Brient’s collection to be sold in Paris

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

Sotheby’s is expected to held a sale of a section of the Marcel Brient Collection of Contemporary Art in Paris.

Sotheby’s has announced a sale of a section of the Marcel Brient Collection of Contemporary Art held in Paris Sept. 25, which will consist of around 100 lots that reflect the overall career of this intuitive, free-thinking Frenchman.

The ensemble presents a rich overview of creation in France since the 1960s, and of the extraordinary diversity of the artists involved.

“Although this ensemble of works selected from the Marcel Brient Collection makes no claim to be exhaustive, it will offer collectors from France and around the world a deeply varied insight into the work of artists in France over the last forty years, and a rare opportunity to acquire works that occupy a major role in the history of art,” Stefano Moreni, head of contemporary art at Sotheby’s France, said.

Over four decades Marcel Brient discreetly amassed one of the largest collections of contemporary art in France as a personal adventure, rather than as a commercial undertaking.

He prefers ‘works discovered by chance’ and believes strongly that each work is linked to history ‘in an extraordinary way.’ A number of encounters have guided his eye down the years, the most decisive being his exchanges with Louis Clayeux, Director of Galerie Maeght in Paris from 1948 to 65, who took him to visit Alberto Giacometti in his studio.

As well as regularly acquiring works by artists based in France, Brient was also one of the first to buy works by Jeff Koons, John Currin, Takashi Murakami and Felix Gonzales-Torres.

For Brient the artist’s nationality was irrelevant, it was solely Brient’s own taste and eye that led him to discover artists he admired.

Brient is known as a demanding collector with radical tastes who has always been keen to transmit his passion for art.