Franklin sells its reliefs by Zadkine

24/11/25 - Heritage and Art Market - Paris - Unpublished, spectacular and appealing, two large reliefs by Ossip Zadkine are about to face the heat of the auction room this Friday, at Ader Nordmann & Dominique at the Hôtel Drouot. Duly announced in an article of La Gazette Drouot, their sale can only arouse the interest of collectors but also the concerns of heritage lovers, stunned to discover their origin. The first of them, Women and Dogs (ill. 1), shows us three female figures and their dogs already ready to leap upon their prey, the Three Stags (ill. 2) of the second relief !

1. Ossip Zadkine (1890-1967)
Women and Dogs, 1927
Stone relief - 185 x 225 cm
For sale at Ader Nordmann & Dominique on 28/11
Photos: Ader Nordmann & Dominique

See the image in its page

Well documented in the sale catalogue by the expert Emmanuel Eyraud, these two impressive reliefs had been kept for more than thirty-five years in the 16th arrondissement of Paris since they belong to one of the most famous educational institutions of the French capital, Saint-Louis de Gonzague. Franklin, as this institution is nicknamed, felt the need to expand during the 1980s, which unfortunately condemned a charming Art Deco private mansion that had been purchased a few decades earlier and already somewhat altered. Available online, a recent meeting report of the Commission du Vieux Paris informs us about the history of this work and we learn with anger, but sadly without surprise, that the said building was ruthlessly destroyed despite an initial negative opinion from the Architecte des Bâtiments de France and the opposition of the Commission, which in 1989 requested the preservation of this edifice.

2. Ossip Zadkine (1890-1967)
Three Stags, 1927
Stone relief - 185 x 170 cm
For sale at Ader Nordmann & Dominique on 28/11
Photos: Ader Nordmann & Dominique

See the image in its page

To learn more about this building, the Hôtel Mayen, the curious may visit the…