A view of the Grand Palais during Christie’s Yves Saint-Laurent auction. Photograph: Jacques Brinon/AP
Much of Yves Saint Laurent’s collections were inspired by the art he collected. Works by Matisse, Giacometti, Klee, Duchamp, Picasso and the famous Mondrians were put on sale at the much anticipated Christie’s auction this week in Paris. Pierre Bergé, his life long partner, decided to sell the monumental collection after Saint Laurent’s death last year, and the rare auction has been compared to the 1987 sale of the Duchess of Windsor’s jewels. At Paris’s Grand Palais, Saint Laurent and Bergé’s apartments were recreated to show the work. As YSL transformed women’s fashion, the auction has brought the much needed excitement to the art market since the global financial crisis. The video link below from The Guardian describes Saint Laurent’s sensitivity and frail humanity.
The Guardian’s assistant fashion editor, Imogen Fox, looks back at the life of the last of the great 20th century French designers
The “Music Room” with 15 mirrors by Claude Lalanne in gilt bronze and galvanized copper.
In the foreground, a pair of 1928 seats by Gustave Miklos in leopard skin, palm wood and red lacquered bronze. In front of the mirror is “Portrait of Madame L.R.,” an oak sculpture by Constantin Brancusi. Pablo Picasso’s “Musical Instruments on a Table” is in the center on the wall; “The Tea Cup” by Fernand Leger is on the wall between the windows.
