From March 13-21 Drouot will mount a collaborative exhibition selected from these forthcoming auctions, which are mostly taking place from March 21-26.
Titled Oeuvres Choises, the viewing features a mix of works ranging from 17th century Old Masters to contemporary names such as Banksy, Jean Michel- Basquiat and Chu Teh Chun.
Drouot’s exhibition ties in with a gallery circuit in the streets around the auction centre organised by the Quartier Art Drouot (QAD) which runs from March 16-30.
The 15 participating galleries will all be highlighting one specific work of art for this occasion.
Delacroix sketch
Eugène Delacroix (1798-1863) is one of the biggest names in French 19th century art and auction firm Millon is offering a sketch drawing from one of his major commissions – the decoration of the Bibliothèque du Sénat – in its March 23 auction.
This work, an 18½ x 23in (47 x 58 cm) oil on tracing paper stuck down on paper and applied to canvas, is a design for the library’s cupola and depicts Homer with the poets Ovid, Horace and Lucian receiving Dante, who is led by Virgil into the Elysian fields.
The sketch has a long and notable provenance. It has a wax seal for the artist’s sale at the Hotel Drôuot in 1864. It subsequently belonged to Maurice Gobin, Madame Rey and an anonymous private collection, all in Paris, and has also been exhibited on at least three occasions, including at a Delacroix exhibition at the Louvre in 1930.
The estimate is €40,000-60,000.
Basquiat pastel
Also offered at the Hotel Drôuot is an untitled 2ft 1in x 19½in (64.5 x 50cm) pastel on paper by Jean-Michel Basquiat which will feature as part of Leclere’s Post-War and Contemporary auction on March 26.
Signed and dated JMB 1982 on the reverse, it comes from a New York private collection, has a certificate of authenticity (The Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat) and will be estimated at €300,000-500,000.
