costume jewelry, was estimated at $400 to $600 and sold for $41,600. Image courtesy of Doyle.
Lot #299, a collection of vintage costume jewelry, was estimated at $400 to $600 and sold for $41,600. Image courtesy of Doyle. 

Iris Apfel Costume Jewelry

The top lot in this exciting event was #299, a large collection of Iris Apfel’s vintage costume jewelry. Estimated at $400 to $600, it sold for $41,600. The grouping included dramatic and well-embellished faux gem pins, bracelets, necklaces, earrings, and other accessories in the form of bows, flowers, animals, and geometric shapes. Brands and makers included examples by Erickson Beamon and Roger Jean Pierre.

Both Erickson Beamon and Roger Jean Pierre jewelry items are known for their eye-catching and over-the-top designs, so it is no surprise that Ms. Apfel had an eye for their bold aesthetics. Erickson Beamon was founded in 1983 by three designers who quickly realized their greatest success lay in jewelry design and production. Other Erickson Beamon enthusiasts include Beyoncé, Lady Gaga, and Rihanna. Roger Jean Pierre began producing glamorous costume jewelry in the mid-1930s. Throughout his career, he partnered with companies and individuals such as Elsa Schiaparelli, Jean Clement, Dior, and Balenciaga, among many others. One of his signature jewelry elements was large faux fresh water pearls, which were actually glass beads painted in a special finish to give them a pearl-like luster.

Lot #82, a late 18th- to early 19th-century Provincial German School painting, was estimated at $400 to $600 and sold for $6,400. Image courtesy of Doyle.
Lot #82, a late 18th- to early 19th-century Provincial German School painting, was estimated at $400 to $600 and sold for $6,400. Image courtesy of Doyle. 

Provincial German School Painting

Fine art that reflected Iris Apfel’s playful, quirky spirit was well represented in this sale. Lot #82, a late 18th- to early 19th-century Provincial German School painting of the Brothers Graf Karl Florian von Seldern and Freiherr Franz von Seldern, was estimated at $400 to $600 and realized $6,400. It featured two very well dressed little boys with mature faces jointly holding a small bouquet. This oil on canvas work was inscribed on verso with the names and birthdates of the siblings. 

Fine art from the Provincial German School generally was produced by self-trained, less technically skilled artists who worked outside of the era’s established schools of art. These included the Düsseldorf, Cologne, and Munich schools. Common subject themes included battlefield scenes with soldiers on horseback, portraits, outdoor scenery, and tableaus.  

Lot #277, a pair of Neoclassical style marquetry side chairs, was estimated at $300 to $400 and sold for $4,800. Image courtesy of Doyle.
Lot #277, a pair of Neoclassical style marquetry side chairs, was estimated at $300 to $400 and sold for $4,800. Image courtesy of Doyle.

Neoclassical-Style Side Chairs

This sale also included a fine offering of furniture from Ms. Apfel’s Palm Beach, FL estate. Lot #277, a pair of Neoclassical-style marquetry side chairs, was estimated at $300 to $400 and delivered $4,800. The duo measured 37 inches tall and 17 inches wide. Each was elegantly detailed with a baluster-turned top rail above a pierced splat, a flared seat with dramatic tiger printed fabric, and four tapering, square legs.

Marquetry refers to the art of embellishing furniture and other functional and decorative items with small, inlaid pieces of wood and other materials, including bone, shell, ivory, and metal– much like a flush mosaic. The art form took off starting in the late 16th to early 17th centuries, when it was often used to decorate the interior of churches and other religious spaces. The word ‘marquetry’ derives from a French word meaning ‘to variegate.’

Lot #120, a Christian Dior evening dress, was estimated at $400 to $600 and sold for $2,304. Image courtesy of Doyle.
Lot #120, a Christian Dior evening dress, was estimated at $400 to $600 and sold for $2,304. Image courtesy of Doyle.

Christian Dior Evening Dress

Clothing worn by Iris Apfel was another key category in this early spring sale. Lot #120, a Christian Dior light blue and crème silk stripe evening dress, was estimated at $400 to $600 and traded hands at $2,304. This 20th-century, possibly custom example featured a deep and open V style neckline, long and dramatic puffy sleeves, a gathered pouf, and an oversized side bow decoration.

Christian Dior couture made several appearances throughout this two-day sale and clearly was a preferred brand from Ms. Apfel’s closet. The designer introduced his first collection right after the conclusion of World War II and was active in the fashion industry until his death in 1957. His clothing designs were feminine as well as striking. They were often made in stunning, high-quality materials and finished with hand embroidery, fringe, or other complementary trims. 

Lot #468, a Louis XVI-style umbrella stand, was estimated at $200 to $400 and sold for $4,480. Image courtesy of Doyle. 

Louis XVI-Style Umbrella Stand

Decorative items, household goods, handbags, and eyeglass frames from the Apfel estate rounded out this two-day event. Lot #468, a Louis XVI-style gray painted caned umbrella stand, was estimated at $200 to $400 and delivered $4,480. This late 19th- to early 20th-century piece was oval-shaped and decorated with square and oval-shaped woven cane side panels. It stood on matching small carved feet.

To browse the complete results of this Iris Apfel collection sale, visit Doyle.

Looking for more art and auction world news? Visit Auction Daily’s news channel for the latest. 

A 5,000-Year Journey Through the History and Treasures of Asian Art: Asia Week New York Dealers Unveil Their Masterpieces

This graceful 14th-century Chinese Yen-Ten (Phoenix Tail) Longquan Celadon Vase from the Yuan Dynasty (1271–1368) is among the many ancient ceramic wares in Green Glazed Ceramics from China, Japan, Korea and Vietnam, at Zetterquist Galleries. Typically crafted in celadon, they date from the Southern Song Dynasty to the Ming Dynasty and are frequently found in Japan and Southeast Asia.
This graceful 14th-century Chinese Yen-Ten (Phoenix Tail) Longquan
Celadon Vase from the Yuan Dynasty (1271–1368) is among the many
ancient ceramic wares in Green Glazed Ceramics from China, Japan,
Korea and Vietnam, at Zetterquist Galleries. Typically crafted in
celadon, they date from the Southern Song Dynasty to the Ming Dynasty
and are frequently found in Japan and Southeast Asia.

New York, NY – Asia Week New York, the highly anticipated annual celebration of Asian art and culture, will return for their 16th year from March 13-21. This event continues to be a cornerstone for Asian art in the global market and will showcase 27 esteemed galleries, including two online exhibitions, along with six major auction houses—Bonhams, Christie’s, Doyle, Heritage Auctions, Freeman’s|Hindman, and Sotheby’s.

Since its founding in 2009 by a passionate group of twelve dealers, Asia Week New York has evolved into a dynamic series of exhibitions, auctions, and cultural events spread across Manhattan and beyond. The 2025 edition promises an inspiring array of treasures, from ancient artifacts to contemporary masterpieces, offering something for every art enthusiast.

The festivities kick off with a series of gallery openings, inviting visitors to experience the convivial spirit that has become synonymous with Asia Week New York. Highlights include curated exhibitions from world-renowned dealers, live auctions, and insightful panel discussions led by industry experts. The gala reception at The Metropolitan Museum of Art celebrates the event’s ongoing partnership with one of the world’s most prestigious cultural institutions.

“Marking our 16th year, we are proud to continue connecting art lovers, collectors, and scholars from around the globe,” said Brendan Lynch, Executive Director of Asia Week New York.

