World art at auction

As an international auction house, we are used to handling top quality art, but sometimes we are presented with works that are in a league of their own. Such is the case this summer, when we will be offering two early works by Paul Gauguin and a classic modernist still-life by Georges Braque.

Paul Gauguin

Two of the absolute highlights of the auction are the early works “Bord de l’Aven” from 1886–88 and “Cerises et Carafon” from 1875–77 by Paul Gauguin (1848–1903), painted in the early period of the artist’s oeuvre. He began painting in 1873 after his marriage to his Danish fiancée Mette Sophie Gad, and made his début at the salon in Paris in 1876. Early on in his career, he was preoccupied with Impressionism, and particularly inspired by Camille Pissarro, whom he met in the late 1870s. In keeping with the ideals of Impressionism, in his early works, he captured nature, portraying the reflective light in his motifs in an array of shimmering colours on the canvas.

This is evident in the painting of the banks of the river Aven in Brittany “Bord de l’Aven”, which, since we sold it at auction in 1954, has quietly remained in Danish ownership. Back then, the work was certified by the artist’s son Pola Gauguin, but it has now also been verified by the Wildenstein Institute in Paris and will be listed in the “Catalogue Critique de l’Oeuvre du Peintre Paul Gauguin”.

Georges Braque

It is unusual to say the least to see such a fine still-life by the French artist Georges Braque (1882–1963) at auction in Copenhagen. Best known as a co-founder of cubism along with his close friend Pablo Picasso in around 1907–14, he mastered several styles – from Impressionism and Fauvism to early Modernism.

The work up for auction is one of the artist’s late works, from when Braque was 60. Throughout his life, he enjoyed painting still-lifes of fruit and everyday objects. The work “Le compotier” from 1942 is a prime example of this, depicting a fruit bowl, a wine glass and a newspaper on a table. Braque’s work is characterised by its decorative idiom with bright colours, bold brush strokes and marked outlines in his late still-lifes. Also central to his work is the depiction of the room, which is often portrayed as rather flat and faceted. This can be seen in the absence of a realistic perspective, among other things, and the depiction of the newspaper and tablecloth, overlapping each other in angular, cubist facets.

Auction: 17 June at Bredgade 33 in Copenhagen
Preview: 4–9 June at the same adress

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