Estimated between 30,000 and 50,000 euros, this painting, which represents Serge Gainsbourg as a child and his twin, was offered in 1959 to Juliette Gréco by the artist himself. A student at the Beaux-Arts and member of the Académie de Montmartre, Lucien Ginsburg at civil status first intended for painting and drawing, leading a bohemian life with his first wife Élisabeth Levitsky, also a painter. In 1954, he abandoned the visual arts for song, going so far as to destroy his paintings. According to his entourage, five paintings are still in circulation including "Children in the Square", offered to Juliette Gréco and to whom he had just confided during a program that "painting is (his) only true love".
“A few days later, Serge came to my house and told me: I burned everything, destroyed everything, I'll give you that.
It is the only one that remains… ”.
Deceased in 2020, Juliette Gréco loved this painting, currently on display at the Hotel Drouot, before the auction of her personal belongings on Friday, November 19.
Incredible anecdote, her granddaughter Julie-Amour recounts that in 2015, Juliette Gréco appealed to AFP after the disappearance of this painting from her home: "I am very unhappy, I have the impression that a little piece of my life was taken from me.
I give my thieves a few days to put it back where they found it, then I start the war machine!
She let it be known.
The canvas, visibly stolen by a loved one, quickly reappeared… Before finding a new owner in a few days.