Whether attending in person or exploring the online offerings, visitors can expect a rich tapestry of cultural heritage and artistic innovation. Asia Week New York continues to champion the timeless connection between art and humanity, drawing thousands of attendees who share a passion for Asian art. Here is a list of highlights according to country of origin: Ancient and/or Contemporary Indian, Himalayan, and Southeast AsianArt

Among the Latest Acquisitions of Indian Art at Art Passages is a detail of Maharana Jawan Singh from Udaipur, circa 1830. Maharana Jawan Singh is seated in an elaborate tent setting, the interior of which is decorated with textiles in floral arabesque as well as heraldic imagery. (Online only)

In their exhibition Portraits, Animals and Birds: Works on Paper from India and Persia, Oliver Forge and Brendan Lynch, Ltd. will present a 17th-century portrait of a reclining beauty from the collection of Pierre Le-Tan (1950–2019), the late artist and illustrator famous for his New Yorker covers. This fascinating Safavid painting is a Persian interpretation of the Renaissance depiction of the reclining female nude as painted by Raphael and Raimondi. 67 East 80th Street, Suite 2

This rare and important Mughal Zebra by a court artist, circa 1625, is one of the many works at Francesca Galloway’s exhibition India’s Fascination with the Natural World, illustrating Imperial fascination with the wider natural world. This fascination is evident in the use of master court painters to record these animals for imperial collections and the great lengths taken to import animals not indigenous to India, such as red squirrels, turkeys, ostriches, and in this case, a zebra. 23 East 73rd Street, 7th floor, Penthouse

A graceful image of Avalokiteshvara, the Bodhisattva of Compassion, is one of the sculptures in Classical Art from India and the Himalayas at Carlton Rochell Asian Art. Called one of the finest in the Pala tradition, it was most likely made in Tibet and closely modeled after Indian prototypes. The well-proportioned, suavely modeled figure stands gracefully, reflecting the full, perfect body of a youth. 24 East 80th Street

Ancient and/or Contemporary Chinese and Vietnamese Art

“Mountain Dream 8,” an ink and color drawing on rice paper, by Wucius Wong–the artist’s first exhibition in twenty years –is among a large selection of works in the exhibition Lee Chun-yi, Gu Gan, Wang Wucius Wong: Reconstructed at Alisan Fine Arts. 120 East 67th Street, Main Floor

A striking pair of vibrant green and white Chinese Imperial Green Enameled Dragon Dishes with a Qianlong mark dated AD 1736–1795 is among the superb offerings in the Spring Exhibition of Chinese Porcelain and Works of Art at Ralph M. Chait Galleries, Inc. 16 East 52nd Street, 10th floor

“Summer Reflections by the Lakeside Pavilion” by Qian Du (1764–1845) takes center stage in the Fluid Strength: The Art of Ink at Fu Qiumeng Fine Art. This hanging scroll in ink and color on silk showcases the timeless beauty and artistic significance of traditional Chinese painting. 65 East 80th Street, Ground Floor

One of the highlights featured at INKStudio is “Sumeru No. 34,” which is part of Kang Chunhui’s Sumeru series. The series explores the relationship between color, shape, light, dimension, and boundary through the form of the fold. Folds of draping fabric are a key artistic element in Gandharan Greco-Buddhist sculpture and form the basis for the brush-line mode of early Chinese figure painting that later becomes the essence of East Asian brush painting. By appointment only [email protected]

In their exhibition, Separate Realities, Kaikodo LLC will feature 5th-century BCE Bronze Snake-decorated Finials from Eastern Zhou, exemplifying the strikingly innovative bronze-casting methods that made such creations possible. This piece is relevant to the year of the snake as a relic of ancient Chinese enterprise and ingenuity. (Online only)

Lark Mason Associates exhibition, Maps of Asia, a selection of early western maps of Asia, includes a representative group of cartographers highlighted by Maris Pacifici, by Abraham Ortelius. This map was published in 1589 in his Theatrum Orbis Terrarum. It was not only the first printed map of the Pacific, but it also showed the Americas for the first time. Also on view are Masterworks of Chinese Art from the Ming and Qing Dynasties including a Chinese Painted and Inlaid Lacquer Cabinet and a Chinese Mother of Pearl and Gold Foil inlaid Blossom-shaped Box, both from the Kangxi Period.

The Loewentheil Photography of China Collection presents Sun and Silver: Early Photographs of China by Lai Afong and John Thomson, which brings together masterpieces by two giants of 19th-century photography of China—Lai Afong and John Thomson—who originated many significant developments in early Chinese photography. Among the photographs is “Rapids at Nanping, River Min,” which first captured the imagination of Lai Afong in 1869 and later by John Thomson in 1870. 10 West 18th Street, 7th Floor

This graceful 14th-century Chinese Yen-Ten (Phoenix Tail) Longquan Celadon Vase from the Yuan Dynasty (1271–1368) is among the many ancient ceramic wares in Green Glazed Ceramics from China, Japan, Korea and Vietnam, at Zetterquist Galleries. Such vases, produced for both domestic and export use, were often presented in pairs for temple or large residential altars. Typically crafted in celadon, they date from the Southern Song Dynasty to the Ming Dynasty and are frequently found in Japan and Southeast Asia. 3 East 66th Street, Suite 2B

Ancient and/or Contemporary Japanese Art

“Oban tate-e, courtesan applying eyebrow makeup,” by the prolific Kitagawa Utamaro (1753–1806), is one of the many Japanese woodblock prints in 250 Years of Japanese Woodblock Prints at The Art of Japan. Originally an object of worship, the mirror has become an object of value, offered as a precious gift. The Mark Hotel, 25 East 77th Street, Suite 215, March 14-16)

In Mingei Modern, Dai Ichi Arts, Ltd. presents a group of ceramic works by Kawai Kanjiro (1890–1966), one of the founding figures of the Mingei Movement. From left to right: the flat, square jar from the mid-1950s, the 1961 stoneware flask featuring Kawai’s signature Gosu blue glaze, and the 1955 platter with a Hakeme glaze, which reflects Kawai’s deep engagement with traditional Korean ceramic techniques. 18 East 64th Street, Suite 1F

After a brief hiatus, Carole Davenport returns to Asia Week New York with What’s in a Title: Japanese Works of Art from Ancient to Modern, an exhibition that includes “Yamanba,” an early Edo sculpture by Deme Yuka, a dynamic representation by the well-known carver, bearing his seal on the reverse. John Molloy Gallery 49 East 78th Street, Suite 2B

“Kawase Hasui’s Komagata Embankment from the series Twelve Scenes of Tokyo” (1919) captures a tranquil summer scene on the Sumida River, with a sleeping drayman and his horse framed by stacks of bamboo. The vibrant colors and bold composition reflect Tokyo’s charm during its late Taisho modernization (1912–26). Praised as one of Hasui’s finest summer designs, this scarce pre-earthquake print will be available in Love of Place: The Landscapes of Kawase Hasui at Egenolf Gallery Japanese Prints, The Luxury Collection Hotel, 151 West 54th Street and online

Luminous “Raden Fubuki Caddy 2023” by Terumasa Ikeda is one of the objects offered in the exhibition Abundance and Light: Gold in Japanese Art, at Ippodo Gallery. Ikeda crafts his design by applying gold leaf to the underside of silver-lip oyster shells, enhancing the radiant golden glow as light filters through the shell’s iridescent surface. 35 N. Moore Street

