René Jules Lalique (1860-1945) is one of the most famous jewelers and glassmakers of the movements Art Nouveau and Art Deco. His name is today one of the most prestigious for luxury in the world.

 

It is at the Universal Exhibition of 1885 the world discover Rene Lalique as a jeweler. His designs are innovative in the use of unusual materials such as glass, enamel, leather, horn, mother of pearl, combined with fine and precious stones. He was the first to successfully alloy glass and metal.

 

The Pectoral the dragonfly (main picture), a masterpiece of the 1900 Universal Exhibition is the most beautiful manifest of his work. Bold mix of shapes micro fauna and flora, insects and creepers are popular motifs of Art Nouveau.

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Zao Wou-Ki, one of the greatest French-Chinese painters of the second half of the twentieth century, died a few weeks ago at the age of 92.

 

Born in 1921 in a wealthy family in Beijing, his father is a banker; he studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Hangzhou encouraged by his family who owns paintings and ceramics dating back to the tenth century.

 

In 1948, his life changed. Zao Wou-Ki decides to leave China for France and especially Paris to rub and feed on avant-garde artists of Montparnasse. He befriends the biggest names in contemporary painting and sculpture, Pierre Soulages, Alberto Giacometti, Hans Hartung and Joan Miro to name some of the best known.

 

In 1951, Zao Wou-Ki met Paul Klee, this meeting is crucial for our artist that allows him to assert his own style in which he finds a balance between traditional Chinese painting and abstraction from the West particularly in its landscapes.

 

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Elegant and practical, luxurious and easy to wear the Birkin handbag by Hermès represents the height of the female class. Since its creation in 1984, the model was so successful that it became a symbol of the brand. Let’s lift the veil on this timeless accessory.

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Of all the major sculptors of his time, Charles Cordier (1827-1905) is certainly one whose style and art stand out the most.

 

Cordier enters in 1846 to the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris and in 1847 joined the studio of François Rude, one of the great masters of sculpture in the middle of the nineteenth century. His encounter with a former Sudanese slave now a model acted as a revelation for our young sculptor. In 15 days he executes his bust marking a decisive turning point for his work. We are then in the midst of the abolition of slavery and the beginnings of ethnography.

 

Charles Cordier's mission is to sculpt the diversity of human beings. To do this, he traveled to Africa and the Maghreb to capture to the best and the most realistic way possible traits of the different peoples.

 

His busts stand by the accuracy of the sculpture on which the hair is done with scissors. He developed a new technique in which he mixes materials, marble, onyx, bronze, gold and silver but also colored enamels and precious stones. Thus, his busts are characterized by polychrome allowing to make it the closest of the character of his subject.

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From £200 to £120 000, the prices of his works are vary wide. Major player in the Figuration Libre of the 1980s, Combas is always an artist popular of the French contemporary art market.

 

Good news: his drawings can be bought. You can indeed "buy Combas" for £250. Autographed in marker drawings are numerous. Made by the artist in dedication of an exhibition catalog, they often end up cut and sold separately. Note that they are not a good investment for you.

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Luxury objects from their origin, wanted by kings, princes and nobles in the sixteenth century, the works of art produced in Sicily in Trapani continue to appreciated by collectors and curators.

 

It is from the early sixteenth century to the late eighteenth century that the city of Trapani develops workshops specialized in the production of objects ornate with corals.

 

Coral, from the Mediterranean is characterized by its highly nuanced red, up to pale pink.

 

Before starting to work the coral branches, the craftsman selected the pieces according to their colors, their shapes and sizes.

 

Mirrors, crucifixes, candlesticks, monstrance, tables and occasional tables produced by the workshops of Trapani are distinguished by their use of coral either branches or pieces. Sought since ancient times coral is fished in the Liguria Sea and considered divine and magical by the three monotheistic religions

 

It is interesting to note that corals could be associated with noble materials such as gold, silver and vermeil but very frequently on much more common materials such as copper, brass, gilt wood or enamel.

 

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Poetic objects with bright light and reflections lacquer panels are used in the decorative arts from the eighteenth century to adorn precious furniture. Their opalescence and depth have poetic and meditative properties so fascinating for Europeans.

 

The use of lacquer in the decorative arts is ancestral as Chinese produce them since the third millennium BC. While Chinese lacquer panels reach their peak during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), the Japanese are pushing the technical perfection in the eighteenth century. Through trade with the Far East, they are imported in Europe by the Compagnie des Indes and known of European from the sixteenth century.

 

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King of the auctions, Felix Ziem remains a relatively unknown artist to the public. He knew a quick notoriety and unusual fact: one of his paintings enters in the Louvre during his lifetime.

 

Our artist born in Burgundy in 1821 and studied architecture in Dijon and began a career as an architect in the Marseille region.

 

His meeting with the Duke of Orleans, eldest son of King Louis-Philippe marked a turning point in his life; in fact the latter is interested in Ziem drawings which prompted him to open a drawing school.

 

In 1840, he discovered Martigues and in 1842 he moved to Italy he visited until 1847. It is especially Venice, which influence his painting.

 

Back in France, he split his time between Paris and Fontainebleau forest where he met Theodore Rousseau and Jean-François Millet. If like his friends, he painted pastoral landscapes and scenes of everyday life, his paintings cannot be linked to the Barbizon school. It should be noted that this production has hardly the favors of buyers and collectors of the artist.

 

 

Meanwhile, he painted views of Venice and the Bosphorus in the Orientalist style but does not relate fully to this movement. His views are imaginary and based on drawings he brought back from his travels. Orientalist paintings are distinguished by the horizon placed very low as well as the importance given to the vertical lines which set him apart from its contemporaries.

 

Ziem died in 1911 leaving behind approximately 10,000 paintings, oils on canvas and oil on panel. Despite the success he met during his lifetime, he did not bind with other painters of his time and did not form student.

Stranger to the great artistic movements of the late nineteenth century, his paintings continue to be the dreamed Orient.

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The design is popular! This is the right time to sell. Do not hesitate to ask us about the value of your items. Online valuations are free.

 

The prize goes to the clean lines including the works of the 50s. The classics such as Charles & Ray Eames, Harry BERTOIA Pierre Paulin or George Nelson will remain intact. Of course, French Design’s precursors as Pierre Jeanneret, Charlotte Perriand and Jean PROVEN remain safe values .

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For just over a month, all the specialists and curators in old masters questioned the paternity of a painting sold by Sotheby's Olympia (London) in December 2006. The debate focuses on the author of the painting and therefore its value: £50,000 or £10 million.

Let us revisit origins and consequences of this case now in the hands of the London High Court of Justice.

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