A FESTIVAL FOR THE CLÉMENT COLLECTION

Gazette Drouot International, Chantal Humbert

The sale of paintings from the collection of film director René Clément (1913-1996) was a real success. After decorating his apartment in Monaco, the thirteen paintings went on to treble their estimates by totalling €2,342,000. Presented as the  showpiece of this collection, this “Portrait de Madeleine Grey à la rose”, estimated at €250,000, certainly whetted the appetites of collectors. During his second visit to Egypt, Kees van Dongen met Madeleine Grey (1896-1979), the brilliant French soprano, in a cabaret hall in Alexandria. After a keen battle between seven prospective buyers of different nationalities, the auction came down to a fierce duel between two bidders in the room. The vibrant soprano was finally taken into the arms of a Parisian collector, to the sound of applause from the room. A Cézanne-style landscape by Maurice de Vlaminck was the second star of the sale. Having moved to Rueil-Malmaison in 1905, the painter would often depict views of the banks of the Seine, as with this painting from circa 1909. The composition, evincing a rigour loosely adapted from Cubism, was sold for €347,000 after an estimate of around €150,000. The intense use of blue, green, white and black lends a certain mysterious, romantic air to the landscape. Once hanging above the bed in the Cléments’ bedroom, a sublime pastel by Renoir, "Jeune Fille à la charlotte", achieved €248,000. This was finally carried off by a French buyer despite competition from a New York gallery. We finish on a musical note with the result achieved by a gouache on paper by Raoul Dufy, dated 1938. Sold for €37,000, it depicts “Venise, la piazzetta et les gondoles”. Magnificently orchestrated, it evokes beautiful scenes in the City of Canals travelled by Mr Ripley in Clément's film “Purple Noon”. When painting inspires the cinema…

Chantal Humbert

• GAZETTE INTERNATIONAL, A Festival For The Clement Collection, July 2012