“Segawa Kikunojō III as Ōshizu, the wife of Tanabe Bunzo,” by Tōshūsai Sharaku (active 1794–95), a color woodblock print, is one of twenty-eight half-length portraits of actors by the enigmatic artist Sharaku available in Japanese Prints and Paintings: 1720-1820, at Sebastian Izzard LLC Asian Art. 17 East 76th Street, Floor 3

“Overlapping Comma Pattern Vessel,” a colorful ceramic by Wada Morihiro (1944–2008), one of the pieces in Beyond the Surface: The Unity of Form and Pattern in the Work of Wada Morihiro, at Joan B Mirviss LTD, beautifully reflects the artist’s seamless marriage of form and surface. 39 East 78th Street, Suite 401

From the fading glow of dusk to the crescent moon casting its luminescence over a sea of clouds, this box tells the story of the ever-changing sky. “Box with Design in Maki-e, ‘Memories Come Back,’ 2013,” in Kogei and Art, at Onishi Gallery, is crafted from white-lipped pearl oyster, South Sea abalone shell, gold, and pearl oyster. 16 East 79th Street

Scholten Japanese Art will present Landscape Escapes: Famous Views of the Floating World, an exhibition focusing on landscape woodblock prints, primarily of the 19th century, including works by the two most beloved masters of the genre, Katsushika Hokusai (1760–1849) and his younger contemporary, Utagawa Hiroshige (1797–1858). 145 West 58th Street, Suite 6D

Returning to the fold, Seizan Gallery will present Takashi Seto: Solo Exhibition a single artist show featuring “A-UN (A), 2024” (Waiting for more info on this piece). 525 West 26th Street, Ground Floor

“Tai,” by Japanese artist Yamaguchi Takeo–one of the works of art in Postwar Japanese Calligraphy and Painting at Shibunkaku–reflects his deep connection to his Asian roots, symbolized by his use of yellow ochre and Venetian red. Joan B Mirviss, Ltd. 39 East 78th Street, Suite 401

TAI Modern presents From Timber to Tiger: The Many Bamboos of Japanese Bamboo Art, a retrospective of mixed media bamboo, paintings, and sculpture by the late Nagakura Kenichi, who passed away unexpectedly in 2018. 23 East 67th Street, Fourth Floor

This visually arresting pair of screens–presented at Thomsen Gallery in their exhibition Japanese Modern Masterpieces 1910-1950–melds two strands in the subject matter of Japanese Nihonga painting of the early 20th century which encompasses a focus on plants—both traditional Japanese species and recent imports—and pictures of beautiful women. Artists of this period who had trained in the newly fashionable genre of bijinga —pictures of beautiful women in elegant settings–typically surrounded by fashionable luxuries—sometimes transferred their skills to depict country women in rural settings, using rich mineral pigments to convey contrasting natural and man-made colors and textures. 9 East 63rd Street, Floor 2

With its wide-open eyes and imposing musculature, Kongo Rikisi (Vajrayaksa)––one of the heavenly protector deities of Buddhism, exemplifies the realism typical of the Kamakura period, which heralded the emergence of the samurai and the transition from the nobility to landowning military men. It is one of many New Acquisitions at Hiroshi Yanagi Oriental Art–Nicholas Hall, 17 East 76th Street, 4F

Ancient and/or Contemporary Korean Art 

In the exhibition Elegance and Simplicity: Bohnchang Koo and Geejo Lee, at HK Art & Antiques, LLC, Koo Bohnchang photographed these blue-and-white porcelain bottles from the Korean collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum. For him, these wares echo the essence of the Joseon aesthetic. Because they are often stained, cracked, and worn from everyday use, they are a perfect subject through which to convey warm traces of human life. In this series, he highlights the pure beauty of Korea’s cultural heritage. 49 East 78th Street, Suite 4B

About Asia Week New York 

Asia Week New York is a nine-day celebration, bringing together top-tier international Asian art galleries, the six major auction houses, and numerous museums and Asian cultural institutions. It features simultaneous gallery open houses, Asian art auctions, museum exhibitions, lectures, and special events. Participants from Great Britain, China, Hong Kong, Japan, and the United States unveil an extraordinary array of museum-quality treasures from China, India, the Himalayas, Southeast Asia, Tibet, Nepal, Japan, and Korea. Asia Week New York Association, Inc. is a 501(c)(6) non-profit trade membership organization registered with the state of New York. For more information, visit www.AsiaWeekNewYork.com @asiaweekny #asiaweeknyTo download Hi-Res Jpegs visit www.asiaweekny.com/press-images

Hake’s to offer unprecedented number of original artworks from Marvel’s 1970s comic book run in March 25-26 pop culture auction

Featured: Howard Chaykin art for Star Wars #1, Gil Kane cover art for Star Wars Weekly (UK) #7, Aurora model kit art (Capt. America, Hulk), Luke Skywalker Double-Telescoping action figure

Star Wars #1 Historic Comic Book Page Original Art By Howard Chaykin.
Star Wars #1 Historic Comic Book Page Original Art By Howard Chaykin.

YORK, Pa. – Hake’s March 25-26 auction will showcase an unprecedented selection of firsts: original art from first-run issues, first-ever auction appearances, first discoveries, and highest-grade examples from dozens of pop culture categories. The 1,449-lot online-only sale of toys, comics, political and entertainment memorabilia is distinguished by exceptional finds from collections that have quietly flown under the radar for decades before making their auction debuts this month. 

Throughout the collector community, word has spread quickly about the prized original comic book art that leads the event. Hake’s Auctions’ president, Alex Winter, remarked: “In this auction, we have more pieces of art from the 1970s Marvel run than most other auction houses have offered since first opening their doors. Not only is the art unique and early, much of it is for key pages and covers. This is an unrivaled buying opportunity that could take Star Wars original comic art to a new level in the marketplace.”

The crown jewel of the comic art section is Howard Chaykin’s (b. 1950-) original pen-and-ink page art (Page 16) from issue #1 of the Star Wars comic book. This July 1977 book was the first of six issues in a series published by Marvel as a print adaptation of the film Star Wars: A New Hope. Composed of seven panels representing two crucial scenes from the film, it features famous characters in six of the panels, including Darth Vader in four of them; and a famous vehicle, the Jawas’ Sand-Crawler, in one of them. The text is nearly identical to the movie’s dialogue, including Vader’s iconic line, “I find your lack of faith disturbing.” Hake’s experts have described the Chaykin page art as “easily one of the most important examples of Star Wars art from any era or publisher to date.” A Marvel copyright stamp appears on verso. This fresh-to-the-market “find” will make its first-ever appearance at auction with an open estimate and a required starting bid of $10,000.  

Another treasure from the same private collection is Gil Kane’s (1926-2000) original pencil art for issue #7 (March 22, 1978) of Marvel’s UK Star Wars Weekly comic book series. The British arm of Marvel reprinted their American counterpart’s Star Wars comic series identically, but in smaller segments spread over 12 issues as opposed to the six issues published in the US. For this reason, some of the British covers are unique to the UK print run. The auction artwork depicts a pivotal film scene in which Luke Skywalker and Han Solo, both in Stormtrooper armor, are trapped in the Death Star garbage compactor along with Princess Leia and Chewbacca. Identifications include a printer job stamp with the initials of both Kane and Tony DeZuniga, who inked the page; and a Marvel copyright stamp on verso. Fresh to the market and the only original Star Wars cover art from a Marvel UK adaptation issue ever to come to auction, it is estimated at $20,000-$35,000.

