Design as Art: Sorceress on the Seine
January 2008
For a sale of a Vautrin collection at Sotheby’s Paris in 2004, a small gilt bronze compact graced the catalogue cover. It was one of her rebus objects—a rebus is a representation of words by pictures, objects or symbols whose names resemble the intended words or syllables in sound—or more simply a fusion of sound and image. In this instance, the compact proclaims "J’ai Grand Appétit de Vous G (Grand) a (Petit) Deux Vous," ("I have a hearty appetite for you"). It sold for $8,778 (est. $4,850–$6,500). "She gets metal to talk," says Frédéric Fieux, partner in Galerie L’Arc en Seine, which held Vautrin exhibitions in Paris (2002) and New York (2003).
Fieux’s comments could equally apply to many of Vautrin’s small objects: boxes, compacts, ashtrays and paperweights inscribed with words of eternal love, centuries-old proverbs and snatches of poetry. "They are meant as a form of light entertainment," says Fieux. At the Rudin sale, a gilt bronze and enamel box bore the inscription "La Reconnaissance est la Mémoire du Coeur." ("Gratitude is the memory of the heart"), a saying by French ecclesiastic Jean-Baptiste Massieu (1743–1818). This piece brought $38,400 against a $6,000 to $8,000 estimate.
By the 1980s Vautrin had faded into obscurity. She hoped a Paris museum would mount an exhibition of her work and wrote to several curators but none responded. "They had forgotten me, tant pis ("what a shame"), she said in response and auctioned most of her work at the Hotel Drouot in 1986 and 1988.
New York–based antiques dealer Louis Bofferding credits Paris artist and New Yorker illustrator Pierre Le-Tan with resurrecting Vautrin. A tastemaker with a great eye, Le-Tan had spotted some of her pieces in a shop window and in the pages of old magazines from the 1940s. Determined to track her down, he checked the Paris phone directory and found her listed. Le-Tan introduced London dealer David Gill to her work, and in 1988 Gill held the first exhibition of her objects.
Vautrin died in 1997, and two years later, the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris granted her wish and presented a retrospective of her work.
The designer is certainly not forgotten by Wayne Schwartz, a passionate collector turned dealer in Amagansett, New York. "J’adore Line Vautrin," says Schwartz, whose gallery is filled with her mirrors, boxes and jewelry. "Don’t call her a costume jeweler. She was an artist." Among his dozen or so mirrors is a 36-inch "Soleil à Pointes" with a price tag of $200,000.
Another Vautrin fan, New York dealer Liz O’Brien, currently has a selection of her small mirrors ranging from 8 to 14 inches and priced at $14,000 to $28,000. "Known as miroirs sorcières, [witches’ glasses], they really do perform magic," says O’Brien. "People are bewitched by them."
Christie’s, New York
212.636.2000 christies.com
David Gill Gallery, London
011.44.20.7793.1100 davidgillgalleries.com
Galerie L’Arc en Seine
New York 212.585.2587
Paris 011.33.1.43.29.11.02 arcenseine.com
Liz O’Brien, New York
212.755.3800 lizobrien.com
Sotheby’s, Paris
011.1.33.53.05.53.05 sothebys.com
Wayne Schwartz, Amagansett, N.Y.
631.267.2400
Fieux’s comments could equally apply to many of Vautrin’s small objects: boxes, compacts, ashtrays and paperweights inscribed with words of eternal love, centuries-old proverbs and snatches of poetry. "They are meant as a form of light entertainment," says Fieux. At the Rudin sale, a gilt bronze and enamel box bore the inscription "La Reconnaissance est la Mémoire du Coeur." ("Gratitude is the memory of the heart"), a saying by French ecclesiastic Jean-Baptiste Massieu (1743–1818). This piece brought $38,400 against a $6,000 to $8,000 estimate.
By the 1980s Vautrin had faded into obscurity. She hoped a Paris museum would mount an exhibition of her work and wrote to several curators but none responded. "They had forgotten me, tant pis ("what a shame"), she said in response and auctioned most of her work at the Hotel Drouot in 1986 and 1988.
New York–based antiques dealer Louis Bofferding credits Paris artist and New Yorker illustrator Pierre Le-Tan with resurrecting Vautrin. A tastemaker with a great eye, Le-Tan had spotted some of her pieces in a shop window and in the pages of old magazines from the 1940s. Determined to track her down, he checked the Paris phone directory and found her listed. Le-Tan introduced London dealer David Gill to her work, and in 1988 Gill held the first exhibition of her objects.
Vautrin died in 1997, and two years later, the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris granted her wish and presented a retrospective of her work.
The designer is certainly not forgotten by Wayne Schwartz, a passionate collector turned dealer in Amagansett, New York. "J’adore Line Vautrin," says Schwartz, whose gallery is filled with her mirrors, boxes and jewelry. "Don’t call her a costume jeweler. She was an artist." Among his dozen or so mirrors is a 36-inch "Soleil à Pointes" with a price tag of $200,000.
Another Vautrin fan, New York dealer Liz O’Brien, currently has a selection of her small mirrors ranging from 8 to 14 inches and priced at $14,000 to $28,000. "Known as miroirs sorcières, [witches’ glasses], they really do perform magic," says O’Brien. "People are bewitched by them."
Christie’s, New York
212.636.2000 christies.com
David Gill Gallery, London
011.44.20.7793.1100 davidgillgalleries.com
Galerie L’Arc en Seine
New York 212.585.2587
Paris 011.33.1.43.29.11.02 arcenseine.com
Liz O’Brien, New York
212.755.3800 lizobrien.com
Sotheby’s, Paris
011.1.33.53.05.53.05 sothebys.com
Wayne Schwartz, Amagansett, N.Y.
631.267.2400
email this article
print this article
digg this
del.icio.us
RSS