Two fine sales at Artcurial in Paris

23/11/25 - Art Market - Paris - Because one David and Goliath (ill. 1) can hide another, our tour through the rich exhibition organised at Artcurial ahead of next week’s two sales begins with a large (and unpublished) composition by Domenico Fetti. Tuesday will be devoted to the major November Old Masters sale, whose star lot is the “other” David and Goliath, the now-famous rediscovered canvas by Guido Reni (see the news item of 5/6/25), whose result — and, above all, whose future destination — are eagerly awaited. Wednesday will be reserved for the dispersal of the collection of a couple living between Clermont-Ferrand and Guéthary, which explains the presence of several works by the Basque painter Ramiro Arrue. One will, however, remember above all this fine version of one of the artist’s favourite subjects, also known for his image — or rather images — of Melancholy, one of which was purchased for Louis XIV in 1685 before entering the Musée du Louvre, while another made the headlines when shown at TEFAF Maastricht in 2019 (see the article), where it was acquired by the Art Institute of Chicago (see the news item of 28/6/19). Dog-lovers will at once recognise the same animal in all these canvases.

Let us continue our spatial and chronological logic by remaining on the ground floor, devoted to this private collection offered on Wednesday, where one zigzags between Rembrandt Bugatti’s leopards and antelopes to admire a very beautiful Holy Family (ill. 2) painted in Rome in 1742 by Noël Hallé. Little known, even considered old-fashioned, he is nonetheless regularly highlighted by Artcurial, where the Nationalmuseum in Stockholm (see the news item of 22/11/20) and the Musée des Beaux-Arts of Orléans (see the news item of 15/11/22) have been able, fairly recently, to enrich…