Yves Saint Laurent - Pierre Bergé Auction of the Century at Christie's

Breaking seven world records in auction sales, including those for Matisse, Brancusi, Mondrian, and de Chirico, Pierre Bergé has the "Auction of the Century" in February with the Collection Yves Saint Laurent et Pierre Bergé in Paris' newly renovated Grand Palais. The Christie's auction pre-sale expectations standing at $274 million were greatly exceeded with a final result of $484,426,456. This comes as no surprise, with an Eileen Gray armchair selling for $28 million and a Brancusi sculpture at over $37.6 million. Obviously, buyers and collectors are both fascinated and passionate about decorative arts!

Mr. Bergé presented French president Nicolas Sarkozy with a painting by Goya: Portrait of Don Luis Maria de Cistué, representing a legacy to France from Mr. Laurent.

The first night of the auction, Impressionist and Modern works were presented, including works by Mondrian, Léger, Picasso, and Matisse. Take a look:

Piet Mondrian
“Ferme sur le Gein, dissimulee par de grands arbres” ($469, 313)

Fernand Leger
“Composition, dans l’usine” ($7,158,509)

Pablo Picasso
Portrait-charge: "Massine, Bakst et Diaghilev" ($217,862)

Henri Matisse
“Les coucous, tapis bleu et rose” ($46,286,022)

The second night of the auction featured Art Deco furniture in addition to Old Master paintings and drawings. Here's a glimpse at a few of the highlights:

French (four armchairs) (1925) ($132,780)

Alfred Porteneuve
Pair of benches (1930) ($155,984)

Eileen Gray
Armchair with dragons (1917-1919) ($28, 238, 277)

Emile-Jacques Ruhlmann
Meridienne “Elegant” (1920) ($117, 310)

Theodore Gericault
"Portrait d'Alfred et Elisabeth Dedreux" ($11,634,350)

The last day of the auction covered sculptures, ceramics, other furniture, objets d’art and antiquities such as these:

Constantin Brancusi
Madame L.R. ($29,185,000)

Bronze Head Representing Janus ($2,610,478)

This outstanding collection dazzled the public and the press from all over the world. It is easy to see why - the grandeur and sheer abundance of pieces that have been reintroduced to the art world, forever traveling through history, is simply mind-boggling. Now that Mr. Bergé has auctioned the entire collection, he will create a new foundation dedicated to scientific research for the fight against AIDS. Bravo Messieurs, c'était formidable!