Detail Toulmouche
The Modern Masters sale of March 19-22 (including Design and Works on Paper) was a more than satisfying event. The highest prices went to international artists such as Piero Manzoni, Tschang Yeul Kim and Christo however the drawings by belgian masters also brought interest. A short survey with hammer prices (excl. buyer's premium).
On the first session of 19 March, the sale took a flying start with lot 16, 'Le retour' by Auguste Toulmouche from 1883, finally selling after a harsh battle for a stunning € 30000 whereas a typical romantic painting by Jan Van Beers (lot 19) changed hands for a steady €10000. This is more or less in the same region as two ceramic pieces by Pablo Picasso (lots 166 and 167), which sold resp. for € 7800 and € 14000.
Detail Manzoni
On the second session of 20 March, quite some attention was drawn by a choice collection of Art Deco sculptures. We only mention 'Dacia' (lot 214) by René Marquets, selling for a firm € 7000. On the side of the paintings it was Eugeen Van Mieghem who led the pack (lot 260) with his € 13000, hereby taking the lead over Gustave De Smet (lot 271) with its well earned € 7000 and Jakob Smits' interior scene (lot 274), climbing up to € 9500.
An high end abstract work from 1922 by Felix De Boeck, with an accordeon player on the reverse, smashed the presale estimate of € 15000-20000 by finally reaching up to € 34000. 'Opus 25' from 1950 by Victor Servranckx more than doubled its estimate by selling at € 4500 (lot 416). The African sceneries by Floris Jespers (lots 420 and 421) all sold well, resp. for € 9000 and € 10000.
Detail Christo
On the modern Post War side there were many highlights, too many to mention, therefore a short survey:
Pol Mara's 'Ataque bleue' from 1959 (lot 436) and his 'Soleils sur deux terres' from 1960 (lot 435) amazed with resp. € 6400 and € 7500. To much surprise, quite some attention was drawn to Lode De Maeyer's canvas (lot 409), selling for a whopping € 9500. Philip Vandenberg though made a world record with his grand canvas 'Ja, vader' from 1986 climbing to 39000 euros. From the Piron collection came some blue chip artworks by Lucio Fontana, Tschang Yeul Kim, Christo and Piero Manzoni.
Detail Tschang-Yeul Kim
The latter's recently discovered 'Achrome' from 1958 (lot 446) was hammered at a well deserved € 380000. The 'Gouttes d'eau' by Tschang Yeul Kim (lot 504) caused the fiercest battle of the sale by finally ending at a smashing € 215000. The 'Valley Curtain' by Christo (lot 507) was hammered at a proud € 50000.
On the side of the Design department it was mainly the rare pieces by the great Pieter De Bruyne which drew most, if not all the attention.
Pieter De Bruyne
The Spring Sale week drew to a close with the 'Works on Paper' on Thursday afternoon. This sale too took a firm start with an illustrated letter by Paul Joostens to his then companion Paul van Ostaijen (lot 1009), climbing up to € 9000.
The correspondence between the artist Luc Peire and the art critic Jaak Fontier (lot 1035) sold for € 2000 whereas a manuscript by the revered Hugo Claus (lot 1024) sold for € 3000.
An original double sided woodblock by the great Frans Masereel (lot 1076) sold for a well earned € 7400. Another pleasant surprise was the dry point portrait of the great Rembrandt Bugatti by Walter Vaes, selling for a great € 4200.
Detail Walter Leblanc
Some other results worth mentioning:
A drawing by Mimmo Rotella (lot 1274) sold for €3200. The 'Torsions twisted strings XXI' (lot 1310) by the great Walter Leblanc left the block at € 12000, a breathtaking watercolour by Raoul De Keyser (lot 1340) at € 6000, a study by Guy Mees for a 'Verloren Ruimte' (Lost Space) from 1987 for € 3600.
Towards the end of the sale, some very strong results were made by Belgian Avant Garde artists such as Paul Joostens (lots 1473 and 1474) selling for € 5000 and € 6000, and Jozef Peeters (lot 1476), selling for € 20000.