Yves Saint Laurent Sale
What recession? Are you following the Yves Saint Laurent Sale? The three day extravaganza brought in roughly $478.8 million. After commissions, the proceeds will go to a variety of charitable foundations and causes, including the fight against AIDS.
I talked a bit about this sale on another site, so I won’t repeat, but it’s just insanity; Matisse “Les coucous, tapis bleu et rose” realized €35,905,000 (45 million), The Brancusi “Madame LR (Portrait de Mme LR)” at €29,185,000 (35 million), the Eileen Gray “Dragon Armchair” at €21,905,000 or 28 million, and the Mondrian “Composition avec bleu, rouge, jaune et noir” sold for €21,569,000 (27 million). Check out the entire list of items and the prices they realized (highest to lowest) on Christie’s,
One of the most interesting aspects to this elaborate sale was that a Chinese-backed group (APACE, a group mandated by the Chinese government to protect Chinese art on the world market) asked a Paris judge to suspend the sale of bronze relics “looted” in the 19th century and now part of a major auction of the estate of late fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent.
When I read this, and started adding up the money involved to bring off such an event of importance to Christie’s and the French government, I thought, nope, “ain’t never gonna happen”. Let me just add that these bronze fountainheads (two sculptures of a rat head and rabbit) are prized heads from the Chinese emperor’s palace, possibly the Emperor Qianlong (Yuanming Yuan) imperial traveling lodge called the ‘Hall of Lotuses’ at the foot of Jade Spring Hill at a point known as ‘Rainbow Floating over the Jade Spring’, which was famous as one of the ‘Eight Great Views of Yanjing’ (Beijing).
China didn’t want to buy the bronze pieces. China wanted restitution, now throw in the strained relations between China and France, as China canceled a December summit with the European Union to protest talks between French President Nicolas Sarkozy and the Dalai Lama, whom the Chinese accuse of supporting Tibetan separatism. The sale was never going to be halted, really now, hell would have to had frozen over for this to go down, but Mr. Bergé (YSL’s partner) said he would give the heads to China if Beijing would “observe human rights and give liberty to the Tibetan people and welcome the Dalai Lama.”
It goes without saying, the fountainheads were sold to an “anonymous” bidder for €31,000,000, that’s a cool 40 million.
9 comments9 Comments so far
Great to see you back.
Too bad, some of the $40M could have been allocated for a Tibet fund or Chinese human rights support. Instead, we get the same old default stories: the Communists continue to deny rights to both Tibetan and Chinese people, and “art dealings” with exotic looted cultural relics.
You have to be careful with the term “looted” that’s a bit dubious, esp. when you look at how YSL came to get the heads, AND I’m not entirely certain of what “causes” besides AIDS the profits will go. I think if the Chinese were eager to improve their human rights record or make some sort of gesture, a “deal” could have been worked out.
Werent you wanting to bid on one of the Mondrian dresses grunt….?
Wise guy, I ought to pound you, seriously knob, you mean you don’t own a YSL wool day dress? I thought for sure…this one is from your collection right? http://tinyurl.com/b77aaf
Well, the Chinese heads were looted in 1860- there is no doubt about that. I guess I would prefer that they go back to China and rejoin the other five heads that have been located and returned.
The most powerful statement the PRC could have made for their position would have just to out bid all others for the statues. No other dogma would have needed to be debated.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/27/world/europe/27auction.html?ref=design
I can care less though. These heads of former fountain follies are of little (or at least questionable) aesthetic value. Their hefty market values, on the other hand, are predicated solely upon a chapter of sad history and manipulated ethnic furry. Now that’s pathetic and annoying.
Ah, let me clarify the looting comment, the heads in question weren’t subject to the Unesco’s convention on the means of prohibiting and preventing the illicit import, export and transfer of ownership of cultural property 1970. They were “looted” by the British during the Opium Wars.
WELCOME BACK JAMES ! Missed ya !!!