The Collector

All About Yves

Yves St. Laurent Auction Sets Records


The auction was held February 23-25, 2009 at the Grand Palace, which was built for the 1900 World's Fair in Paris and is now a public exhibition hall.

7 World Records set for artists
8 Works of Art sell above €5 million
25 Works of Art sell above €1 million
3 works pre-empted by museums (Musee d’Orsay – Centre Pompidou)


Approx. 30,000 people queued for five-hour durations from six in the morning until midnight on a rainy weekend in order to see the impressive collection that was open for public viewing from Friday afternoon to Monday afternoon.


The biggest sale Christie’s had ever undertaken had 1,500 clients from all over the world seated in the Grand Palais (plus 600 standing).



Display of collectibles.

"We began collecting in the early 1970s when we started making real money," said Bergé, who met Saint Laurent in 1958 and helped him open the couture house that bore his name in 1962. Some of the major items sold at auction in Paris from the collection of the late fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent and his partner Pierre Berge included:


Henri Matisse's oil painting, "The Cowslips, Blue and Rose Fabric" raised the highest bid at the auction, 35.9 million euros ($46.4 million). This was also a record auction price for a Matisse, whose bold-colored collages inspired some of Saint Laurent's designs. Painted in 1911, it is considered a precursor to modernism.


These two bronze fountainheads were at the centre of a dispute with China, which alleges that they were stolen. The bronzes, which disappeared from a Chinese palace in 1860, sold for 28 million euros. ($36 million).

A full room at the 20th Century Decorative Arts area sat completely silent when Eileen Gray’s Dragon's chair sold for €21,905,000 ($28,341,909). Eileen Gray's armchair in brown leather with wooden snake-shaped armrests set a record for a piece of 20th century furniture.


This modernist light ("suspension satellite") hung in the hallway outside Yves Saint Laurent’s bedroom. Designed in 1925, it shows the influence of the Bauhaus and Le Corbusier. It sold for €2,977,000 ($3,851,808)


A rare Osterode cup estimated at €100,000-150,000 sold for €853,000 ($1,103,697).


A 17th century armillary sphere supported by Chronos was estimated at €200,000–300,000. It sold for €781,000 ($1,010,501).


A series of animals in this sale that were used to decorate dining tables in princely houses were highly desired. This swan in vermeil, made in 1593 was estimated at €70,000-100,000 and sold for €301,000 ($389,451). The silver and vermeil unicorn did even better at €325,000 ($420,503).


Romanian sculptor Constantin Brancusi's 1914-1917 piece titled "Madame L.R.," made from rough-grained wood like stacked blocks, sold for 26 million euros ($33.3 million).


Piet Mondrian's 1922 painting "Composition in Blue, Red, Yellow and Black," with rectangles of saturated colors that inspired Saint Laurent's 1965 shift dress, sold for 19.2 million euros ($24.6 million).


"Portrait of a Man Holding a Book" by Frans Hals sold for 3,100,000 euros.


The Gericault portrait of the Dedreux children. This portrait is a good example of Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé interest in atypical works of art. It sold for 8,000,000 euros. That was 2 million euros over the highest estimate.


This historic portrait box with a miniature of Louis XIV by Jean Petitot set in its crowned lid of diamonds was bought by the Louvre; thus Louis will go home again.


EDGAR DEGAS (1834-1917) "Italian landscape".36.7 x 32 cm. (14½ x 12 5/8 in.) Painted in 1856-59. €457,000 ($576,129)


EDOUARD MANET (1832-1883), "Young Girl with a Summer Hat" signed 'Manet' (lower left)56 x 35 cm. (22 x 13¾ in.) Done in 1879. €721,000 ($908,948)


EDVARD MUNCH (1863-1944),"Seaside",signed and dated 'E. Munch 98' (lower left),
56 x 80.9 cm. (22 x 31¾ in.). Painted in 1898. €1,129,000 ($1,423,303)


GEORGES BRAQUE (1882-1963),"Composition: Midafternoon", signed 'GBraque' (on back)
41.7 x 32.6 cm. (16 3/8 x 12 7/8 in.). Painted in 1912-13. €3,201,000 ($4,035,425)


CORNELIS DE VOS (HULST 1584-1651 ANVERS),Portrait of a Lady,134 x 94,5 cm. (52¾ x 37¼ in.). €121,000 ($156,557)


