Un mois d'octobre riche en découvertes à l’Hôtel Drouot

Born from Pascal Marziano’s passion for French ceramics from the second half of the 20th century, this unique collection brings together 130 works offering a fine synthesis of this art form. Among its major names is Georges Jouve, represented by Pomme, an orange-glazed ceramic piece (est. €12,000 – €15,000). Jacques and Dani Ruelland are also featured with eight creations, including an organ of seven slender bottles (est. €8,000 – €12,000) and a pyramid with convex edges (est. €2,000 – €3,000). Pol Chambost contributes his celebrated Cactus lamp base (model 1039), a black-glazed ceramic estimated between €10,000 and €15,000.
 

This collection pays tribute to its founders, Jean and Germaine Thuillier, renowned Parisian gallerists and passionate art lovers. The Galerie Jean Briance, founded in 1976, was born out of a spirit of openness and artistic freedom. From the outset, the gallery asserted a singular and demanding vision, championing artists with audacity and conviction. Over the years, the couple built a collection shaped by both their desire to support artists and by genuine coups de cœur — such as their enduring admiration for Olivier O. Olivier, painter of irony and unease, celebrated here through 16 works including Portrait de l’artiste à 44 ans (est. €5,000 – €6,000).

Gérard Béringer, another favourite of the gallery, is represented by 19 works, notably Nicole pull violet (1980, est. €500 – €600). The highlight of the sale is Yüksel Arslan’s Influence Gérard de Nerval – Arture 281 (1982), estimated between €6,000 and €8,000.

 

Appearing on the market for the first time, Baiser II, a tender mother-and-child scene on silk by Mai Trung Thu, was until now preserved in a private collection (est. €20,000 – €30,000). Having arrived in France in 1937, the artist devoted himself exclusively to ink and colour on silk, seeking to preserve the transparency of pigments and reveal the delicate satin sheen of the medium.

In Baiser II, Mai Trung Thu elevates a simple, silent gesture — a mother kissing her child — to a moment of reverence, rendered with the artist’s trademark softness and grace. The work stands as a true ode to maternal love, one of his most cherished themes.
 

 

This exceptional group of 67 paintings and drawings offers one of the most comprehensive overviews of Toshio Bando’s art, a distinctive figure in 1920s Paris. Among the sale’s highlights is his Self-portrait with Dog and Cigarette Holder, a strikingly modern and intimate depiction of the artist (est. €8,000 – €12,000).

Other key works include L’Intérieur, a 1922 canvas depicting a female nude (est. €25,000 – €30,000). Bando’s fascination with animals — one of his favourite subjects — is also well represented, with works such as French Bulldog (est. €6,000 – €8,000) and Cat in Front of the Henhouse (est. €2,500 – €3,000). Still lifes, including a superb Bouquet of Roses in a Vase (est. €1,200 – €1,500), complete this rich ensemble.

 

Dedicated to the former collection of the Count and Countess Greffulhe, this second chapter unveils a selection of objets d’art, furniture, and mementos from the Belle Époque. Among its treasures are a set of eleven watercolours and gouaches of The Opera of Scribe by Eugène Lami (est. €20,000 – €30,000), and a pair of companion paintings by Jean-Baptiste Oudry, one signed and dated 1729 (est. €20,000 – €30,000).

Two portraits by John Downman, Portrait of a Lady (“Lady…”) and Portrait of a Young Woman (“Miss…”), each estimated between €1,500 and €2,000, also feature. Among the decorative arts, a superb Ming dynasty hu-shaped vase in enamel (est. €5,000 – €8,000) follows a fine pair of Louis XV period serpentine corner cabinets, one stamped Jacques Dubois (est. €15,000 – €20,000).
 

 

Hidden from public view for over 80 years, Buste de femme au chapeau à fleurs (Dora Maar), painted by the Spanish master on 11 July 1943, emerges as a major rediscovery. The painting has remained in the same family collection since its acquisition in 1944 and has never been exhibited. Until now, it was known only through a photograph by Brassaï taken in Picasso’s Grands-Augustins studio and its black-and-white reproduction in Christian Zervos’ catalogue raisonné.

With its intensity, provenance and story, Buste de femme au chapeau à fleurs (Dora Maar) stands as one of the most significant rediscoveries of Picasso’s œuvre. Estimated around €8 million, the work marks an important milestone in his career and a rare testament to his genius in wartime.