In total, Hake’s will auction eight pieces of original 1970s “published” Star Wars art. Within this grouping are two other Howard Chaykin pages from the 6-issue US adaptation, as well as two other UK Star Wars Weekly covers (from later issues than the aforementioned Gil Kane #7 cover).

A classic for the ages, a 3.75-inch Star Wars (1978) Luke Skywalker 12 Back-A AFA 85 NM+ Double-Telescoping (DT) Lightsaber action figure is presented on its original unpunched blister card. Its rarity is further enhanced by the fact that the card lacks a SKU number on its footer. Following the initial release of Luke DT figures, Kenner modified the design, removing the double-telescoping feature due to cost and manufacturing issues. The auction example is unopened, with a crystal-clear bubble and unpunched card free of any store stickers. It is encapsulated within an AFA Archival case. At the time of cataloging, AFA’s Population Report indicated there were only three known examples of this figure on a 12 Back-A card without the SKU on the footer and graded AFA 85 NM+. This is only the second carded Luke DT figure of its high grade ever to be auctioned by Hake’s and the first 12 Back-A example without a SKU on the footer that the company has offered in any grade. An extreme rarity suitable for a premier collection, its auction estimate is $35,000-$50,000.

For the many who love Star Wars foreign productions, the auction offers a Palitoy Star Wars: Return of the Jedi (1983) Boba Fett 3.75-inch action figure on a Tri-Logo 70 Back-B blister card, graded AFA 85 NM Meccano Style Bubble. The French Meccano figure variety is of darker gray plastic with a light-brown belt, and the back of its leg correctly lacks the origin text and origin production “scar” seen on Malaysian productions. The color characteristics and intentional omissions on the auction example are exclusive to the rare French Meccano Boba Fett varieties. The Palitoy packaging is printed with English, Spanish and French text. Only two other AFA 85 Boba Fett examples are known across all Tri-Logo varieties, and at the time of cataloging, the figure offered by Hake’s was the single-highest-graded example of its type according to the AFA Population Report, with none higher. It will take a hefty bounty to land this special toy. Estimate: $10,000-$20,000

Hake’s expects aggressive bidding from superhero, art and Aurora model kit collectors over two particular lots of original box-lid art. Both were created for 1966 Aurora kits, featuring Captain America and The Incredible Hulk. The Captain America art, graded VF/Excellent, shows the muscular hero charging into battle in a pose reminiscent of Jack Kirby’s interpretation of the character. The Incredible Hulk art by the legendary Neal Adams (1941-2022) depicts Hulk standing amidst twisted wreckage and two smoking craters, with clenched fists and an angry snarl on his face. Adams began his fabled X-Men run in 1969, so this painting would be an early example of his work for Marvel. The nicest and most significant examples of Marvel Aurora art ever be offered at auction, both are suitable for matting/framing. Estimate: $20,000-$35,000 each

An Amazing Spider-Man #667 retailer incentive variant comic book published by Marvel in October 2011 is absolutely unique. With Gabriele Dell’Otto cover art, it is documented as being 1/1 in the CGC Population Census. The variant was offered only as an optional purchase to retailers who ordered 100 or more copies of the standard comic. The auction example’scover was signed in bold in 2012 at two separate comic industry events, by story author Dan Slott and interior-page artist Humberto Ramos. Of the approximately 200 copies of this variant cover believed to be in circulation, it is the only one of nine signed examples in the CGC Census to be autographed by both Slott and Ramos. Graded CGC JSA Authentic Autograph 9.8 NM/Mint, it was formerly in the Duke Caldwell Collection. Estimate: $10,000-$20,000

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles will return to the spotlight in the form of a CGC 9.2NM issue of TMNT comic book #1. Published by Mirage Studios in May 1984, it is a first issue, first printing from a run of approximately 3,000 issues, and has a wraparound cover. The storyline includes the origin and first appearance of the Turtles, as well as Shredder and Splinter. The story and art are by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird, with cover art by Eastman. This sought-after Copper Age comic book featuring characters beloved by a generation is estimated at $10,000-$20,000.

A rare 1992 TMNT Slam Dunkin’ Don hand-painted hardcopy prototype was created for Playmates’ action figure of fan favorite Donatello. The 14½-inch figure is jointed, as a final production figure would be, and displays the same overall design as the smaller Slam Dunkin’ Don figure released in 1991. Donatello is shown in a red and white TURTLES jersey with the number “23,” the same number Michael Jordan wore on his Chicago Bulls jersey. In Fine/VF condition overall, it is one of only five TMNT prototypes known to exist in the larger sale and is the actual example shown in the book Rad Plastic. Estimate: $5,000-$10,000

Two extraordinarily rare items headline the American political memorabilia category. A 1900 full-color “Total Eclipse Nov. 6” jugate button is emblazoned with an image of presidential and vice presidential candidates William Jennings Bryan and Adlai Stevenson I “eclipsing” their ultimately-victorious opponents William McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt. The slogan plays on the May 28, 1900 solar eclipse that had captured the public’s imagination and created no small amount of hysteria. Measuring 1.25 inches in diameter, it is marked on the curl with the manufacturer’s name: Crescent Art Gallery, Kansas City, Mo. In excellent condition, its estimate is $20,000-$35,000.

A circa-1840 molded-stoneware bank in the form of a log cabin with a large hard-cider barrel at top promotes the candidacy of “Hard Cider Boys” William Henry Harrison and John Tyler. With cobalt-blue highlights throughout, including on the voluminous text, its roof panels read: William Henry Harrison/President In 1841/With Tip and Tyler/We’ll Burst Vans Boiler/Log Cabin and Harrison The Hero Of/Tippecanoe Fort Meigs And/The Thames Against Van/Buren The Demagogue/Of Kinderhook/Hurrah For Old Tip The/Farmer Of North Bend. This important campaign artifact, possibly the earliest known political bank, has never before been offered for public sale. It was previously held in the esteemed collection of Rex and Patti Stark, who acquired it from Edmund B. Sullivan, Professor and Curator at the Hartford University Museum. Estimate: $10,000-$20,000

Hake’s March 25-26, 2025 online auction is now open for bidding. For a free printed catalog or additional information on any item in the sale, call +1 866-404-9800 (toll-free) or +1 717-434-1600; email [email protected]. View the fully illustrated catalog online and sign up to bid at https://hakes.com/. Enjoy a special video about Lot 822, Howard Chaykin’s original page art for the historical Star Wars #1 comic book, at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHdbkDp7R80.

CONTACTS:

Hake’s Auctions

Tel. 866-404-9800 (toll-free) or 717-434-1600; [email protected] 

PR Office

Tel. 610-373-5959; [email protected] 

The Joan Mitchell Foundation Celebrates the American Artist’s Centenary

To mark the centenary of the artist’s birth, the eponymous foundation is staging a series of events and exhibitions around the world, while tirelessly continuing the mission entrusted to it by the American painter.

