The masters of modern art will take centre stage on July 1 in Paris at a prestigious auction organised by Rossini. Collectors will have the opportunity to bid on major works by leading French artists such as Rodin, Renoir and Valtat, alongside internationally renowned figures including Vasarely, De Chirico and Foujita.
Among the standout works in the catalogue is The Kiss, a patinated bronze group by Auguste Rodin. This iconic sculpture of two embracing figures, a deeply moving expression of romantic love, was originally conceived in 1886 for The Gates of Hell, the monumental project commissioned by the French state in 1880 that occupied much of Rodin’s life. Inspired by Dante’s Divine Comedy, the work depicts Paolo and Francesca at the moment they discover their love.
The version of The Kiss presented here is a bronze cast produced between 1914 and 1917 during the artist’s lifetime by the Barbedienne foundry, commissioned by Rodin himself to produce works for collectors. This tender embrace, too sharply at odds with the tragic nature of The Gates of Hell, was ultimately excluded from the project. Rodin instead preserved it as an independent work, and it quickly became one of his most celebrated sculptures, transcending its literary origins.
Collectors will also find Eternal Spring, another remarkable sculpture originally created for The Gates of Hell, depicting a more passionate embrace and produced between 1905 and 1907.
The sale also highlights Chu Teh-Chun, the Franco-Chinese painter, calligrapher and engraver widely regarded as one of the leading figures of lyrical abstraction. In Untitled, an oil on paper mounted on canvas from 1972, the full power of his abstract language comes through. The work marks a clear departure from his earlier paintings, shaped by his study of Western art in his native China. His discovery of abstract art in 1956, during a retrospective of Nicolas de Staël, led to his first successes in Paris before his reputation expanded internationally in the mid-1960s.
Pierre-Auguste Renoir, the versatile painter closely associated with Impressionism, appears in the catalogue with Nude Bust, a square-format oil on canvas from the collection of Amélie Dieterle. A celebrated figure in Parisian high society, admired for both her beauty and talent, Amélie Dieterle, also known by her stage name Amélie Laurent, was a French actress of the Belle Époque who inspired many artists. Renoir painted her several times, as did Toulouse-Lautrec and Alfred Roll.
A contemporary and friend of Renoir, painter and engraver Louis Valtat was particularly known for his landscapes and portraits, though he explored many genres throughout his career. In Bouquet with Poppies and Daisies, an oil on canvas painted around 1930, his distinctive style is fully evident. Positioned between Post-Impressionism and Fauvism, the work features lively brushwork, vibrant color and radiant light, confirming Valtat’s important contribution to the development of modern art.
The catalogue also includes a work by Achille Laugé, a painter shaped by both Post-Impressionism and Pointillism, whose work reflects the influence of Seurat, Signac and Pissarro. Highly sensitive in his interpretation of Pointillism, using finely fragmented linear touches, Laugé is represented here by Portrait of Émilie Dormières, wife of Millet. Painted in 1897, the work demonstrates his remarkable ability to create refined harmonies within a restrained palette. Coming directly from the model’s family, it is appearing at auction for the first time.
The selection concludes with Homage to Jules Verne, a bronze sculpture with a brown patina tinged with green, signed by Pierre-Yves Trémois. A multidisciplinary artist, Trémois left behind a substantial body of work that includes graphic art, with more than a thousand engravings attributed to him, as well as illustrated books, sculptures, ceramics and jewellery. As its title suggests, this 1995 sculpture almost certainly references Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, particularly the giant octopus that attacks the novel’s protagonists.
The Rossini sale will also feature works by Paul Signac, Aristide Maillol and Jean Lambert-Rucki, ceramics by Picasso and Georges Jouve, and furniture by Charlotte Perriand and Pierre Chapo.
On July 1, Rossini will present a sale celebrating modern art in all its forms.
