Louis-Ernest Barrias (1841-1905)

This sculpture brings together Symbolism, polychromy and the idealized female body, all of which were hallmarks of late 19th-century art and burgeoning Art Nouveau.

The highly prized works by the lacquer artist, a graduate and teacher at the Hanoi School of Fine Arts, are meeting with success at auction and breaking world records.

During its plenary conference, the Académie des Beaux-Ars in Paris elected Ernest Pignon-Ernest to the seventh seat of its painting section. Born in 1942 in Nice, he has been a pioneer in urban art, using the streets as the setting and object of his politically engaging works.

Women were undeniably the focus of this sale of Old Masters and 19th -century paintings, where Jean-Baptiste Greuze took first place, followed at a distance by Albert Lynch and Jean-Jacques Henner.

At a sale in Savoy, a rediscovered lost painting by Louis Lagrenée (1725-1805) rivaled a sumptuous lotus bowl from the Qianlong period.

symbolic figures as seen by a painter of the Flemish school and a French sculptor with an eclectic style paved the way for more modern artists.

Claude-François Julliot (1727-1794) probably commissioned these two pieces of furniture stamped Joseph, which were in the Comte de Merle’s collection. They are beautiful examples of the resurgence of copper and tortoiseshell "Boulle" marquetry early in the Louis XVI period.

The Portrait of Julia Scheller-Erni (1910) by the Swiss painter Ernest Biéler (1863-1948), which was exhibited last year in "Modernités suisses" which had been in a private collection, is joining the museum, along with a Grand Bois by Auguste Morisot, an important figure in Lyon painting scene.

The only piece of furniture made by cabinetmaker Charles Cressent (1685-1768) for the French King, this commode is listed with the Garde-Meuble and has belonged to the same collection since 1934.

The reign of Louis XV was a golden age for bronze fixtures and furnishings, which were marked with a crowned "C".