Roaring Twenties: Art Nouveau and Art Deco Private Collection
On March 18th, 19th and 20th, Setdart presents an important private collection focused on the first third of the 20th century. It is unusual to tender extensive collections dedicated to such specific periods in the history of art. In this case, within this beginning of the century, we find painting, sculpture, ceramics and glass of the most relevant European manufactures.
Divided into three blocks, with more than five hundred lots in total, this collection allows us to go through the artistic trends that took place at the beginning of the last century, years of remarkable stylistic changes that brought back techniques and materials of the past, with glass as the main protagonist.
In painting, the figure of Celso Lagar stands out, with an oil on cardboard and three drawings on paper, as well as an oil on canvas attributed to Eugenio Lucas Velázquez. The Salamanca-born artist’s work is a view of a port, a recurring theme in his production and one that is well received by collectors, with auctions in the last ten years usually ranging between 3,000 and 9,000 euros.
As for the Goyaesque Eugenio Lucas, a regular at Spanish auctions, his oil paintings on canvas usually fetch between 2,000 and 4,000 euros, although it is not uncommon to see extraordinary increases of five times the aforementioned estimates.
In the second block, leaving painting behind, we focus on sculpture and ceramics. A very extensive selection of almost two hundred lots, with key figures of the catalan art nouveau such as Lambert Escaler or Josep Clarà; German Deco, represented by Adolf Jahn Stettin or by Max Hermann Fritz, among others; from neighboring France, to mention a few of the artists, we have the iconic pelicans of Max le Verrier or the masks Art Nouveau by Albert Carrier “Belleuse”. We could go on like this almost without interruption, as famous manufactures and names follow one after the other in this auction without giving us a break.
However, it is appropriate to dedicate a small section to two artists who, we believe, deserve this recognition. The first one needs no introduction, as he is well known in the art market: Mariano Benlliure. On this occasion, two of the Valencian artist’s works stand out above the rest, and for what reason? These are two unpublished sketches for monuments to Henri de Lacaze-Duthiers and Pedro Alonso, the first in Banyuls-sur-Mer, France, and the second in Noreña, Asturias. This cataloguing has been possible thanks to the help of Mrs. Lucrecia Enseñat Benlliure, whom we thank again for her collaboration.
Finally, we would like to talk about a work that may give us a surprise. This is lot 35309511, blued bronze rooster by Charles Artur, stamped by the Valsuani Foundry. The Frenchman’s work is very well positioned in the art market, with auctions ranging from 3,000 to 30,000 euros. Is it possible that the Setdart tender will be a surprise? We will find out on March 19.
The last block, on March 20, is the one that concentrates more lots, two hundred and twelve, this time focused exclusively on glass. France, Italy and Spain are the countries that have a greater representation, the first being the one that developed a larger and more varied glass industry in this first third of the century. Some paradigmatic examples of the sample are: lot 35315232, vase with winter scenes by Daum; this is one of the leitmotifs of the Nancy factory, which usually fetch good auctions in the market, around two thousand euros. Lalique, another regular in the glass auctions, there are several pieces tendered, although we highlight the lot 35315219, Coq nain, a car mascot, pieces with a very specific chronology, as they lived a major boom from 1920 until the early 1930s, when they ceased to be fashionable.
Finally, and returning to the Catalan area, where the glass had the greatest development of the Iberian Peninsula, it is worth mentioning Josep Maria Gol and Xavier Nogués & Ricard Crespo, both represented at the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya and now also in Setdart. From the former is the lot 35309789, a selection of six cups characteristic of his style, with a dense enamel on a colorless background; from the latter, a delicate piece, lot 35309657, from the series of borratxetsThe work, a recurring theme in the Catalan binomial in an excellent state of preservation, could well find a home in Catalan museums.
There are many pieces that we have left out, but it is impossible to mention all the relevant ones without going into too much detail, so we recommend taking a look at the entire catalog and take the opportunity to get hold of some of the extraordinary pieces tendered by Setdart on March 18, 19 and 20.
