The Aristophil Collection: An Immersion Into the Creative Lives of Authors and Artists

The 47 th and 48 th Aristophil sales, the French investment company that went into liquidation in 2015, will focus on fine arts and literature. The April 5 sale, dedicated to fine arts, is the last on this theme, says Aguttes auctioneer Sophie Perrine. Five more sales remain. It will begin with an eclectic collection of paintings, drawings, photographs and prints. One of the three Théodore Géricault (1791-1824) lots features his magnificent, alluring self-portrait (€30,000/40,000). This chiaroscuro, impasto image the young man made around 1812 shatters the myth of the romantic, sickly artist, who died at 32. Above all, it contradicts the old idea that Géricault was a mediocre portraitist. The painting is said to have belonged to novelist Alexandre Dumas f ils, and it certainly was in the collection of painter Pierre Dubaut. The Self-Portrait will be included in l e Catalogue raisonné des tableaux de Théodore Géricault , which Bruno Chenique is currently working on. Paul Gauguin (1848–1903), signed autograph letter with ink drawing "à l’amateur inconnu de mes œuvres" ("to the unknown lover of my works") [Doctor Nolet in Nantes?], [Tahiti c. 1896], 1 in-quarto page, 20.6 x 17 cm/8.11 x 6.69 in. Estimate: €100,000/120,000 The Correspondence of 34 Painters The sale features the correspondence of 34 artists—often mines of information…