The Estate of Mrs Michel Binoche: A Taste for the Classic

Will this still life achieve the highest bid of the first half of this year at Drouot? The seven-figure estimate (€2.7/3.2 M) suggests it might. The painting is from the estate of Mrs Michel Binoche, who died on 20 June 2011. Inherited by her four sons, the collection was kept in the family mansion on rue Saint-Dominique (7 th arr. in Paris). The content of this first dispersion is classic. Three more will follow between now and October. The discovery of an unpublished panel by Ambrosius Bosschaert the Elder (1573-1621) is a major contribution to the oeuvre of the Antwerp-born artist, who lived in the Netherlands and specialised in still lifes of flowers. Eight of them, on wood or copper, stand out for their landscape backgrounds instead of the traditional black background. Six are located under a semicircular arch in front of an open window.…