SOTHEBY'S/PIASA TO SELL ICONIC FABIUS FRERES GALLERY COLLECTION

SOTHEBY'S ANNOUNCED TODAY THAT, IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE AUCTION HOUSE PIASA, IT WILL SELL THE FABIUS FRERES GALLERY COLLECTION ON 18-19.OCTOBER IN PARIS. THE 400 SCULPTURES, PIECES OF FURNITURE, WORKS OF ART, DRAWINGS AND 19th CENTURY PAINTINGS, ESTIMATED TO SELL FOR €9 - 14 MILLION, WILL BE ON DISPLAY AT THE GALERIE CHARPENTIER FOR FIVE DAYS PRIOR TO THE SALE. THE FABIUS FRERES GALLERY IN KNOWN WORLDWIDE FOR THE EXCEPTIONAL QUALITY, CONDITION AND PROVENANCE OF WORKS OF ART IN THEIR COLLECTION. THE SELECTION OF SCULPTURE TO BE OFFERED REPRESENTS PERHAPS THE MOST IMPORTANT GROUP OF 19th CENTURY SCULPTURES EVER TO BE SOLD AT AUCTION AND INCLUDES WORKS BY TWO OF THE LEADING EUROPEAN SCULPTORS OF THEIR TIME, ANTOINE-LOUIS BARYE AND JEAN-BAPTISTE CARPEAUX. THE FURNITURE SECTION COMPRISES CLASSICAL 18th CENTURY AND MORE EXUBERANT CREATIONS FROM THE 19th CENTURY. THE CLASSICAL FURNITURE RANGES FROM THE PERIOD OF LOUIS XIV TO EMPIRE STYLE. FOR DECADES THE FABIUS FRERES GALLERY PROMOTED THE FURNITURE OF THE 19th CENTURY, INCLUDING WORKS BY MAJOR CABINETMAKERS SUCH AS GROHE OR DIEHL, AS WELL AS ASTONISHING NEO-RENAISSANCE CREATIONS. IN THE DECORATIVE ART SECTIONS, CERAMICS AND GLASS FROM THE FABIUS FRERES GALLERY COLLECTION ARE REPRESENTED WITH A RICH DIVERSITY OF PIECES, AND UNIQUE AND REFINED WORKS BY THEODORE DECK, EUGENE COLLINOT AND MAURICE MARINOT. THE COLLECTION BRINGS TO SALE AN INTERESTING GROUP OF PAINTINGS AND DRAWINGS BY THE SCULPTORS CARPEAUX AND BARYE, AS WELL AS SOME GREAT 19th CENTURY PORTRAITS, AND GENRE PAINTINGS BY CAROLUS-DURAN, JEAN BERAUD AND ADOLPHE YVON. FOUNDER OF ONE OF THE MOST PRESTIGIOUS PARISIAN ART GALLERIES, ELLE FABIUS BECAME ONE OF THE PRINCIPAL ACTORS OF THE ART MARKET FROM THE 1890s TO THE 1940s. PASSIONATE ABOUT NAPOLEON AND LAFAYETTE MEMORABILIA, AND OBJECTS OF HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE, AS WELL AS SCULPTURE BY BARYE AND CARPEAUX, FABIUS BROUGHT THE 19th CENTURY STYLE BACK INTO FASHION. PIECES WHICH PASSED THROUGH HIS HANDS ARE NOW IN THE COLLECTIONS OF THE MOST IMPORTANT MUSEUMS IN FRANCE AND IN THE UNITED STATES. ELIE FABIUS' WORK WAS CARRIED ON FIRST BY HIS SONS AND THEN WITH THE SAME ELEGANCE AND PASSION BY HIS GRANDSON FRANCOIS, DECEASED IN 2006. SOTHEBY'S AND PIASA ARE VERY PROUD TO HAVE BEEN ENTRUSTED BY MRS ARMELLE FABIUS WITH THE SALE OF SUCH A PRESTIGIOUS COLLECTION.