The 9th Paris Salon of Drawings, which opened on March 29th 2000, has received a warm welcome from buyers who rushed on the first day to acquire the best pieces exhibited there.
Over 3700 guests attended the opening night in the compact rooms of the Salons Hoche to admire 16th Century Italian drawings as well as French and Dutch 17th and 18th Century pieces.
There was some frantic activity regarding purchases from collectors and curators from many museums, notably those of Cleveland, Washingon, Paris, Glasgow or the Getty and the Morgan Library. The British Museum bought a drawing by Leon Bonvin, an artist who hanged himself in the woods of Meudon in 1866, representing the interior of a tavern for about $ 30,000 from the Talabardon & Gautier gallery while Parisian dealer Antoine Laurentin sold almost all his drawings during the first day, including works by Eva Gonzales, Ramon Pichot or Franke.
The Prouté gallery sold seventeen drawings almost immediately, including an ink and pen landscape by Guercino acquired by an American museum while Bruno de Bayser gave away a self-portrait by Degas for $ 147,000. Agnew's was offering the study of a head of St Sebastian by Frederico Barocci for some $ 367,000 while Colnaghi sold several drawings for $ 60,000 in the space of a few minutes.
Modern drawings were less in demand but a splendid ink and watercolour drawing by Leon Spilliaert titled «Evening in Ostende» was sold for $ 120,000 by Patrick Derom from Brussels.
Still many collectors complained about excessive prices asked by many galleries. Serge Nazarieff from Geneva noted that a 16th Century, sold at auction in London for some $ 4,000 was offered by Colnaghi at $ 100,000. «I have seen many drawings, which were auctioned in the region of $ 5,000, being offered here at over $ 50,000 and it seems quite difficult to understand such disproportion in prices as if galleries were trying to come back to the situation of the 1970s when pieces were bought at auction and then offered on the market at ten times their original prices. I thought this was over especially as the market is now much determined by auction bids», he said.
This Salon, due to close its doors on April 8th, is however already a great success.
The 9th Paris Salon of Drawings, which opened on March 29th 2000, has received a warm welcome from buyers who rushed on the first day to acquire the best pieces exhibited there.
Over 3700 guests attended the opening night in the compact rooms of the Salons Hoche to admire 16th Century Italian drawings as well as French and Dutch 17th and 18th Century pieces.
There was some frantic activity regarding purchases from collectors and curators from many museums, notably those of Cleveland, Washingon, Paris, Glasgow or the Getty and the Morgan Library. The British Museum bought a drawing by Leon Bonvin, an artist who hanged himself in the woods of Meudon in 1866, representing the interior of a tavern for about $ 30,000 from the Talabardon & Gautier gallery while Parisian dealer Antoine Laurentin sold almost all his drawings during the first day, including works by Eva Gonzales, Ramon Pichot or Franke.
The Prouté gallery sold seventeen drawings almost immediately, including an ink and pen landscape by Guercino acquired by an American museum while Bruno de Bayser gave away a self-portrait by Degas for $ 147,000. Agnew's was offering the study of a head of St Sebastian by Frederico Barocci for some $ 367,000 while Colnaghi sold several drawings for $ 60,000 in the space of a few minutes.
Modern drawings were less in demand but a splendid ink and watercolour drawing by Leon Spilliaert titled «Evening in Ostende» was sold for $ 120,000 by Patrick Derom from Brussels.
Still many collectors complained about excessive prices asked by many galleries. Serge Nazarieff from Geneva noted that a 16th Century, sold at auction in London for some $ 4,000 was offered by Colnaghi at $ 100,000. «I have seen many drawings, which were auctioned in the region of $ 5,000, being offered here at over $ 50,000 and it seems quite difficult to understand such disproportion in prices as if galleries were trying to come back to the situation of the 1970s when pieces were bought at auction and then offered on the market at ten times their original prices. I thought this was over especially as the market is now much determined by auction bids», he said.
This Salon, due to close its doors on April 8th, is however already a great success.
Home
