Buy at auction, for the newcomer this may seem complicated and reserved for the initiated.

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The art history was written without José Maria Sert (1874-1945), quickly forgotten after his death in 1945. Support of the artist to the nationalists and Franco after the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) has certainly contributed to the ouster as his artistic choices.

 

José Maria Sert is indeed the heir of classical painting and how to paint from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, far from the avant-garde: when, in the Salon d'Automne of 1907, he exhibited his sketches for the decorative program of the cathedral of Vic (Catalonia), Picasso has just completed Les Demoiselles d'Avignon and Matisse to shock the critics at the Salon des Independants with his Nu Bleu. But this is not the ambition of Sert.

 

It does not seek to revolutionize the paint, but is part of a "return to order" aesthetic and dream of large frescoes dressing churches of Assisi, Rimini, Florence or Pisa. For him, the mural is well above the easel painting.

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May 15, 2012, the auction house Sotheby's will sell at auction in Geneva, a diamond royal, the Beau Sancy, and witnessed four centuries of European history. This exceptional gem weighing 34.98 carats is cut in modified pear double rose is estimated between $2 and $4 million. A particularly low estimate let us remember that in December 2008, Christie's sold the Wittelsbach Blue Diamond 16.7 million euros.

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Rendezvous of lovers and collectors of beautiful drawings, the 21st edition of the Salon du dessin will be held in the Bourse de Paris from March 28 to April 2. Take a sneak preview, our selection of five exceptional drawings old masters, modern and contemporary.

 

1 – Boilly

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Of all the great sculptors of the second half of the 18th century, Claude Michel said Clodion is probably one of the best known and his name evokes in the minds of many an bacchanal in clay, a bas relief or a bronze cast saw in an auctioneer, a gallery, or at Drouot or in a museum.

 

Claude Michel said Clodion born in Nancy in 1738 the then capital of the duchy of Lorraine and spent his entire youth. In 1755, he left for Paris to entering apprenticeship in the studio of his maternal uncle the Baroque sculptor Lambert Sigisbert Adam (1700-1759). In 1759, Clodion integrates the workshop of Jean-Baptiste Pigalle (1714-1785) where he learned the new style into force the transition from Rococo and Neoclassical styles.

 

In 1759, our young sculptor wins the grand prize for sculpture from the Academie Royal and in 1761 the first silver medal for his studies after models. In 1762, Clodion left for Rome where he shared a studio with the sculptor Jean-Antoine Houdon. Its activity will be significant between 1767 and 1771. Catherine II of Russia, a great art lover, tries to ensure his presence in St. Petersburg, but he prefers to return to Paris.

 

Among his many clients include the chapter of Rouen and the States of Languedoc. Clodion frequently exhibited at the Salon. In 1782, he married Catherine Flore, daughter of the sculptor Augustin Pajou, whom he later divorced.

 

Clodion, "L'offrande au Dieu", © Ader

 

There are two major periods in his work.

 

The first is influenced by Pigalle in which his sculptures often small and in clay are inspired by Greek mythology. He frequently represents fauns and satyrs sensuously hugging a Bacchante. This is the turning point between the Baroque and Neoclassicism. In these terracotta, the theme of Bacchus and the lasciviousness of the modeled bring us back to the Baroque, while the choice of subjects directly inspired by antiquity announces the emerging Neoclassicism.

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Date, and estimate a Louis XV commode, your dream? Authenticite Partnership revealed to you today some of the "stuff" the expert use for recognizing and assessing the value of a classic furniture.

 

The model studied here will be auctioned on April 1.

 

Type

 

First task of the expert: dating! The type of furniture appraised is the first indicator of dating.

 

You should know that the commode is a piece of furniture that is not very old. In France, during the reign of the Sun King (1638-1715) it appears for the first time. The first two commodes dated with certainty are delivered in 1708-1709 by the renowned cabinetmaker André Charles Boulle for the King's Chamber at Trianon.

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In a difficult economic environment in 2011, the auction houses in Paris have shown a remarkable dynamism either Anglo-Saxon auction houses , Sotheby's or Christie's, or auctioneers in Paris performing at Drouot, the proceeds from sales of works and objects of art has progressed significantly.

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Despite its ascending cotation, the tireless hero of 24 albums is always between two investigations, kidnapping or assassination attempts which he escapes continuously, at 26 rue du Labrador in Brussels.

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