Joan Mitchell (1925-1992), Begonia, 1982, oil on canvas, 280 x 200 cm/110.2 x 78.7 in. (detail), Castellani Art Museum collection, Niagara University, Lewiston, New York. © Estate of Joan Mitchell
Joan Mitchell (1925-1992), Begonia, 1982, oil on canvas, 280 x 200 cm/110.2 x 78.7 in. (detail), Castellani Art Museum collection, Niagara University, Lewiston, New York.
© Estate of Joan Mitchell

Joan Mitchell (1925-1992) was commemorated three years ago with a retrospective of her work and the exhibition entitled “Monet – Mitchell” at the Louis Vuitton Foundation (see Gazette 2022 no. 39). In 1982, she was the first female American painter to be shown at the Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris. Over 30 of her works are now in French public collections. But aside from her dazzling abstract and naturalistic paintings, people are far less aware of her commitment to young artists. The proponent of the New York School arrived in France for the first time in 1948, and subsequently lived in Paris with the painter Jean Paul Riopelle (see Gazette 2023 no. 24) in the 1950s and 1960s. In 1967, this ‘Frenchwoman’ at heart bought a house in Vétheuil, where she loved to entertain artists. When she died in 1992, her will stipulated the distribution of her property and the creation of a foundation to “support and assist” them. A year later, the Joan Mitchell Foundation was created in New York: a philanthropic organization that reflects her spirit, led by a board of experts in art, finance and law, and run today by a 30-strong team who manage the programs and administrative side. “Joan Mitchell often invited young poets, artists and musicians to stay at her home for a few days or several months,” says Christa Blatchford, the Foundation’s Executive Director since 2015. ”She offered them a roof over their heads and a place to work, and encouraged them to focus entirely on their art.” In 1994, the organization, endowed with a small sum of money, initiated a grant program for painters and sculptors “to advance their work and careers.” Initially set at $10,000 for 18 creators, the grant amounts rose in 2005 to $25,000 for 25 visual artists. “In 2021, we launched the Joan Mitchell Fellowship, which replaced our previous schemes. This fellowship of $60,000 over five years has been awarded to 15 artists, selected by a jury of five key figures from the art world. The grant requires no work of art in return, and also provides for shared learning through workshops and virtual meetings.”

Barney Rosset (1922-2012), Joan Mitchell with her poodle, Georges du Soleil, in Springs, New York, c. 1953. Joan Mitchell Foundation Archives. © Joan Mitchell Foundation
Barney Rosset (1922-2012), Joan Mitchell with her poodle, Georges du Soleil, in Springs, New York, c. 1953. Joan Mitchell Foundation Archives.
© Joan Mitchell Foundation

Joan Mitchell often invited young poets, artists and musicians to stay at her home for a few days or several months.

The Extensive Joan Mitchell Collection

In addition to this fellowship, there are emergency grants: “When a major disaster occurs, like 9/11, Hurricane Katrina or Covid-19, artists sometimes lose their studios, works, supplies or exhibition opportunities,” Blatchford adds. “Often, they don’t have the money to start over. In January, for example, we joined forces with a coalition of American organizations to create the L.A. Arts Community Fire Relief Fund in response to the recent wave of fires.” In the same vein, the Foundation decided to expand its support in 2010 by creating the Joan Mitchell Center: an artist residency center that opened in New Orleans in 2015. Designed to foster creation and experimentation, it also offers opportunities for networking with art professionals and the local cultural community. “Following a selection process by a jury, these residencies of one to five months are available to artists already receiving grants from the Foundation, as well as to artists from New Orleans. Ten studios and accommodation are provided to them in spring, summer and fall/winter. This year, 35 recipients will be staying there.” The Foundation’s missions cover not only grants and residencies, but also the promotion and preservation of Joan Mitchell’s legacy through exhibitions, publications and educational programs. It receives no state funding or external sponsorship, but finances its activities by selling the artist’s works, in accordance with her will. In 2004, the Joan Mitchell estate bequeathed to it the majority of her collection: several hundred pieces including some 200 paintings (e.g. Cercando un ago (c. 1959), Heel, Sit, Stay (1977), Edrita Fried (1981) and a diptych, Untitled, from 1992), works on paper and engravings from over four decades of creation. The collection also contains a few works by Riopelle and other more modest works by artist friends, as well as several donated archives containing over 11,000 photographs and letters to her former husband, the American publisher Barney Rosset, and to relatives. It also includes art archives, various 19th and 20th century family documents, work materials and part of her personal library.

Joan Mitchell, My Landscape II, 1967, oil on canvas, 261.3 x 181 cm/102.8 x 71.3 in, Smithsonian American Art Museum collection, Washington, DC, detail. © Estate of Joan Mitchell
Joan Mitchell, My Landscape II, 1967, oil on canvas, 261.3 x 181 cm/102.8 x 71.3 in, Smithsonian American Art Museum collection, Washington, DC, detail.
© Estate of Joan Mitchell

The Foundation has kept a group of iconic works from this huge legacy, making them available to researchers for their studies and the organization of major museum exhibitions. Among the most recent is the touring retrospective on the artist lasting from 2021 to 2023. This opened at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and was then presented at the Baltimore Museum of Art before a final stop in Paris. Carefully selected from pieces that would duplicate the main collection, the works put up for sale (exclusively through the Zwirner Gallery since 2018) are used to build up a portfolio of assets, reinvested to ensure a steady income and guarantee the Foundation’s long-term sustainability. “Thanks to this portfolio, over the last 32 years, over €21 M has been paid to 1,342 artists including Mark Dion, Simone Leigh and Julie Mehretu,” says Christa Blatchford. ”For us, the Foundation is a true gift from one creator to others.”

Read more
Jean Paul Riopelle (1923-2002)

An International Celebration

In 2025, the artist’s foundation is still working on the Joan Mitchell catalogue raisonné, for which ten years’ research on her paintings has already been carried out in Paris and New York. It is also organizing celebrations for the centenary of her birth, which started off at the Centre Pompidou in Paris with a musical and poetic program reflecting her tastes, and will continue elsewhere. A wide array of international events is being organized to honor her life and work and her influence on contemporary artists. In addition to a tribute at the 113th Conference of the College Art Association in New York, the program included an exhibition in Louisiana of works by former residents, online conversations, a seminar, a symposium and the publication of the first children’s book dedicated to the artist. More than 70 museums across the United States, Europe and Australia will be exhibiting nearly 100 of her works. Closer to home, a dozen institutions are joining in the events laid on by the Musée des Impressionnismes Giverny, the Museum of Contemporary Art-MAC/CCB in Lisbon and the Centre Pompidou. Last but not least, Mara Hoberman, the researcher in charge of the catalogue raisonné in Paris, will be giving a series of lectures in France starting in March. The Joan Mitchell Foundation promotes and preserves her legacy through a diverse and generous approach, while supporting contemporary creation. A century after the artist’s birth, it perpetuates her influence on art across the generations.

