E-Photo
Issue #113  10/30/2006
 
Two-Part Artcurial Paris Auction Will Feature Major Daguerreotypes and Key 20th-Century Work By Boubat, Arbus, Mapplethorpe and Others

Artcurial will hold a two-part photography sale on Saturday, November 18th, at 8:30 pm and on Monday, November 20th, at 8 pm. The auctions will be held at Artcurial, Hotel Dassault, 7-9 Rond-Point des Champs-Elysées, 75008, Paris, France. A printed catalogue is available for these sales and can be ordered through Artcurial.

Again, the first part of the sale will be held on Saturday, November 18th, at 8:30 pm at the Artcurial facility in Paris. The auction can be previewed from Wednesday, November 15-Friday, November 17 from 11 am-7 pm, and on the Saturday of the sale from 11 am-2 pm. There are only 48 lots in Part 1 of the sale, but all of the lots are strong and rare images, with an emphasis on 19th-century material. Notably, 15 important daguerreotypes will be offered.

One of them, from the John Wood collection, is a quarter-plate portrait of the noted French writer Gustave Flaubert in fine condition. This previously unknown portrait was probably taken at the request of Flaubert's mistress Louise Collet, and sent to her in the summer of 1846. It is the only known daguerreotype portrait of Flaubert. The estimate is 40-60000 euros.

Also of the utmost rarity is a quarter-plate view of Chateau de Fontainebleau, dated September 1840. It is the oldest known image and the only known daguerreotype of the chateau. It is in fine condition. The estimate is 25-35000 euros.

Several other arresting daguerreian images are part of the sale, including a 1/4-plate horseman by Lobert(?), at 40-60000 euros (the cover of the catalogue) and a 1/4-plate Japanese Castaway, at 4-6000 euros.

Twelve paper negatives by Frédéric Flachéron, views of Rome dating from 1849 to 1853, will be offered starting at a low estimate of 2000 euros.

In addition several important works by Robert Mapplethorpe and Diane Arbus are the highlights of the 20th-century selection.

Other artists in this sale include: Baldus, Ballen, Baltz, Brassaï, de Clercq, Fizeau, Flacheron, Haskins, Le Gray, Marey, Humbert de Molard, Nègre, Salzmann, Schall, Strand and Vaillat.

The second part of the Artcurial photography sale will be held on Monday, November 20th, at 8 pm. The focus of the sale is: "Trésors de Photographes des agences du groupe Hachette Filippachi Photos".

This auction pays a particular homage to the late Edouard Boubat, with more than 30 vintage exhibition prints, including the famous Lella, Bretagne 1947 and Première Neige au Jardin du Luxembourg, 1955, both estimated at 12 000-15 000 euros. Also, a remarkable self-portrait with Lella, signed and dated 1951 on the back. All the Boubat prints in this sale come from Bernard Boubat, Edouard's only son. It is the first time that such a strong body of prints from this important French photographer have come to auction. The sale will also boast some great prints by all the "humanistes" photographers from the Rapho agency, including Ronis, Weis and Niepce.

The catalogues for both auctions are now online at: http://www.auction.fr/cp/artcurial/ . Just go to the left section on the calendar and click on the photography auction. For catalogue information or to contact the expert for the sale, email Grégory Leroy at gleroy@artcurial.com or call +33 (0)1 42 99 20 15, or call the general auction number at +33 (0)1 42 99 20 20. When calling from the U.S. add 011 in front and eliminate the (0).