This is the event of this end of the auction season: Christie’s disperses, from June 8 to June 23, live, at the Marigny Theater, in Paris, and online, the plethoric collection of Hubert de Givenchy , who died in 2018. A colossal sale of all of his interiors. Much larger in volume than the previous ones, this dispersion-river includes major pieces, others more decorative, from the 18th century.e century to contemporary art. On the menu, bronzes by Girardon, girandoles by Thomire, vermeil table services and armchairs stamped Georges Jacob or Sené…
The 1,200 pieces were estimated at €50 million in total. A sum largely exceeded from the first evening of sales: nearly 83 million euros were collected by Christie’s, including just over 27 million for the walking woman [1], by Alberto Giacometti, a bronze cast during the artist’s lifetime, who died in 1966.
In December, it was Karl Lagerfeld who made sparks on the occasion of a posthumous sale in three acts organized by Sotheby’s in Monaco, Paris and Cologne, for more than 25 million dollars. It is an understatement to say that the collections of the couture giants are appreciated by the market.
For the Parisian antique dealers Nicolas and Alexis Kugel, who organized from June 9 to 15 an exhibition celebrating the look of Givenchy, in a couturier sale, “there is never a lack of taste, whatever the importance of the objects offered”. Because this profession prepares the eye for both detail and architecture. “The great couturiers are like architects sensitive to materials and proportions who build elegant ensembles on the woman’s body, continues the Kugel siblings. This attention to the silhouette, to all the details, like the smallest stitch, is excellent training for acquiring a collector’s eye. »
“The last years of his life, Karl Lagerfeld had become an intergenerational quasi-rock star. » Cécile Verdier, President of Christie’s
Fashion designers have always surrounded themselves with works of art, “whether they constitute a source of inspiration for their work in an obvious way or simply feed the aesthetic quest of hypersensitive beings seeking to live surrounded by beauty”, says Cécile Verdier, president of Christie’s. If their collections are so successful, it’s because they themselves have become popular characters, better still, brands. “The last years of his life, Karl Lagerfeld had become an intergenerational quasi-rockstar”, recalls Cécile Verdier. The dandy with the ponytail, in fact, had made his name and his look a mark, to the point that his silhouette, recognizable among all, was declined in Tokidoki figurines in Japan.
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