Last night was the Professional Preview for the 2006 Salon du Dessin, the premier venue for original drawings from Old Master through Modern. For the third year it was held at the fabulous Palais de la Bourse, the former Paris Stock Exchange that is now beautifully restored as a meeting and exhibition space. The opening was very well attended and the quality of the drawings offered for sale was outstanding. Especially beautiful was a watercolor depicting the paintings gallery of Emperess Josephine at her private home Malmaison, done by Berthault, also a black chalk sketch by Claude Monet of his wife, Camille, done in 1865. 20th Century works of interest included a set of 6 gouaches of playing cards done in 1908 by Carl Otto Czeschka in the Wiener Werkstätte style, and a pencil drawing portrait of Jean Cocteau by Moïse Kisling, done in 1916. For me, the most terrific item were 2 groups of watercolors done by P. Holland. 4 watercolors documented a partial lunar eclipse that took place on August 3, 1887, and 5 more recorded a total lunar eclipse on January 28, 1888. The set of 9 was priced at 45,000 Euro at the stand of Day and Faber, London.
It is raining and still cold here in Paris. The demonstrations have cooled off a bit, but a general strike is expected next week if there is no advancement with the contract talks. Will try to catch a few exhibitions today, and will be blogging again with more art adventures very soon!
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