During a sale very well marketed by the Parisian firm Turquin,
Le Panier de fraises des bois
, a masterpiece of still life by Jean-Siméon Chardin (which a handpicked audience of guests had been able to taste in cake during a dinner given upstream by Artcurial), flew away on Wednesday March 23 at the start of the evening, at 20.5 million euros at the hammer (24.3 million with costs), i.e. clearly above its estimate of 12 to 15 million euros.
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Read alsoChardin an unforgettable still life at auction
A record for the 18th century artist.
It was the New York dealer Adam Williams who won the room against a private collector, also American.
The extreme simplicity of the composition and the daring execution of this 46 cm x 38 cm canvas made it incredibly modern.
And its provenance, the Eudoxe Marcille collection, made it irreproachable.
In the notice, Pierre Rosenberg, the former president and director of the Louvre Museum, underlines
“the extreme simplicity of the composition which eliminates all detail and achieves the perfect balance, the audacity of the execution”.
He draws attention
"to the horizontality of the stone table, whose too straight line is broken by the green stem of a carnation, to the transparency of the water, different from that of the glass tinted by two red spots , the strawberries".
He concludes:
“Chardin has surpassed himself here.
The frankness of the white and red accord, both audacious and refined, makes the work unforgettable.
Chardin, fleeing effect and brilliance, with an ease and assurance unequaled in his century, creates, with a disconcerting and apparent ease, one of his most beautiful still lifes.
It remains to be seen whether the export certificate will be granted by the State to the New York merchant Adam Williams.
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