Paris - Bonhams Cornette de Saint Cyr sold yesterday at auction a selection of exceptional Belgian paintings from long-established collections in its Impressionist and Modern Art sale, achieving exceptional prices for a Seascape by Spilliaert and a portrait by Van De Woestyne (Wednesday 4 June 2025). The 49-lot sale achieved a total of €2.9million, with 70% sold by lot. The highest price of the sale was an exceptional bronze by Rembrandt Bugatti, fresh on the market, showing two leopards walking, sold for €762,400.

Bénédicte van Campen, Bonhams' Senior International Specialist, said: "Yesterday's auction at Bonhams offered two important groups of Belgian works from important collections. The results of the sale reveal how strong is the market for fresh-to-the-market works such as these ones. Following the world record achieved by Rembrandt Bugatti sold last year at Bonhams, we are delighted by the result achieved today for these two leopards, sold for €762,400, setting anew auction record for this model by the artist. It shows how solid and growing the market for Rembrandt Bugatti remains."

Following the major 2020 Léon Spilliaert retrospectives at the Musée d'Orsay in Paris and the Royal Academy of Arts in London, works by the artist predating 1910 are highly sought after such as this Marine met weerspiegeling; Seascape with Reflections, a work on paper executed in 1907 and exhibited in all major exhibitions of the artist from 1965 in Antwerp to the last one in 2025 in The Hague. It sold for €381,400, more than three times its estimate of €100,000 to 150,000.

One of the highlights of the sale was a rare and iconic painting executed in 1911 by Gustave Van De Woestyne (1881 – 1947) entitled Boerenkop sold for €305,200, three times its estimate of €80,000 – 120,000. This painting is a striking study of expression depicting a peasant. Although Van de Woestyne was known to paint his friends and family, he also frequently depicted typologies drawn from his memories and imagination. Boerenkop might be a character conjured from Van de Woestyne's mind.

As Belgium celebrated last year the 100th anniversary of the death of the Impressionist Belgian painter, Émile Claus, the finest paintings from all periods of his oeuvre were exhibited in Deinze (Belgium) from September 2024 to January 2025. From a Belgian private collection, this 1905 painting entitled The Reaper at rest by Émile Claus (1849 –1924) was part of it and sold for €165,500.

Other highlights of the sale include:

• Two leopards walking , bronze with brown and black patina, conceived circa 1912 by Rembrandt Bugatti sold for €762,400. Never seen on the market, this bronze doubled its estimate of €280,000 – 350,000. It is a world record price for this model.

• Rythme coloré, Circus by Sonia Delaunay (1885-1979), signed, inscribed and dated gouache on paper laid on canvas, executed in 1952, sold for €127,400 .

• A bronze with black patina by Baltasar Lobo (1910-1993), conceived in 1973, sold for €114,700.