Worth Seeing, Worth Reading
Joan Mitchell Centenary Program
joanmitchellfoundation.org

Lisa Roger
Joan Mitchell Paints a Symphony.
La Grande Vallée Suite
Illustrations by Stacy Innerst
Published by Calkins Creeks, 2025
40 pages, in English, around €19

Portraits of the Three French Kings, Louis XIV, XV and XVI, from an Occitan Collection

The dispersal of a gallery of royal portraits, notably Hyacinthe Rigaud’s famous image of Louis XIV, sheds light on the mechanisms used to disseminate the image of monarchs during the Ancien Régime

French School, Workshop of Hyacinthe Rigaud (1659-1743), Louis XIV en costume de sacre, canvas, 244 x 162 cm/88.1 x 63.77 in (detail). Estimate: €20,000/30,000
French School, Workshop of Hyacinthe Rigaud (1659-1743), Louis XIV en costume de sacre, canvas, 244 x 162 cm/88.1 x 63.77 in (detail).
Estimate: €20,000/30,000

From the vantage point of their imposing gilded frames, kings who have left their mark on French history gaze down upon you… Until today, these towering portraits belonged to a collection of furniture and paintings assembled by a French couple with a passion for 17th and 18th century art. To house their treasures, purchased from leading Parisian antique dealers in the 1960s, these connoisseurs acquired a château in the Occitanie region: an ideal setting, as the estate itself dates back to the Age of Enlightenment. Here, in a specially designed gallery, a dozen portraits of kings and princes, French and foreign, have long sat enthroned. Among these majestic canvases, some are far from unknown: they are replicas of renowned, legendary museum-quality works, created at the time of the originals. Such is the case for the figures of three Bourbon sovereigns, and in particular the most illustrious of them all: the Sun King. He will open this monarchical parade with the famous Portrait of Louis XIV in a Coronation Costume (Portrait de Louis XIV en costume de sacre) by Hyacinthe Rigaud. It is a reworking, by the master’s studio, of the great official portrait painted in 1701: a model that was to set the rules for the representation of an absolute monarch. The story behind the original painting, now in the Louvre (no. INV 7492), is not without its theatricality: Louis XIV commissioned Rigaud to paint it as a gift for his grandson, the Duc d’Anjou, future King of Spain under the name of Philip V, before his departure for Madrid. But once the painting was completed, Louis XIV changed his mind…

This composition (€5,000/6,000) can also be compared to the depictions of the adolescent sovereign by the artist’s father Jean-Baptiste Van Loo, which are in the collections of the Château de Versailles.

Serial Replicas

The work caused a sensation, as reported in the Mercure de France: “No portrait has ever been better painted, nor more realistic; the whole Court saw it and everyone admired it. Highly satisfied with his image, the Sun King kept the work at Versailles…“ and commissioned a replica for Philip V. From then on, Rigaud’s workshop began to produce numerous copies of this masterpiece, intended as gifts for royal dignitaries and ambassadors alike, and constituting a substantial corpus into which our version fits. In the sale, the figure of Louis XIV will be associated with that of his successor, in the Portrait de Louis XV en pied (190 x 106 cm/74.80 x 41.73 in), an 18th century French school attributed to a follower of Louis Michel Van Loo. This composition (€5,000/6,000) can also be compared with the depictions of the adolescent sovereign by the artist’s father Jean-Baptiste Van Loo, which are in the collections Château de Versailles. As for the grandson of the “Bien Aimé” (Beloved), he is represented here by a Portrait de Louis XVI en costume de sacre (€8,000/10,000). The canvas (181 x 154 cm/71.25 x 60.6 in) was painted by a follower of the painter Antoine-François Callet. The original, completed in 1780 (perhaps the version now in the Musée Bargoin in Clermont-Ferrand), was also to serve as a model for a number of copies, destined to make the French monarchy shine throughout Europe… one last time.

Furniture and collection of paintings from a château in the South of France and various other locations

Saturday 22 March 2025 – 14:00 (CET) – Live

2460, avenue Albert-Einstein – Domaine Teissier – 34000 Montpellier

Dame Marteau – Air Auction

Info and sales conditions

Catalogue

Buccellati Rare Sterling Silver Candelabra 9 Light Centerpiece

A Grande Auction Will Take place on March 26th 6:00 pm online with SJ Auctioneers. Bidders and savvy collectors can find rare items from Baccarat, Sterling Flatware, Lalique, Daum Buccellati, Trains, Fine Designer Jewerly, Toys and collectibles

Buccellati Sterling Silver 9 light Candelabra Centerpiece

A Rare Collectible centerpiece featured in SJ Auctioneers

https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/201014121_buccellati-sterling-silver-9-light-candelabra-centerpiece

BUCCELLATI RARE STERLING SILVER CANDELABRA 9 LIGHT CENTERPIECE

Beautiful 9 light candelabra decorated with leaves and grape signed Buccellati. 62 cm long – 35 cm wide – 15 cm height. Mario Buccellati, the founder of Buccellati, was born in Ancona in 1891, but moved to Milano in the early 20th century. As soon as he arrived, he secured an apprenticeship with the goldsmiths Beltrami and Besnati, whose business at Via Santa Margherita 5, between La Scala and the Galleria, at the heart of the city. It was here that the young Mario learned the best in Italian goldsmithing traditions. At the end of the First World War, Mario decided that the time was right for him to set up his own venture and he took over Beltrami and Besnati’s business. In 1925, Mario, alongside his brother, Carlo, opened a second store at Via Condotti 30–31, Rome. A third followed four years later at Via Tornabuoni 71, Florence. International expansion and recognition continued in the following years and Mario’s descendants played a role in this international overture. In 2000, The Smithsonian Institution of Washington dedicated an anthological exhibition to Buccellati called “Buccellati: Art in Gold, Silver and Gems”. Gianmaria donated the Smithsonian Cup to the museum for the occasion, which is now on permanent display. Buccellati still continues to dazzle with its extraordinary craftsmanship to this day. Please note: shipping will require international shipping fee with US customs clearance if shipped to the US.

Buccellati Sterling Silver 9 light Candelabra Centerpiece
Buccellati Sterling Silver 9 light Candelabra Centerpiece
Buccellati Sterling Silver 9 light Candelabra Centerpiece
Buccellati Sterling Silver 9 light Candelabra Centerpiece

Browse and bid Now

https://www.liveauctioneers.com/catalog/363523_fabulous-collectibles-decor-silverware-jewels

Auction Guide: 2025 Asia Week New York Sales

Asia Week New York, the annual celebration of Asian art and culture, is just around the corner. Galleries, art dealers, museums, and auction houses across the United States and worldwide will offer opportunities to learn, appreciate, and purchase masterpieces from across the continent. Asia Week New York sales in 2025 will be offered from Bonhams, Christie’s, Doyle, Freeman’s | Hindman, Heritage Auctions, and Sotheby’s. 

Here is a guide to this year’s festivities, key lots, and more. 

A gilt copper alloy figure of Mahachakra Vajrapani. Image courtesy of Bonhams.
A gilt copper alloy figure of Mahachakra Vajrapani. Image courtesy of Bonhams.

Bonhams 

Bonhams marks Asia Week New York this year with four live sales, starting with a collection of Chinese ceramics and snuff bottles, classical and modern Chinese paintings, Indian and Himalayan art, and fine Japanese and Korean art. The offerings continue with several timed sales throughout March. “Asia Week New York is always an exciting time of year and we are thrilled with the strong slate of sales we will present at Bonhams, featuring important and impressive works of art from across the continent,” said Dessa Goddard, Senior VP and US Head of Asian Art, in a press release. 

Notable offerings include a 15th-century gilt copper alloy figure of Mahachakra Vajrapani from Central Tibet (lot #308; estimate: $500,000 – $700,000). This widely-exhibited piece has been in the Zimmerman Family Collection since the mid-1960s. It depicts the Vajrapani bodhisattva with his consort, crushing the Hindu gods Indra and Brahma below. 

An important white porcelain moon jar, Joseon dynasty. Image courtesy of Christie’s.
An important white porcelain moon jar, Joseon dynasty. Image courtesy of Christie’s. 

Christie’s 

Asian Art Week at Christie’s will feature three live and three online sales throughout March. A sale of Japanese and Korean art leads the series on March 18, 2025, featuring an important Korean moon jar from the Joseon dynasty (lot #333; estimate: $1,800,000 – $2,500,000). This white porcelain piece is draped in a luminous glaze with a recessed base. Considered important Korean cultural items, moon jars are treasured for their historical significance and enduring elegance. 

