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- 1. Jean-François Millet (1814-1875)
The Norman Milkmaid
Charcoal - 36.6 x 29.2 cm
Alain Delon Sale, Bonhams Cornette de Saint-Cyr, Paris, 22 June 2023
Photo: Bonhams Cornette de Saint-Cyr - See the image in its page
20/6/23 - Art Market - Paris - "Millet is my passion, my god in drawing" declared Alain Delon to our colleague Harry Bellet in an interview back in 2007. So it comes as no surprise to see four works by the artist in the exhibition preceding the sale at Bonhams Cornette de Saint-Cyr in Paris on Thursday afternoon. Faithful in both art and friendship, the great French actor had thus forged a privileged relationship with Pierre Cornette de Saint-Cyr, the auctioneer who had already been commissioned to sell his modern paintings in 2007, his wines in 2011, his watches in 2012 and his rifles in 2014. Having rejected the idea of an after-death sale, Alain Delon undertook to supervise the dispersal of his rich collections himself, as connoisseurs are well aware of his keen interest in drawing. Although it is difficult to speak of a preparatory study for the painting kept at Princeton, The Norman Milkmaid (ill. 1) easily stands out as one of the major sheets in an exciting and varied selection, mostly composed during the 1960s and 1970s thanks to the young film star’s fees.
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- 2. Jean-François Millet (1814-1875)
Study of a Reclining Woman (Agar)
Charcoal on blue paper - 33.4 x 24.4 cm
Alain Delon Sale, Bonhams Cornette de Saint-Cyr, Paris, 22 June 2023
Photo: Bonhams Cornette de Saint-Cyr - See the image in its page
Visitors to the last Salon du Dessin - held at the Palais Brongniart just three months ago - will certainly remember a powerful charcoal by Millet that caught our attention (see article) and especially that of a couple of collectors, who acquired it as soon as the fair opened. Preparing the figure of Agar in the painting conserved in The Hague, this one echoes the verso - albeit less accomplished - of a sheet (ill. 2) from the Alain Delon collection.
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- 3. Jean-François Millet (1814-1875)
A Beggar Woman and Her Child
Charcoal on blue paper - 33.4 x 24.4 cm
Alain Delon Sale, Bonhams Cornette de Saint-Cyr, Paris, 22 June 2023
Photo: Bonhams Cornette de Saint-Cyr - See the image in its page
On the other hand, we find the main side of this drawing (ill. 3) particularly poignant, with its depiction of a mother begging with her child. The Millet collection assembled by the actor, to which should be added a small canvas acquired at Christie’s in London in 1979, naturally formed part of the "20 ans de passion" exhibition organised by Didier Imbert Fine Art in 1990, Alain Delon’s first opportunity to reveal his taste and eye to the public. It’s hard, then, to talk about a secret garden: the fruit of several decades of often compulsive purchases, the collection is that of a true amateur, who also has his own mark, referenced in the Lugt (L.3261). Without any false modesty, Alain Delon’s seal features the famous monogram of Albrecht Dürer, an artist whose masterpiece the actor owned for many years: the famous scarab now kept at the Getty Museum! This was bought in June 1969 at Sotheby’s in London for the highest price ever achieved for an old master drawing, as Benjamin Peronnet - consultant for this sale - recounts in his preface to the catalogue.
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- 4. Giovanni Francesco Barbieri called Guercino (1591-1666)
Christ on the cross
Pen and brown ink, brown wash - 19.2 x 12.8 cm
Alain Delon Sale, Bonhams Cornette de Saint-Cyr, Paris, 22 June 2023
Photo: Bonhams Cornette de Saint-Cyr - See the image in its page
Don’t worry: not all the treasures amassed by Alain Delon have taken up residence near Hollywood, even though the Californian institution also owns a superb study sheet by Annibale Carracci and a seductive watercolour by Cézanne. A great lover of old master drawings, the actor has kept a fine collection of Italian and Nordic sheets, including works by Beccafumi-, Véronèse and Guercino. The latter’s splendid Christ on the Cross (ill. 4) thus belonged to Thomas Lawrence, while the astonishing drawing attributed to Pontormo or his entourage passed through the hands of Joshua Reynolds before joining those of Thomas Lawrence. Logically, attributions have been refined over the decades, and the Bonhams Cornette de Saint-Cyr sale catalogue is cautious in multiplying the mentions "entourage of" and "attributed to", as with this sheet given to Ludovico Carracci and then to Guido Reni.
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- 5. Jan van Goyen (1596-1656)
Spring Landscape: a Canal in a Village with Two Men in a Boat, a Church Bell Tower in the Background, 1626
Black chalk, watercolour and gouache over framing strokes in pen and black ink - 11.2 x 21.8 cm
Alain Delon Sale, Bonhams Cornette de Saint-Cyr, Paris, 22 June 2023
Photo: Bonhams Cornette de Saint-Cyr - See the image in its page
When a selection of drawings from the collection was presented at the Salon du Dessin in 2010, we reproduced in our chronicle (see article) another Christ on the Cross under the name of Rubens alone: Alain Delon acquired it as such at a sale in Amsterdam in 1976, but this large sheet is now presented as an "entourage of" Rubens, which of course in no way detracts from its quality. The same fate befell a drawing long catalogued as an important sheet by Rembrandt, but which Peter Schatborn now attributes to Willem Drost, one of the master’s best pupils. Signed and dated, the three Van Goyens offered on Thursday pose no problem, especially as the rarity of the two watercolours in Alain Delon’s collection (ill. 5) should play in their favour: the catalogue notes that only five are known today, despite numerous citations in 18th-century auction catalogues.
