2026年2月18日星期三 
Guy Loudmer: Collector and Curator
T he auction house Auction Art Rémy Le Fur & Associés will offer the Guy Loudmer Collection on Wednesday, 18 February 2026, at Hôtel Drouot. Comprising 189 lots of modern art alongside African and Oceanic works, the collection reflects the eye and vision of a curator who played a pivotal role on the Parisian art scene for several decades.
A singular figure of the late 20th century, Guy Loudmer was known for his curiosity and openness to artists and movements that were still little recognised, helping to exhibit them and foster new dialogues. His career, marked by landmark sales, coincided with a period of significant innovation in auction practices and formats.
"Guy Loudmer was renowned for his sharp eye and refined taste for Modern Art as well as African and Oceanic works, which he brought to wider attention. An entrepreneur at heart, he challenged conventions with off-site sales, new venues, and international experiences. His ability to illuminate what others overlooked contributed greatly to his legend, and to a career filled with memorable auctions – Maeght, Tzara, Bourdon – which he enlivened with his unique presence," notes Rémy Le Fur.
The collection illustrates this discerning approach, bringing together works by some of the most important artists of the 20th and 21st centuries, including Calder, Tàpies, Buffet, Richier, Tal-Coat, Ben, Arman, Léger, and Ernst, alongside exceptional African and Oceanic art.
Among the most anticipated lots is a gouache by Alexander Calder, inscribed “to Gacqeline and Juy Loudmer” and given by the artist himself (estimate: €30,000–40,000). This work reflects Loudmer’s close relationships with major figures of his time, including Calder, whom he persuaded to decorate the BMW 3.0 CSL that would race at Le Mans – driven by his colleague Hervé Poulain. Calder applied the swirling drapery motif to the car’s roof from the left-hand side.
A drawing by Fernand Léger, Composition aux lunettes (1931), previously owned by the American artist Claire Zeisler before its market debut in 2003, highlights Loudmer’s enduring interest in works on paper (estimate: €10,000–15,000). Sculpture is also represented, including a beige-patinated plaster greyhound by Rembrandt Bugatti, acquired in the 1981 sale of Mademoiselle Ebé Bugatti’s estate (estimate: €8,000–12,000).
Marrons et journaux, a mixed-media work by Antoni Tàpies created around 1969–70 and purchased from Galerie Maeght, demonstrates Loudmer’s attention to museum-quality works. It was exhibited in major institutions between 1970 and 1980, including the Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Musée d’Art et d’Histoire in Geneva, Palais des Beaux-Arts in Charleroi, Fondation Maeght in Saint-Paul de Vence, Fundación Joan Miró in Barcelona (1976), and the Museo Español de Arte Contemporáneo in Madrid (estimate: €50,000–60,000).
Guy Loudmer also had a deep passion for tribal art from Africa, Oceania, and Indonesia, as reflected in the fifty lots devoted to this field. A polychrome Iatmul drum from the Sepik River (Papua New Guinea), from the collections of Pierre and Claude Vérité, stands out for its exceptional champlevé decoration (estimate: €5,000–6,000).
A rare headdress from the collections of Nico Mazaraki – dealer of Raoul Dufy and Jules Pascin, and patron of the École de Paris – and Geneviève Gallibert, depicts a bust with a crest, fully covered in incised geometric patterns painted in red, green, white and black (estimate: €12,000–15,000).
Other highlights include a large Fijian headrest, made of bamboo on four sturdy feet and with an antique patina, which previously passed through the hands of dealers Louis Carré and Ernst Ascher in Paris (estimate: €3,000–5,000).
Finally, a Kanak ridgepole ornament depicting a fiercely expressive face surmounted by a broad comb comes from the former Charles Ratton collection (estimate: €6,000–8,000).
"Guy Loudmer was renowned for his sharp eye and refined taste for Modern Art as well as African and Oceanic works, which he brought to wider attention. An entrepreneur at heart, he challenged conventions with off-site sales, new venues, and international experiences. His ability to illuminate what others overlooked contributed greatly to his legend, and to a career filled with memorable auctions – Maeght, Tzara, Bourdon – which he enlivened with his unique presence," notes Rémy Le Fur.
The collection illustrates this discerning approach, bringing together works by some of the most important artists of the 20th and 21st centuries, including Calder, Tàpies, Buffet, Richier, Tal-Coat, Ben, Arman, Léger, and Ernst, alongside exceptional African and Oceanic art.
Among the most anticipated lots is a gouache by Alexander Calder, inscribed “to Gacqeline and Juy Loudmer” and given by the artist himself (estimate: €30,000–40,000). This work reflects Loudmer’s close relationships with major figures of his time, including Calder, whom he persuaded to decorate the BMW 3.0 CSL that would race at Le Mans – driven by his colleague Hervé Poulain. Calder applied the swirling drapery motif to the car’s roof from the left-hand side.
A drawing by Fernand Léger, Composition aux lunettes (1931), previously owned by the American artist Claire Zeisler before its market debut in 2003, highlights Loudmer’s enduring interest in works on paper (estimate: €10,000–15,000). Sculpture is also represented, including a beige-patinated plaster greyhound by Rembrandt Bugatti, acquired in the 1981 sale of Mademoiselle Ebé Bugatti’s estate (estimate: €8,000–12,000).
Marrons et journaux, a mixed-media work by Antoni Tàpies created around 1969–70 and purchased from Galerie Maeght, demonstrates Loudmer’s attention to museum-quality works. It was exhibited in major institutions between 1970 and 1980, including the Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Musée d’Art et d’Histoire in Geneva, Palais des Beaux-Arts in Charleroi, Fondation Maeght in Saint-Paul de Vence, Fundación Joan Miró in Barcelona (1976), and the Museo Español de Arte Contemporáneo in Madrid (estimate: €50,000–60,000).
Guy Loudmer also had a deep passion for tribal art from Africa, Oceania, and Indonesia, as reflected in the fifty lots devoted to this field. A polychrome Iatmul drum from the Sepik River (Papua New Guinea), from the collections of Pierre and Claude Vérité, stands out for its exceptional champlevé decoration (estimate: €5,000–6,000).
A rare headdress from the collections of Nico Mazaraki – dealer of Raoul Dufy and Jules Pascin, and patron of the École de Paris – and Geneviève Gallibert, depicts a bust with a crest, fully covered in incised geometric patterns painted in red, green, white and black (estimate: €12,000–15,000).
Other highlights include a large Fijian headrest, made of bamboo on four sturdy feet and with an antique patina, which previously passed through the hands of dealers Louis Carré and Ernst Ascher in Paris (estimate: €3,000–5,000).
Finally, a Kanak ridgepole ornament depicting a fiercely expressive face surmounted by a broad comb comes from the former Charles Ratton collection (estimate: €6,000–8,000).
