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The Veil-Picard Collection's Chefs-d'œuvres triumph, selling for €9.433.135 at Christie's Paris.

An extraordinary collection of thirty 18th-century paintings and drawings has given rise to the Chefs-d'œuvre de la collection Veil-Picard sale, eagerly anticipated by the art world for decades. Three pre-emptions, including one from the Louvre and two from the Musée national du Château de Versailles, have been granted.

The Veil-Picard Collection's Chefs-d'œuvres triumph, selling for €9.433.135 at Christie's Paris.

The sale was fueled by heated competition between museums and private collectors, paying homage to the collector's passion, driven exclusively by a love of eighteenth-century aesthetics.

  • The protagonist artist was Jean-Honoré Fragonard, with The Happy Family, sold for 2.866.000 €, beyond expectations.
  • The work will probably be exhibited at the exhibition Fragonard, l'Enfant chéri de Grasse at the Musée Jean-Honoré Fragonard (19 June – 18 October 2026).
  • The Petite coquette has achieved great success, reaching 1.016.000 €, almost three times the estimate.

Among other notable achievements:

  • Hubert Robert's interior scenes were purchased by the Louvre for 2.439.000 €, tripling the estimate.
  • A drawing by Antoine Watteau was sold for 838.200 €.
  • A work by Gabriel de Saint-Aubin has reached 622.300 €, quadrupling the estimate.
  • Two pairs of historical drawings by Jean-Michel Moreau, dedicated to the birth of the Dauphin (son of Marie Antoinette), have been purchased by the Château de Versailles for 381.000 € e 254.000 €.

Ancient and 19th century drawings

The traditional auction of works on paper, organised in conjunction with the Salon du Dessin, totalled 1.287.653 €.

Among the main lots:

  • A preparatory drawing by François Boucher, depicting Venus, sold for 127.000 €.
  • An Baptism of Christ of the Fontainebleau School has reached 88.550 €, more than five times the estimate.
  • A drawing attributed to Ludovico Carracci was sold for 69.850 €.
  • A view of the Place de la Concorde by Pierre-François-Léonard Fontaine obtained 76.200 €.

The poetic library of Jean Paul Barbier-Mueller

The last part of the collection The poetic bibliothèque of Jean Paul Barbier-Mueller he totaled 1.240.663 €, exceeding estimates. Consisting of nearly a thousand works gathered over fifty years, the collection reflects the erudition and passion of its owner, Jean Paul Barbier-Mueller.

Among the most significant results:

  • Two copies of the works of the “Prince of Poets” have reached 158.750 € e 111.760 €.
  • An edition of the works of the poet Louise Labé was sold for 133.350 €, double the estimate.
  • A manuscript by Marguerite de Bretagne was purchased by the Municipal Library of Rennes for 53.340 €.
  • A work by Jacques Béreau (1565) was acquired by the Poitiers Library for 3.302 €.

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