The French painter opened the sale, followed by old sculptures and paintings.
Félix Ziem (1821–1911), Gondole devant l'embouchure du Grand Canal (Gondola at the Mouth of the Grand Canal), Venice, c. 1870, oil on canvas, 65.5 x 96 cm/25.78 x 37.80 in.
Result: €44,450
Time passed slowly under the brush of Felix Ziem, who had a soft spot for seascapes and, especially, Venice. Here are two of his views of the famous lagoon. Ziem, who graduated from the School of Fine Arts in Dijon about 1870, fell in love with the city of the Doges after returning from a long journey around the Mediterranean rim and never stopped coming back to capture all the subtle variations of its light. His Gondole devant l'embouchure du Grand Canal (Gondola at the Mouth of the Grand Canal, see photo) fetched €44,450, while Les Pêcheurs devant Chioggia (Fishermen off Chioggia, 72 x 92 cm/28.34 x 36.22 in), painted about 1880, sold for €41,910. The auction ended with a hefty total result of €550,840. Arlequin (h. 174 cm/68.50 in), an 1879 plaster sculpture by Charles René de Saint-Marceaux (1845–1915), obtained €17,145; Caroline (50 x 60 x 80 cm/19.68 x 23.62 x 31.50 in), a bronze figure with a silver patina and sensuous curves by Pollès (born 1945), €9,525; and The Tiburtine Sibyl (94 x 68.5 cm/37.00 x 26.96 in), an 18th-century Italian oil-on-canvas, €7,112.