THOMAS GAINSBOROUGH (SUDBURY 1727-1788 LONDON) "Portrait of Giusto Ferdinando Tenducci holding a manuscript",76,6 x 64 cm. (30 x 25 in.). €2,193,000 ($2,837,426)


JEAN-AUGUSTE-DOMINIQUE INGRES (MONTAUBAN 1780-1867 PARIS) "Portrait of the Countess de La Rue" signed and dated 'Ingres in 12' (on back),29 x 23,3 cm. (11½ x 9¼ in.).€2,081,000 ($2,692,514)


DANTE GABRIEL ROSSETTI (LONDON 1828 - 1882 BIRCHINGTON-ON-SEA, KENT), "Study of a Pretty Heart". Signed and dated 'DGR 1866' (right centre),47,6 x 34,6 cm. (18¾ x 13 5/8 in.) Made in 1866. €121,000 ($156,557)


ERNEST BOICEAU (1881-1950). Rug with Parrots and Parakeets, about 1920. 400 x 394 cm. (157½ x 155 1/8 in.). Signed EBOICEAU on the border. €601,000 ($777,607)


Rock crystal statue representing the Infant Jesus. Italy, about 1600. Height: 12 cm. (4¾ in.). €61,000 ($77,938)


Oval agate cameo representing Perseus and Andromeda by BERNARD HILDEBRAND, 1893. Signed 'HB' in a round frame in bronzed gold. Height: 8 cm. (3¼ in.), Total height: 12 cm. (4¾ in.). €13,750 ($17,568)


Statue of Buddha in gold and red lacquered wood. Ming Dynasty, 15th century. Height: 116 cm. (45 5/8 in.). €313,000 ($399,914)


Torso of Narcissus. Marble, Roman era, 1 A.D. Height: 31.7 cm. (12½ in.). €61,000 (77,938)


Torso of an Athlete. Marble, Roman era, 1-2 A.D. Height:99 cm. (39 in.). €1,297,000 ($1,657,151)


Bronze statue of the figure Mahes. Egypt, 25-30 dynasty, 664-343 B.C. Height:23.4 cm. (9¼ in.) €49,000 ($62,606)


Minotaur. Marble, Roman, 1-2 B.C. Height:104.8 cm. (41¼ in.) €913,000 ($1,166,522)


Pierre Bergé made a gift to the Musee d’Orsay of the tapestry ‘Adoration of the Magi’ by Sir Edward Burne-Jones, which once hung in the historic Lutyens house Les Moutiers in Normandy.





Pierre Bergé (left) greets guests at his private viewing party with Moujik, his bulldog. When he saw the exhibition installation by Nathalie Criniere, he said, "It’s magic... just like a film by D.W. Griffith."






Yves Saint Laurent's art collection was acquired over five decades by the late fashion designer and his partner Pierre Berge. The collection broke several world records in a three-day "sale of the century" that amassed more than $484 million, said the organizer, Christie's.

To see all the items in St. Laurent's collection, visit http://www.christies.com/LotFinder/searchresults.aspx?intSaleID=22294#action=refine&intSaleID=22294&sid=cd822bc8-dd8c-4dde-94a5-7a017720e529

Yves Saint Laurent was known for revolutionizing the haute couture tradition by introducing ready-to-wear versions of his most popular designs. The wardrobe basics he designed — pantsuit, pea coat, safari jacket, culotte skirt and tuxedo — became classics in a woman’s wardrobe.

YSL 1968


Quotes from Yves St. Laurent:

"My dream is to give the women the basis for a classic wardrobe, which, escaping the fashion of the moment, will give them greater confidence in themselves."

YSL 1960YSL 1960sYSL 1963 YSL 1960s

"Elegance is being noticed while wearing a black dress. It's being at ease. It's the attitude. It is not wrinkles or white hair that age a woman, it is her gestures."

Deneuve in YSL 1966 YSL 1966 Audrey Hepburn in YSL
YSL 1970
YSL 1980
YSL 1988 in the style of Van Gogh

"I am very alone. I exercise my imagination on the lands that I do not know. I hate traveling. For example, if I read a book about India, with photographs, or about Egypt, where I have never been, my imagination runs wild. That is how I take my most wonderful trips."




St. Laurent died in June 2008 at age 71 after a year-long battle with brain cancer.
Proceeds of the sale will be divided between the Pierre Bergé-Yves St. Laurent Foundation, created in 2002 to preserve the couturier's work, to which St. Laurent bequeathed his share of the collection, and a foundation that Bergé plans to create for the advancement of AIDS-related medical research.