Christie’s Asia Week New York sales continue with modern and contemporary South Asian art, including works by Maqbool Fida Husain, Sayed Haider Raza, and Akbar Padamsee. A two-day sale of important Chinese furniture and art follows. 

A monumental Chinese carved and painted wood Pixiu. Image courtesy of Doyle.
A monumental Chinese carved and painted wood Pixiu. Image courtesy of Doyle.

Doyle 

To mark this year’s Asia Week New York, Doyle will host a two-day sale of Asian Works of Art. On March 18 and 19, 2025, collectors will find a selection of fine porcelains, furniture, paintings, and more from China, Japan, and beyond. Among the top lots is a monumental Chinese carved and painted wood Pixiu, or mythical winged lion (lot #99; estimate: $15,000 – $20,000). This detailed Six Dynasties-period piece possibly dates back to the third through sixth centuries CE. It bears traces of pigment and measures 41 inches high. Collectors can also consider a pair of China trade paintings from the estate of Joanne duPont Foster, a variety of fine Chinese carved jades, and assorted porcelain items. 

A rare Yixing peach-form ‘figure’ puzzle cup with impressed seals ‘Chen’, ‘Mingyuan’ and wood stand. Image courtesy of Freeman’s | Hindman.
A rare Yixing peach-form ‘figure’ puzzle cup with impressed seals ‘Chen’, ‘Mingyuan’ and wood stand. Image courtesy of Freeman’s | Hindman.

Freeman’s | Hindman 

Freeman’s | Hindman will join the Asia Week New York celebration with an Asian Works of Art sale on March 21, 2025. This live event offers 172 lots of curated collectibles. The catalog particularly highlights ceramics, jewelry, and textiles from renowned private collections. 

Among the top lots is a rare Yixing peach-form ochre-colored “puzzle cup” with Chen Mingyuan seals (lot #31; estimate: $60,000 – $80,000). A renowned Yixing potter of the Kangxi period, Chen specialized in whimsical floral teapots and scholar’s objects. The offered “puzzle cup” features the figure of Shoulao, the Chinese god of longevity, standing in a peach. This exquisite piece rests on an elaborately-carved wood stand. Other key lots in the sale include a pair of Chinese porcelain ‘dragon’ dishes, antique Chinese gold jewelry, and Indian paintings.

Katsushika Hokusai, Under the Wave Off Kanagawa (The Great Wave), c. 1831. Image courtesy of Heritage Auctions.
Katsushika Hokusai, Under the Wave Off Kanagawa (The Great Wave), c. 1831. Image courtesy of Heritage Auctions. 

Heritage Auctions 

From Heritage Auctions comes two sales this March. The first– Japanese Woodblock Prints from the Nelkin Collection Part III on March 20, 2025– features a circa 1831 woodblock print of Katsushika Hokusai’s Under the Wave Off Kanagawa (The Great Wave) (lot #78015; estimate: $100,000 – $150,000). The iconic image is dyed with Prussian blue, and the reverse bears instructions on converting the print to a folded fan. When this print was executed in 19th-century Japan, it would not have been considered a masterpiece. Rather, ukiyo-e prints were seen as cheap commodities, fleeting and utilitarian. This lot comes to the market in overall good condition, consistent with its age, and unframed. 

Heritage Auctions’ second Asia Week New York sale, scheduled for March 21, 2025, offers a sweeping catalog of Asian fine and decorative art. Notable lots include a Korean hexagonal vase, a Tibetan gilt bronze figure of a Lama, and a Chinese embroidered dragon summer robe. 

Jagdish Swaminathan, Homage to Solzhenitsyn (Triptych), 1973. Image courtesy of Sotheby’s.
Jagdish Swaminathan, Homage to Solzhenitsyn (Triptych), 1973. Image courtesy of Sotheby’s.

Sotheby’s 

From Sotheby’s comes an Asian art showcase this month, with live and online auctions presented alongside a lecture series. Kicking off the auctions is a Modern & Contemporary South Asian Art sale on March 17, 2025. This event spotlights a masterpiece by Indian painter Jagdish Swaminathan, titled Homage to Solzhenitsyn (Triptych) (lot #17; estimate: $1,000,000 – $2,000,000). It depicts a colorful, exuberant landscape and honors Russian writer and dissident Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn. Sotheby’s notes that this major work is new to the market and is among the largest paintings from Swaminathan’s Bird and Mountain series of the 1970s and 80s. 

Highlights from Sotheby’s Chinese Art sale include a rare celadon-glazed Hu-form vase from the Yongzheng period and a rare Huanghuali six-post canopy bed from the 17th century. Indian and Himalayan art collectors can consider a circa 1780 lyrical illustration from the Gita Govinda and several fine Buddha statues. Rounding out the auction house’s Asia Week New York sales are highlights from Paul L. Davidson’s collection of Japanese swords and armor.

Find more details about each of these auctions, including a full list of sale dates, by visiting Asia Week New York’s website. 

Looking for coverage of previous Asia Week New York sales? Check out Auction Daily’s guides from 2023 and 2022.

The Arsenal Library: A Piece of Parisian History

The famous library’s very name reflects the two stages of its life, where weapons made way for books, not without a few bumpy moments and happy accidents. A recent publication brings this little-known chapter of Parisian history to life.

Anonymous. Book Wheel, 17th century, BnF. © Photo: Josse
Anonymous. Book Wheel, 17th century, BnF.
© Photo: Josse

In Les Filles du feu, Nerval tells the amusing story of a ghost who disturbs the curator’s sleep at the Arsenal Library. Ghosts no longer ring the doorbell at night, but they continue to haunt the premises. They have names of varying familiarity, from Sully to Pérec, and have all contributed to making the Arsenal what it is. Outside, the neighborhood as a whole is no less haunted by a number of long-gone monuments. Delving into the history of the Arsenal is to resurrect a small piece of Paris‘s urban, architectural, intellectual and political history. What’s more, as the library’s current director Olivier Bosc points out, “from the 16th century to the present day, the Arsenal’s story has been intertwined with the broader history of France, because it is a site of the monarchy.” From Charles VIII onwards, sovereigns set their sights on this territory outside of central Paris to manufacture weapons. In 1572, the Arsenal was officially transferred to this site, at the base of which the Seine still flows. It was overseen by a Grand Master of the Artillery, a prestigious position held by Sully, among others. Little by little, the Arsenal’s footprint spread along the river and the Bastille moat (the current Arsenal port). Cannons were cast for the entire kingdom in huge buildings, and transportation mounts and gunpowder were also manufactured.

Lancelot and the Grail, 1405, illuminated manuscript on parchment, BnF. © BnF
Lancelot and the Grail, 1405, illuminated manuscript on parchment, BnF.
© BnF

Normally buildings protect collections, but here the collections protected the building.

