This section will be available this Autumn.
Desmet Fine Arts
Pietra dura table top Coloured marble, alabaster and onyx Roman workshop, circa 1565-1600 H 6 x W 104.5 x D 83 cm Accompanied by Art Loss Register certificate: S00253658 Provenance: private collection, Lombardy (Italy) The pietra dura tabletop represents a symbiosis that evokes the rediscovery of the ancient world. The colored marbles used all originate from ancient Roman marble, brought to Rome from across the Roman Empire as early as the 3rd century BCE. In late 16th-century Rome, artists repurposed columns and all manner of these ancient Roman artifacts, reshaping them into sumptuous tabletops to decorate the grand palazzi. This work visualizes how 16th-century Rome sought to reclaim the identity and power of the great Roman Empire, and it must be fully understood within the context of the decoration of St. Peter’s Basilica, when Rome was once again regarded as the center of the world. The patterns are architecturally and geometrically designed to showcase the rarest marbles to their fullest effect. In this specific example, around 1800, the edge underwent restoration, during which the finest artists of the time added a black decorative band. Their aim was to frame what was already spectacular with a dignified restoration. Although created in the late 16th century, this piece radiates two millennia of superiority—politically, socially, artistically, and art historically.
Mearini Fine Art
Romano Alberti (Sansepolcro, 1502-1568) known as Nero Alberti da Sansepolcro o Maestro di Magione Sora Giulia Italy, 16th century Polychrome sculpture of stucco and paper mache constructed around a wooden core H 70 cm Provenance: private collection Literature: Sculture da vestire, Nero Alberti da Sansepolcro e la produzione di manichini lignei in una bottega del cinquecento. Cat. pp 69-70 and pp. 175-176 Exhibition: Museo di Santa Croce, Umbertide (Pg), 2005
Galerie Capazza
georges jeanclos
Georges Jeanclos (Paris, 1933-1997) Kamakura, 1991 Terracotta H 30 x W 45 x D 40 cm Provenance: the artist's studio Exhibition: Georges Jeanclos, Élévation, Abbaye Royale de Fontevraud, 25 November 2023-4 March 2024 The Kamakura series was inspired by Georges Jeanclos' trip to Japan, which took him to the country's ancient medieval capital, home to the oldest Japanese Zen gardens. Jeanclos was deeply moved by the beauty and serenity that emanated from these meditative and contemplative landscapes. Upon his return to Paris, these characters were born, sculptures of resilience, ‘monks in meditation, spectators of their inner gardens’ (Tzvetan Todorov). Georges Jeanclos (1933–1997) was one of the great French sculptors of the 20th century. His work was inspired by the traumatic events of the Second World War. To escape the roundups threatening Jews in France, his family had to hide in the woods; he himself, aged around ten, learned to live with the danger of death. In the aftermath of the Liberation, he saw the bodies of former collaborators hanging from lampposts; shortly afterwards, he discovered the skeletal beings who had survived the camps. Decades later, Jeanclos would respond to this formative experience: not by withdrawing into his own experiences, but by opening himself up to the universal, listening to all suffering, past and present; not by depicting horror, but by finding within himself the strength to create beauty. Jeanclos transforms the earth he works with into thin sheets, which he uses to form figures with similar faces, both children and adults, men and women. They are sleepers lying under a sheet of earth; beings enclosed in urns stamped with Hebrew letters taken from prayers for the dead; figures loaded onto boats bound for the other world; kamakuras, meditating monks. Later, he would add Pietàs, Adam and Eve in love, couples brushing against or embracing each other. Jeanclos' images reveal both the insignificance of our person and the indomitable strength of our love; by their mere existence, they help us to live. Tzvetan Todorov
Virginie Devillez Fine Art
gustave de smet
Gustave De Smet (Ghent 1877-1943 Sint-Martens-Latem) Nu couché, 1928 Pencil, pastel and oil on paper 35 x 43 cm Signed lower right 'Gust. De Smet' Provenance: Walter Schwarzenberg, Brussels (Georges Giroux sale, Brussels, 1-2 February 1932, lot 43); Tony Herbert, Kortrijk; private collection, Belgium (by descent to the present owner) Literature: Piet Boyens, Gust. De Smet. Chronicle et Analysis of the Work, Antwerp, Fonds Mercator, 1989, CR 744 (p. 386); The Tony Herbert Collection, Deurle, Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens, 2011, p. 39 (ill.) Exhibitions: Brussels, Galerie Le Centaure, Gust. De Smet, 1928, cat. n° 69; Brussels, Galerie George Giroux, Gust. De Smet, 1929, cat. n° 160; Luxembourg, Musée d’Art et d’Histoire; Tony Herbert Collection, 1963-1964, cat. n° 38
Galerie Alexis Pentcheff
Regency period frame France, 18th century Carved oak, gilded with gold leaf 112.5 x 146 cm (sight size) Provenance: Montanari collection Sand-textured background decorated with acanthus scrolls, small flowers, drops, shells, and padded cartouches. Openwork acanthus leaves overflowing with playful movement in the corners.
