Is the demand for Art Deco and late 20th century design still running high? We will know for sure on April 22, when the contents of Jean and Terry de Gunzburg’s apartment on the Upper East Side – designed by the respected decorator jacques grange, famous for transforming the homes of Yves Saint Laurent, Pierre Bergé, François Pinault, Aerin Lauder, Franciss’ Marzola Couple and Marzop UMadison Avenue – goes on the block in Suthwini. The most important single-owner design auction in the history of the auction house, Design Masters will feature 123 works by esteemed talents such as Claude and François-Xavier Lalanne, Alberto Giacometti, Jean-Michel Frank, Émile-Jacques Ruhlmann and Jean Royère.
A preview of Sotheby’s collection (until April 21 at the Breuer building on Madison Avenue) tells us about the incomparable nature of the couple’s property, which together has a high estimate of $ 42.5 million. The de Gunzburgs are head and shoulders above the legions of elite collectors, each producing work marked by creative emotion married to intellectual sophistication. Terry worked closely with Yves Saint Laurent and his Beauté division, serving as creative director and developing the new Touche Éclat concealer. In 1998, he established his name, Terry. Her husband, a world-renowned molecular biologist, held senior positions at the Institut Curie and later received honors in biotech. Together, they spent four decades amassing one of the most moving private collections of avant-garde works of the 20th century.
At the top of the rarities pile is Claude Lalanne’s collection of 15 polished bronze mirrors, given to Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé at their Paris apartment Salon de Musique between 1974 and 1985, which carries an estimate of $10-15 million. The first two mirrors were Lalanne’s first efforts: bright copper leaves with copper leaves frame the large mirrors; he went on to build 13 more. For Terry, finding this collection was not just a to-do but an act inspired by fond memories of visiting the fashion designer’s Left Bank home on Rue de Babylone. He often says that each discovery was the ultimate “coup de foudre”. Terry bought this suite at Christie’s historic sale in 2009 of the Saint Laurent and Bergé collection, held at the Grand Palais, for 1.8 million euros, but he “couldn’t” find a suitable place for the mirrors in any of their homes, be it in Paris, the South of France or Tel Aviv. Sotheby’s is betting that the suite will fetch a lot more.
The strength of the design market can be linked to the momentum of Les Lalanne. Only last year, Suthu beat François-Xavier Lalanne A hippo bara unique piece, for a staggering $31.4 million against an estimate of $7-10 million—setting a new record for the artist and the highest price ever achieved for a design work at auction. Other top lots in de Gunzburg’s sale include the brilliant Claude Lalanne and the fearless giant Pomme d’Hiver (estimate: $3-5 million) and Très Grand Choupatte (estimate: $2-3 million).
Another must-see is a 1926 Art Deco designer André Groult covered in green leather—stingray, dyed celadon green—and trimmed in ebony, copper and azonite, with a top estimate of $800,000. Close to the preview are Alexandre Noll’s 1946 mahogany cabinets that stand over six and a half meters tall with 11 drawers each, proving the designer’s love of spare, sculptural forms. Sotheby’s expects Noll to fetch between $700,000 and $1 million. Another proof of de Gunzburgs’s penchant for design is close to sculpture: Jean Royère’s sofa named “Our Polaire” and two chairs. The polar bear-ish sofa, upholstered in flame-orange mohair, is expected to fetch $600,000-800,000. AD 100 architects—Lee Mindel among them—were known to covet Royère’s absurd chair.
As for why the de Gunzburgs are selling, they want their children to choose their own decorations. In addition, Art Deco furniture is notoriously fragile, and the de Gunzburgs also have 11 grandchildren. But does the name de Gunzburg carry enough cachet to carry their works of art through these most pressing times? One member of the haute cognoscenti called Terry a “trendy influencer,” before telling the Observer, “I’m not sure he’s public enough to influence the world.”
And who exactly are the deep-pocketed consumers in this age of war? “I’m not sure that these tumultuous times will enter or affect this kind of market in any way,” Manhattan-born, AD 100 architect Robert Couturier, whose projects span multiple continents, told the Observer. “Remember that the Saint Laurent sale was a day when the stock market hit its lowest point in 20 years, and more than 60 Christie’s employees were taking bids over the phone. Also, de Gunzburg’s works didn’t come out enough for people to buy anyway. His status as a collector gives more value to his items, and it’s not a seller’s market far from Hong Kong so much as a global Hong Kong market.” In addition, there are still many, many wealthy Americans. After some thought, he added, “The international situation is a problem, but it is not permanent.”
Works of art from the Jean and Terry de Gunzburg collection, featuring masterpieces by Mark Rothko, Robert Ryman, Agnes Martin, Pablo Picasso and Paul Klee, among others, will be featured in The New York Sales in May.
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