Sale Totals €4,250,988 / $4,269,665 / £3,735,490.
On 21 September, Un Regard sur le monde: Collection Comte & Comtesse Jean-Jacques de Flers, the first live auction of the season at Christie’s Paris, realized a total of €4,250,988 / $4,269,665 / £3,735,490. Inseparable in life and in art, Michèle and Jean-Jacques de Flers were two free spirits who stood out with their bold artistic choices and anti-conformism. Selling 86% by lot and 96% by value, their collection is the result of a lifetime of research and passion which captures their forward thinking through a rich dialogue between styles and cultures.
Three new world auction records were established for Ida Tursic & Wilfried Mille, Smash137 and Toxic.
The sale was led by Untitled (Le Mans) by Keith Haring, a unique piece created for the 1984 edition of the 24h du Mans, which realized €466,200, more than three times its low estimate. Michèle and Jean-Jacques de Flers, pioneering collectors, were amongst the first ones to support Chinese contemporary artists in the early 2000s.
The large selection of Chinese contemporary artworks in their collection, considered to be one of the most important in France, included one of the couple’s favorite pieces: Camarade by Zhang Xiaogang, which sold for €441,000. Other highlights of the sale include Begegnung II by A. R. Penck, which sold for €289,800, almost three times its low estimate, A Dying Rabbit and Nothing to do Men No. 2 by Liu Xiaodong which realized €403,200; and Isidor, a sculpture by Jean Tinguely which almost tripled its low estimate by achieving €163,800.
Begegnung II
Price realised: EUR 289,800
Camarade
Price realized: EUR 441,000
A Dying Rabbit and Nothing to do Men No. 2
Price realized: EUR 403,200
