Visit to the Japanese art collection of the Bérès gallery at the Drouot auction house

Catherine Delvaux, Cultural Projects and Events Manager at the Drouot Auction House, accompanied by Maître Théo Lavignon, auctioneer at Maison Beaussant Lefèvre & Associés, and Alice Jossaume, expert in Far Eastern arts and director of Cabinet Portier & Associés, generously welcomed the Friends of the Cernuschi Museum to the famous auction house on the occasion of the final sale of the Bérès gallery collection.

On sale on February 2 through Maison Beaussant Lefèvre & Associés, the collection of the Bérès gallery includes nearly 1 Japanese prints mainly dating from the Edo and Meiji eras, but also numerous reference works.

All of these objects come from the gallery opened in 1952 by Huguette Bérès, largely specialized in Japanese graphic art. Thus, several important exhibitions have highlighted the important collection amassed by Huguette Bérès over the years, such as “Portraits of actors from the 1953th to the 1954th century” in 1977, “Utamaro” in 1955 and 1975, “ Hiroshige” in XNUMX, or “A closed and floating world, Japan before Perry” in XNUMX in New York.

After a first sale in 2002 then a second in 2010, the last part of the collection was put up for auction on February 2, 2024, marking a major turning point in the history of the Bérès institution. Anisabelle and Florence Bérès, daughter and granddaughter of the gallery's founder, have in fact decided to get rid of this collection of Asian art and, thus, focus their expertise on paintings from the end of the XNUMXth and XNUMXth centuries. nascent.

• Hiroshige Ando (1797-1858), Landscape paintings, Small album comprising 20 pages. Wooden cover and spine, Indian ink label with title Ichiryusai Hiroshige ga. Polychrome ink on paper. Signed Ichiryusai Hiroshige and Ryusai stamp on each page. 12,6 x 9,2 cm.

Utamaro Kitagawa (1753-1806) Ogiya Hanaogi – Hanaogi of Ogiya (Portrait of the most famous oiran of Yoshiwara). Date: circa 1795. Signed Utamaro hitsu. Publisher Omiya Gonkuro. Oban tate-e format: 38,5 x 25,5 cm.

Master Théo Lavignon and Alice Jossaume presented to the Friends the most remarkable pieces of this set, including several prints from the series of Japanese bridges by the great Hokusai Katsushika (1760–1849) or even a small study notebook, Paintings and landscapes, illustrated with moving sketches by Hiroshige Ando (1797-1858). Major work of the collection, the Portrait of the most famous oiran of Yoshiwara by Utamaro Kitagawa (1753-1806), dated 1795, particularly attracted the attention of our members for the quality of its printing and its very fresh colors. Finally sold for €18, it wonderfully illustrates all the poetry sought by the Bérès gallery.