Though an industrial site, the Arsenal also became a residential spot where the French court would gather. This meant that the Grand Master’s residence, which now holds the library, was redesigned and enlarged several times. In 1694, the Duc du Maine, Louis XIV’s legitimized son, moved into the Arsenal as holder of this office. But he only decided to undertake some major alterations 20 years later. Germain Boffrand, the Arsenal’s architect since 1712, took charge of the project and planned to double the main building on the Seine side. However, the Duc’s up-and-down political and financial fortunes led to frequent suspensions of the work, and the building was still unfinished at his death in 1736. The mansion, very little used by his heir, was divided among various occupants. The architect Nicolas Dauphin was allocated the central part of the new main building, which he remolded at his own expense. The salon was decked out in magnificent wood paneling in a Rococo style that could be termed “disciplined”. This was decorated with trophies representing the four seasons, three continents and the three arts of drawing, as well as hunting, fishing and navigation. The musical instruments embellishing the three largest panels gave this “Music Room” its name. The colors of the woodwork caused quite a stir during the restoration carried out in 2007, when a lilac shade, known as “linen gray,” was combined with a very light “celadon green.”

Jean Mansel (c. 1400-c. 1473), La Fleur des histoires, 1454, illuminated manuscript on parchment, BnF. © BnF
Jean Mansel (c. 1400-c. 1473), La Fleur des histoires, 1454, illuminated manuscript on parchment, BnF.
© BnF

While the salon has remained unchanged since it was altered, it saw the addition of the remarkable “four corners of the world” grandfather clock during the French Revolution. Made from a design by Alexandre-Jean Oppenordt, this luxury object consists of a clock and a quiver-shaped base. The cabinetwork is attributed to André-Charles Boulle; the clockwork was made by Julien Le Pautre. The bronzes, in both ronde-bosse and bas-relief, are of no less remarkable quality. The continents flanking the clock seem to echo the same figures on the paneling. “This is a major piece with only three equivalents in the world, including one in the Wallace Collection,” says Olivier Bosc. Donated to the Abbey of Saint-Victor in 1761, it was seized in 1797 and assigned to the Arsenal. As production became decentralized, the Arsenal lost its strategic role, and the office of Grand Master was abolished in 1755. The arrival of the Marquis de Paulmy the following year changed the site’s fate. An unknown figure outside the bibliophile sphere, Antoine-René Voyer d’Argenson, Marquis de Paulmy (1722-1787), was incontestably the leading collector of French books during the Ancien Régime. His passion for French literature led him to amass so many treasures that he had to build a gallery in 1778 to house them all. Concerned for the future and the integrity of his library, Paulmy sold it to the Comte d’Artois, the future Charles X. At his death, the collection, which he had continued to expand after its sale, contained 120,000 volumes, 6,000 manuscripts and 592 portfolios and collections of prints. “Normally buildings protect collections, but here the collections protected the building,” says Olivier Bosc.

Alexandre-Jean Oppenordt (after), André-Charles Boulle (attrib.) and Julien Le Pautre. Grandfather clock, c. 1710-1730, wood, ebony and tortoiseshell veneer, enamel, gilt bronze, BnF. © BnF
Alexandre-Jean Oppenordt (after), André-Charles Boulle (attrib.) and Julien Le Pautre. Grandfather clock, c. 1710-1730, wood, ebony and tortoiseshell veneer, enamel, gilt bronze, BnF.
© BnF

“During the Revolution, the premises were not looted or vandalized because the Revolutionary scholars who visited the library were well aware of its valuable assets.” In this critical period, the Arsenal was not only preserved but further enriched. Hubert-Pascal Ameilhon was appointed to manage it, and he also oversaw the Parisian literary depositories where the collections seized from religious congregations and emigrants were stored. The finest books were taken for the Arsenal, and Ameilhon also retrieved the Bastille archives and some manuscripts from the Sainte-Chapelle Treasury, including the Psalter of Blanche of Castile. These precious relics were added to Paulmy’s large collection of medieval works. 50,000 volumes were added to the shelves of the Arsenal, which opened to the public in June 1798. A few years later, during the Restoration, the library became a focus for literary life: Charles Nodier, appointed librarian, held a celebrated salon there, which was attended by all the leading figures of the Romantic movement, including the young Victor Hugo. In the 19th century, the neighborhood, like the library, underwent major changes that tended towards erasing traces of the past. Apart from the Grand Master’s residence, all the buildings of the Arsenal were dismantled; the neighboring Couvent des Célestins was razed to make way for the Republican Guard’s monumental barracks; the arm of the Seine separating the Arsenal from Louviers Island was filled in, and Boulevard Henri-IV was built, furthering disrupting the area’s topography. Finally, the Granaries of Abundance, built along the Bastille moat after the Revolution, were torched during the Commune. The fire raged for several days — but miraculously, the library escaped.

The “Powerful Women” room, c. 1645. © Photo: Josse
The “Powerful Women” room, c. 1645.
© Photo: Josse

During the Revolution, the Arsenal was not only preserved but further enriched.

A Small-Scale BnF

Inside, too, much changed. All the collections previously divided between several buildings were brought together, while non-essential occupants were laboriously moved out to free up space for the books, readers and staff. The merger with the Bibliothèque Nationale de France in 1934 marked the culmination of a long process of professionalization, during which qualified and active curators took over from amateur scholars. Today, the Arsenal holds one million printed documents and 100,000 manuscripts of all kinds. “It’s a kind of small-scale BnF,” says Olivier Bosc. The library is also famous for its archives from not only the Bastille but also the Saint-Simonian movement, and writers including Sade, Huysmans, Pérec and Oulipo. The manuscript scroll of the Marquis de Sade’s 120 Days of Sodom, recently bought by the BnF for a considerable sum, is undoubtedly the most famous work in the collection. “Why are some collections at the Arsenal and not in the BnF’s Manuscript Department?” says Bosc. “I usually say that we look after the fringes: Sade rather than Rousseau and Voltaire, Charles Nodier rather than Victor Hugo, Huysmans rather than Zola. There are no clearly established allocation criteria, but the collections that we keep here are ‘situated’ collections, which have generally belonged to collectors. Huysmans, for instance, was bequeathed by a bookseller.” “The Arsenal is a library, of course, but it is also a historical monument: something that had rather faded into the background, but is now coming to the fore again,” says its director. Its history has been marked by the many transformations of the interior spaces, and all the enlargements, reconfigurations and partitions carried out as its functions and inhabitants changed. Next to the Music Room, a particularly rare and exquisite decor from the Ancien Régime remains. It goes back to the 17th century, to the time of the Maréchal de La Meilleraye, appointed Grand Master of the Artillery in 1634. His wife Marie de Cossé-Brissa’s bedroom and the adjoining small room, decorated around 1645, illustrate the heyday of the Arsenal and the eminent position of its governor. The bedroom walls are covered in gilt paneling: the lower sections are decorated with landscapes full of various flora and fauna, the middle sections with battle scenes, and the upper sections with opulent grotesques. The coffered ceiling has a central decoration of Parnassus by Charles Poerson, a follower of Simon Vouet. In the smaller room next door, the transom features 14 paintings of powerful women. These illustrious figures from the Bible, antiquity and the Christian era, like Judith and Joan of Arc, were particularly fashionable at the time because the kingdom was then under the regency of Anne of Austria. The presence of an allegory of the French monarchy on the ceiling underscores this highly political interpretation of the decor. Yet this story was very nearly cut short in the 1990s, when there was talk of closing the Arsenal. Luckily, the mobilization of intellectuals of all backgrounds and the library’s Society of Friends put a stop to this disastrous project. History can thus pursue its course, with readers continuing to enjoy the comfort and intimacy of the premises — while maybe keeping an eye out for the odd ghost.

Worth Seeing, Worth Reading
Bibliothèque de l’Arsenal
Paris 75004
Tours on Wednesdays; booking required
www.bnf.fr