Superstar! The first sale of around twenty originals signed by the hand of the father of Petit Nicolas created a real craze, as much among amateurs as among collectors, at Drouot, in room 14.
At the heart of this admirable set of twenty drawings and watercolors put up for auction, collectors were not mistaken. They fought first and foremost to buy La Danseuse (lot 293), a splendid watercolor that served as the cover of The New Yorker on October 24, 2005. The work finally fetched €47,360 (including fees) while estimate was 15 to 20,000 €. A record.
To read also Florian Bourguet: “His rating could soar with “La Danseuse”!
In the room, on the telephone with more than 80 reserved lines or behind the screens with more than 200 people connected, French and foreign bidders were there. At the end of the line or on the Internet, some bidding battles were long, all masterfully led by Pauline Ribeyre, the auctioneer of the Baron Ribeyre study. Rarely, all the drawings were sold well above the high estimate.
“Sempé’s magic is once again under the hammer,” underlines master Pauline Ribeyre not without pride. While the low estimate for all the lots was €101,760, all the works were acquired for a total of €280,704. This is equivalent to a tripling of the bet.
At the heart of the twenty original drawings coming directly from the famous illustrator’s family circle, we note that the watercolor A Sunday in the Country, estimated between 5,000 and 7,000 € finally sold for 25,600 € (including costs). The same goes for La Visite de Paris (lot 298), a Chinese ink estimated at €6,000 which soared to €26,880 (costs included).
More surprisingly, lot 299 entitled Le Petit mot dans les courgettes, representing a public garden kiosk, estimated at €4,000 was acquired for €25,600 (including costs). This is the first time that such a homogeneous set of around twenty works has been put up for sale on the market after the artist’s death.
