Paris: Christie’s presents its annual auction of works on paper, which will be held on 26 March, to coincide with the opening of the Salon du Dessin and the many events organized in Paris around this discipline.  

Bringing together some 100 pieces dating from the 16th to the 20th centuries, the sale will feature some of the greatest names from the French, Flemish, Dutch and Italian schools, including Hubert Robert, Jean-Honoré Fragonard, Sam Szafran, Carle Van Loo, Brueghel the Elder, Fernand Khnopff, Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo and Rosalba Carriera.  

For the second consecutive year, the sale also includes a selection of terracottas and casts, presenting a dialogue between drawing and sculpture.  

With estimates ranging from €800 to €100,000, this sale is aimed at both seasoned collectors and newcomers wishing to make their first acquisition.  

THE TIEPOLO DYNASTY

Heir of a dynasty of Venetian painters and trained by his father Giovanni Batista Tiepolo, whose painting Guilty Punchinello was acquired by the Musée du Louvre in December 2024, Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo is best known for his carnival scenes and Punchinello figures.  

His work Paysages avec une vache et d’autres animaux is characterized by an unexpected combination of animals, with no apparent concern for proportion. This stylistic choice illustrates the artist’s taste for oddities, and his dark sense of humor, as evidenced here by the presence of a skull, in the playful tradition of the Venetian carnival and the Punchinello which the Tiepolos held dear. (Estimated at: €40,000-60,000)

DISCOVERING A HITHERTO UNSEEN DRAWING BY NICOLAS POUSSIN

Belonging to the prestigious British collection of Jonathan Richardson senior (1665-1745), this delicate composition in a blond wash (highly characteristic of Nicolas Poussin’s drawings) of Sainte Catherine agenouillée entourée de putti et regardant une image pieuse depicts the kneeling Saint Catherine surrounded by putti and gazing at a sacred image (€60,000-80,000), while the object which caused her martyrdom, the wheel, is shown broken not far from her. This early drawing, probably produced in Rome between 1627 and 1630, is stylistically similar to a group of mythological scenes, also featuring putti, in the Musée de Condé in Chantilly, the Beaux-Arts in Paris and the Uffizi in Florence.

A LARGE SECTION OF FRENCH DRAWINGS

The auction places particular emphasis on French artists of the 18th century with a large-format sanguine by Hubert Robert, characteristic of his stay in Rome (1754-1765). The Ruines du portique d’Octavie (€15,000-20,000) echoes his painting presented at the Salon of 1785. Another piece by the artist is a touching little calling card from the painter, etched and countersigned by Hubert Robert, which will be auctioned alongside two other prints (€800-12,000). The print belonged to the famous art historian and print specialist Robert Dumesnil (1778-1864).

Among other remarkable works presented by Christie’s is an elegant Étude d’homme agenouillé by Charles-Joseph Natoire (€10,000-15,000) – a precious testimony to the Académie royale. The auction also features a large and rare artist portrait with three pencils by Carle Van Loo in very good condition and once the property of Marquis Jean de Bailleul (€8,000-12,000).

A more contemporary section of the auction will open with Malakoff, Boulevard Montparnasse, a watercolor on paper from the Paris rooftops series by Sam Szafran, who has been the subject of a major retrospective at the Musée de l’Orangerie in 2023 (€35,000-45,000).

A SECTION DEDICATED TO FASHION

A small section will be dedicated to fashion and haute couture, including two drawings by Karl Lagerfeld, both dating from the 1990s as he had already joined Chanel as the Creative Director. These are: Femme portant une robe de la collection été 1990 – a work on the artist’s letterhead (€3,000-5,000); and Femme au tailleur jupe rehaussé d’or et d’argent from 1998 (€4,000-6,000). A few drawings by the illustrator Georges Lepape (1887-1971) will also be auctioned, including Femme au balcon – a gouache depicting a woman on a balcony that was featured on the cover of Vogue magazine in February 1927 (€4,000-6,000).

WOMEN ARTISTS THROUGHOUT THE CENTURIES

A number of works will highlight the place of women artists in the field of drawing, including the emblematic Portrait d’enfant in pastel by Rosalba Carriera (€20,000-30,000) and a watercolor by Marie Laurencin, Cavalière a cheval et jeunes filles (€7,000-10,000).

THE FIRST GESTURE IN SCULPTURE

For the second time, the Sculpture Department will present a selection of terracottas, plasters and waxes in dialogue with drawings, showcasing the interaction between the two disciplines…  

Key lots include Vulcain présentant les armes d’Énée à Vénus in plaster, tinted to resemble terracotta, evoking the famous and now lost sculptural group by Jean-Jacques Caffieri (€8,000-12,000). An impressive terracotta Amalthée et la chèvre de Jupiter depicting Amalthea and Jupiter’s goat takes us back to the dairy at the Château de Rambouillet, built for Queen Marie-Antoinette. This sculpture by Pierre Julien is a study for the final marble that decorated the grotto in this small temple, now in the Louvre Museum (€80,000-120,000). A bust from the late 18th century illustrates the earliest iconography of the nascent Republic (€3,000-5,000). Pierre Julien’s works also include his Philoctète ou Achille in clay (€20,000-30,000). The 19th century is particularly well represented with Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux and his Cariatide – a wax sculpture produced by the hand of Carpeaux representing a caryatid (€15,000-25,000), possibly a project for the town hall in Valenciennes; and a preparatory plaster sketch of the Triomphe du bonheur for the Girondins fountain in Bordeaux (€3,000-5,000).

(Press Release)