Galerie BA - Berthet Aittouarès
mark tobey
Mark Tobey (USA, Centerville 1890-1976 Basel, Switzerland) Landscape, 1967 Tempera on paper 26.5 x 48.6 cm Signed and dated lower back, stamp on the back Certificate of authenticity by the Committee Mark Tobey dated 8 February 2007 Provenance: François Gaudard, pianist and friend of Mark Tobey
Francis Maere Fine Arts
eugène dodeigne
Eugène Dodeigne (Belgium, Rouvreux 1923-2015 Bondues, France) Angèle | Hommage à Michel-Ange, 1964 Soignies stone H 210 x W 60 x D 60 cm Provenance: studio Eugène Dodeigne, Bondues (France); private collection, Basel Literature: G. Hirselj, B. Gaudichon & A. Massé; 'Eugène Dodeigne - une rétrospective'; Musée la Piscine, Roubaix, 2020
Galerie Nicolas Bourriaud
emile gilioli
Emile Gilioli (Paris, 1911-1977) Obélisque, circa 1960 Marble sculpture H 88 x W 25.5 x D 24 cm Signed 'Gilioli' Unique piece Provenance: the artist's studio Literature: Pierre Descarges, La logique de Gilioli, XXe siècle, Juin 1970, n° 34, p. 70; Ionel Jianou, Hélène Lasalle, Gilioli, Paris, 1971
Van Pruissen Asian Art
yoshitsugu
Hattori Taira Yoshitsugu Yagami School Tsuba with 'Thousand Monkeys' Carved iron Japan, late 18th century Ø 7.1 cm Signed 'Yoshitsugu' An iron tsuba intricately carved in openwork (nikubori ji-sukashi) with a lively multitude of monkeys, including the famous Three Wise Monkeys. Their eyes and the rim are accented in gold using nunome-zōgan. The maker, Hattori Taira Yoshitsugu, was a pupil of Yagami school founder Noda Mitsuhiro and teacher of Onitake Toshiyoshi. The Yagami school, active in Nagasaki in the late 18th century, is renowned for its 'Thousand Monkeys' motif, as also seen in a comparable example in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (inv. n° 91.1.751).
Gallery de Potter d’Indoye
Pair of oil lamps Ormoulu and patinated bronze Embossed gilt bronze and patinated bronze, representing the allegory of Philosophy and Study, each seated on an antique oil lamp, with an edge in gadroon motif, on a square footed base France, Consulat period, circa 1800 H 31 x W 36 cm Based on a model by Louis-Simon Boizot Comparative literature: H. Ottomeyer et P. Pröschel et al., Vergoldete Bronzen, Munich, 1986, vol. I, p. 294, fig. 4.17.1. I, p. 294, fig. 4.17.1. This pair of oil lamps is clearly designed in a neoclassical style, and, more specifically, in the 'Etruscan' style which came into vogue in the 1780s. This style draws its inspiration from antique forms rediscovered in archaeological digs, in particular those at Pompeii and Herculaneum, and manifested in the decorative arts by simple lines and ornamentation inspired by Antiquity. The allegorical figures of Philosophy and Study, which decorate these lamps, are taken from models created by Louis-Simon Boizot (1743-1809), then sculptor for the King. Boizot designed them for the first time in 1780 for a lamp in the antique style. He sold the model to the Sèvres factory, which then reproduced it in biscuit porcelain until 1786. These two figures were also used in the famous clock model, 'To Study and to Philosophy', created based on a drawing by François Rémond for the decorative arts merchant Dominique Daguerre. It is important to note that Pierre-Philippe Thomire (1751–1843), a reputed bronze worker, collaborated with Boizot in Sèvres beginning in 1783, the date when he succeeded Jean-Claude Thomas Duplessis (1730-1783) as the official bronze worker for the factory. The involvement of Thomire in the production of bronzes of this type is widely acknowledged. Comparable oil lamps include: - a pair kept at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles (inv. 88.SB.113.1 et 88.SB.113.2), attributed to Thomire; - another from the former collection of Sir Robert Abdy, sold at Christie's London on June 9th, 1994, lot 65,; - a pair offered for sale at Christie's London on December 13th, 2001, lot 430. - finally, a pair presented in the Madame Simone Steinitz collection at Christie's in Paris on June 19th, 2025, Paris lot 126. A drawing attributed to Thomire, kept at the Museum of Decorative Arts in Paris, depicts a very similar lamp placed to the right of a fireplace (cf. J. Bourne et V. Brett, L’art du luminaire, Paris, 1992, p. 156, fig. 530). In addition, two sketches found in an album of drawings analysed by P. Rosenberg and B. Peronnet (Revue de l’Art, n° 142, 2003-2004) bear witness to the distribution and success of these models. They perfectly illustrate the taste for Antiquity, which dominated French decorative arts in the late eighteenth century.
Objects With Narratives
ben storms
Ben Storms (Ghent, 1983) Crushed room divider, 2024 H 195 x W 160 x D 45 cm Stainless steel, gold leaf Provenance: the artist's studio The purpose of this volume is deliberately ambiguous. The object is primarily sculptural, a monumental entity that redefines a space. Yet in doing so, it also reveals its potential function. In the way that the work structures a space, it turns out to be a divider that demarcates and defines compartments or areas. The starting point for this room divider and sculpture is essentially a provisional form. A composition of several sheets of metal welded together with air in between - think of Ben’s In Hale series, but in a different sense. The actual form is then created by subjecting this makeshift composition to external forces, crushing the surfaces until the volume finds its current state.
Galerie Oscar De Vos
emile claus
Emile Claus (Waregem 1849-1924 Astene) Villa Zonneschijn (Sunshine) and the Lys, 1893 Oil on canvas 83 x 73 cm Signed lower left: Emile Claus Dated and monogrammed on reverse: Juli 1893 / E.C. Provenance: private collection, Belgium Literature: Buysse, C., Emile Claus. Mijn broeder in Vlaanderen (1925); De Smet, J., Retrospectief Emile Claus (1997); De Smet, J., Emile Claus en het landleven (2009); De Smet, J., Emile Claus. Prins van het luminisme (2024); Lemonnier, C., Emile Claus (1908)