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- 6. Giovanni Benedetto Catiglione, known as Il Grechetto (1609-1664)
The Family of Darius Before Alexander
Brush, oil and gouache - 28 x 40.4 cm
Alain Delon Sale, Bonhams Cornette de Saint-Cyr, Paris, 22 June 2023
Photo: Bonhams Cornette de Saint-Cyr - See the image in its page
There is no uncertainty either about the large drawing (ill. 6) by Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione, known as Il Grechetto: although it is unsigned, it is so representative of the Genoese artist’s style that a signature would seem unnecessary. A mixture of oil and gouache on paper, this composition depicting the family of King Darius begging for mercy from Alexander the Great has been compared to two sheets in Windsor Castle. From one picture rail to the next, visitors can see the vestiges of an assertive taste, and instinctively guess what the guidelines were for the actor’s acquisitions in the 1960s and 1970s. In his interview with Harry Bellet, Alain Delon confirmed this in no uncertain terms: "I was really in love with drawings from the 16th and 17th centuries, not the 18th and 19th centuries". His passion for Delacroix, Géricault and Millet therefore came later, as did his purchases of modern masters. A beautiful anonymous sheet could easily attract his attention, as shown by the seductive bearded flautist (ill. 7) historically attributed to the 17th-century Bolognese school.
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- 7. 17th century Bolognese school ?
Young Bearded Man Playing the Flute
Sanguine, black chalk and white chalk - 20 x 22.4 cm
Alain Delon Sale, Bonhams Cornette de Saint-Cyr, Paris, 22 June 2023
Photo: Bonhams Cornette de Saint-Cyr - See the image in its page
The display in the salons of the Avenue Hoche also holds other surprises: we certainly did not expect to find a - false - triptych (ill. 8) by Paul Sérusier, composed in fact of four folding screen sheets which could easily have found its place in the exhibition "Les Nabis et le décor" at the Musée du Luxembourg (see article). Subsequently mounted as a triptych, they transform the Breton forest of Huelgoat into a fantastic landscape with a Japanese influence, even if the artist feared - as he expressed in a letter to Maurice Denis, quoted in the catalogue entry - that it would be passed off as "a boudoir trinket rather than a work of art". On the contrary, The Torrent is a particularly attractive piece and one of the highlights of the sale, the final part of which is devoted to modern and contemporary art.
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- 8. Paul Sérusier (1863-1827)
The Torrent, 1893
Four-sheet screen later mounted as a triptych
Oil and casein on canvas - 52 x 120 cm (each panel)
Alain Delon Sale, Bonhams Cornette de Saint-Cyr, Paris, 22 June 2023
Photo: Bonhams Cornette de Saint-Cyr - See the image in its page
Better known in recent years for his animal bronzes, including the famous Rembrandt Bugatti set whose dispersal sent auctions into a frenzy in November 2016 at Christie’s in Paris, the actor has in fact reoriented his acquisitions towards modern art, even if Thursday’s sale offers some fine castings by Barye and Carpeaux. Almost naturally, a detail from Bugatti’s Lioness Lying Gagging (ill. 9 and 10) graces the cover of the catalogue, which also includes a text by Véronique Fromanger recalling Alain Delon’s consuming passion for this artist. The three Bugatti bronzes cast by Hébrard are sure to appeal to connoisseurs, despite their very high estimates. The "Bugatti d’Alain Delon" have become legendary, having been the subject of an exhibition at Charles Bailly in Paris in 1988 before travelling to the actor’s various residences.
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- 9. Rembrandt Bugatti (1884-1916)
Yawning Reclining Lioness, Hébrard cast, 1903
Lost-wax bronze - 28.4 x 55.1 x 22.5 cm
Alain Delon Sale, Bonhams Cornette de Saint-Cyr, Paris, 22 June 2023
Photo: Bonhams Cornette de Saint-Cyr - See the image in its page
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- 10. Rembrandt Bugatti (1884-1916)
Yawning Reclining Lioness, Hébrard cast, 1903
Lost-wax bronze - 28.4 x 55.1 x 22.5 cm
Alain Delon Sale, Bonhams Cornette de Saint-Cyr, Paris, 22 June 2023
Photo: Bonhams Cornette de Saint-Cyr - See the image in its page
On display in Paris since Saturday, this fine ensemble can still be seen on avenue Hoche tomorrow and Thursday morning, before coming under the auction hammer early this afternoon: very discreet until now, the great actor has been careful not to appear among his treasures, but perhaps he will discreetly attend the sale as he did in November 2016 at Christie’s? In any case, let’s hope that connoisseurs and institutions alike will not miss this opportunity to pay tribute to the actor-collector.