Expertise days, the Ivoire Manosque auction house organizes several times a year. “We are often called upon, but it is rare to have all these beautiful pieces of the puzzle to achieve this result, there everything is good”, smiles Jennifer Primpied-Rolland, auctioneer. She remembers the day when a resident came to bring her a drawing for her opinion, rolled up like a poster and kept above a cupboard, thinking it was a fake. On Saturday, she will lead the auction of this large charcoal and stump drawing … well and truly signed Henri Matisse and dated 1938, with a starting price of 150,000 or 200,000 euros (for an estimate between 300,000 and 400,000 euros ).
The investigation lasted a year to trace the thread of history, and ensure that it was indeed an original. We know today that it was offered by the painter to the Philadelphia Museum of Art, which devoted a major retrospective to him in the spring of 1948. Transmitted to a nun of the Convent of the Minimals, the drawing then returned to the region until the current owner, at the option of different successions. “We have no trace of public exposure,” notes Jennifer Primpied-Rolland. Thus, the exhibition planned at the auction room of Manosque on Friday (2 p.m. to 6 p.m.) and Saturday (10 a.m. to noon), before the sale, will be a first.
A rare charcoal drawing by Matisse found
Preparatory to the large decor commissioned from the artist by Rockefeller in 1938 for his New York penthouse, it was entrusted by its owner to the Ivoire study, which will sell it on June 26 in Manosque.
It is estimated around 350,000 €. pic.twitter.com/Y1vxmQ7nM7
– La Gazette Drouot (@gazette_drouot) May 19, 2021
Hello, I’m the model’s daughter …
But the appraisal above all reveals two drawing rarities, which will undoubtedly make the auctions soar (collectors have expressed their interest abroad). First, it is actually a preparatory work for a set commissioned by billionaire Rockefeller for the fireplace in his New York residence. “These first charcoal jets are the most emotional, after Matisse intellectualizes, purifies more his work”, details the auctioneer.
Another remarkable element: the woman who appears in the drawing is one of Matisse’s favorite models at the end of the 1930s. Her name is Hélène Galitzine-Mercier, and appears on several of his famous paintings. And this is the continuation of the beautiful story: the auction house received a phone call from his daughter. “She lives in the region and was very moved to see her mother’s portrait, her gaze,” continues Jennifer Primpied-Rolland. She told me that her own daughter was getting married on June 26th. “At 3 pm, exactly on time when she will launch the auction for Henri Matisse’s drawing.