204 - [PEAU DE L'OURS].

[PEAU DE L'OURS]. “Peau de l'Ours” Collection. Paris: Henri Baudoin, 1914. — In-4, 289 x 193: 76 pp., (1 f.), printed cover. Paperback. A valuable auction catalog of the famous “Peau de l’Ours” collection, considered the first auction of modern art in France. Faced with the inaccessibility of masterpieces from the past, art lovers—mostly young—deliberately chose to take a chance on young or recently discovered artists. They saw in this boldness a respect for true tradition—that of the great eras focused on the present and the future rather than on the mummification of the past in museums. One of the members, André Level, took charge of most of the acquisition efforts. The sale took place on March 2, 1914, and was a major event attended by the most important dealers and figures in the art world of the time. It included 145 paintings, drawings, gouaches, pastels, and watercolors by Bonnard, Maurice Denis, Derain, Van Dongen, Gauguin, Van Gogh, Matisse, Laurencin, Maillol, Picasso, Redon, Rouault, Segonzac, Sérusier, Signac, Utrillo, Vallotton, Vlaminck, Vuillard, etc. This copy contains no reproductions but includes all the hammer prices as well as most of the buyers’ names, written in pencil in the margin. This copy is in very good condition.