Sotheby's presents treasures from the collection of Ambroise Vollard
ARTinvestment.RU   29 июня 2010

Today at the Paris auction house will auction 140 works from the collection of legendary art dealer

Sotheby's announced the sale of products whose history is, of course, is among the most exciting on the art market. Considered lost treasures - paintings, prints, books and drawings of the leading artists of the late XIX - early XX century - belonged to the legendary Parisian art dealer Ambroise Vollard (1866-1939), who played a key role in establishing market impressionism and modernism. The terms of his constituency of artists ranging from Renoir to Van Gogh, Cezanne to Picasso from and Fauvism. Because of Vollard was formed on the field works of the Impressionists and modernists Collector quality, which we know today. His contribution to the art of XX century are unlikely to have analogues.

Works from the Collection of Vollard, possessing exceptional artistic value, were discovered in 1981 in a bank vault in Paris bank Société Générale, where they were placed on the order of the young assistant to the dealer, Eric Slomovicha. The collection was deposited in 1940, a year after the death of Vollard. Soon Slomovich was forced to flee to Yugoslavia, where he died at the hands of the Nazis. Given the circumstances, the contents of the safe was closed for 40 years - until the time when the French law the bank was allowed to open the safe and sell its contents to compensate for unpaid storage costs for such a long time. As a result, the collection was put up for auction, to be held in the Hotel Drouot in Paris in March 1981. However, the sale was canceled due to legal problems. Today, they finally resolved: the work will be sold by agreement with the legitimate beneficiaries of the Heritage Vollard »(Vollard Estate).

140 works from the collection of Ambroise Vollard, deposited with almost immediately after his death and is now represented at the Sotheby's auction in Paris, give a unique insight into the artistic laboratory dealer. The collection includes paintings, watercolors, drawings, prints and books, designed and illustrated by artists with whom he worked throughout his long and brilliant career. Selection of prints and monotypes of artists with whom communicated Vollard - including Cezanne, Degas, Gauguin, Renoir, Picasso and Mary Kessett - reflects a particular interest to the dealer's schedule, and print media.

Top -lots auction are: a well-known picturesque portrait of Emile Zola (about 1862-1864) work of Cezanne, Picasso's famous engraving of "Simple Food" and monotype by Edgar Degas "Holiday hostess" (about 1878-1879).

Arriving in Paris from the islands of Reunion in 1887 to study law, Ambroise Vollard soon chose a different path - the art market. In 1895 he organized a retrospective of Cezanne, for which in the same year was followed by a retrospective of Van Gogh, while in Paris virtually unknown. After the success of these exhibitions Vollard was able to move its gallery to more spacious premises on the prestigious street Laffite, which became the center of attraction for artists of the Parisian avant-garde. In 1901 he organized also the first Parisian exhibition of paintings, pastels and watercolors by Picasso. Largely due to the organization of personal exhibitions budding artists he was able to move them and build their reputation. Among them arranged exhibitions - exhibition of Van Gogh, Gauguin, Maillol, Matisse and Van Dongen. He supported and Fauves, who became famous for the bold use of color. In 1905-1906 years Vollard bought the entire contents of the workshops Derain and Vlaminck, and put these artists in the famous Salon d'Automne in 1905.

value of the art dealer Vollard as the beginning of the twentieth century and the scale of the works, with whom he had dealings - many of them are now considered masterpieces and are stored in the world's leading museums - was reflected in the historical exhibition "From Cezanne to Picasso: Ambroise Vollard - chuck avant-garde, which was held at the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art, Chicago Art Institute and Orsay Museum in Paris in 2006-2007.

Material prepared Yulia Maksimova, AI

Source: press release Sotheby's, artinvestment.ru