Christie’s has announced a roster of top 20th century artists including Emile-Jacques Ruhlmann, Claude Lalanne, Tiffany Studios and Jean Prouvé to be featured in an upcoming sale, Important 20th Century Decorative Art and Design. The June 17 auction is expected to realize between $5.2 million to $7.5 million.
The sale boasts works from the private collections including that of Bernard Goldberg, the New York attorney and real estate developer-turned-gallerist, who amassed a collection of American and European fine art and 20th century decorative art, including Gustav Stickley and George Washington Maher.
A highlight of the sale is François-Xavier Lalanne’s Chat Polymorph (featured below), 1968, featuring an 8' long brass bar with the body of a cat combined with a fish tail has multiple openings and swiveling bar trays typical of Lalanne’s style. Only two examples were ever executed of the very rare piece—the other is currently on view at Les Musée de Arts Décoratifs in Paris as part of the exhibition ‘Les Lalannes’.
The sale also includes a selection of over 30 Tiffany Studios lamps, glass, ink wells and other works of art, as well as 1920s and 30s works by Emile-Jacques Ruhlmann, Jean Dupas and Alberto and Diego Giacometti.
From top left: Emile-Jacques Ruhlmann, 'Lasalle' A Burl Walnut and Ivory Commode, circa 1925; Francois-Xavier Lalanne, 'Chat Polymorphe' A Repoussé Brass Bar, designed 1968; George Nakashima, An English Walnut Coffee Table, 1969.
