PARIS SALE OF THE CENTURY!

PARIS SALE OF THE CENTURY
Auction
By wilm

I guess, technically, it really was an auction but that’s not descriptive enough.  Maybe a gala, an affair, a pageant, a real “to-do”, a moveable feast or, as my Dad might have called it,  a “heck of a shindig” ….had he been allowed in, which is doubtful.

When Christie’s held the soiree of soirees to unload  (pardon me “offer”) the effects of the life long partnership of Yves St. Laurent and Pierre Berge, at the Grand Palais exhibition space, it was a six day affair that was attended by more than 30,000 people. In addition there were over 10 auctioneers taking non-stop phone call bids for six days. St. Laurent, of course, died last year and my guess is that he and Pierre had pre-ordained the auction of what they had collected over their 50 years.

To have a successful gathering in Paris it was considered essential to have Yves St. Laurent in attendance.  Yves made this one through his collection.

The 10 page spread in the July edition of Architectural Digest is something to behold, especially if you are in-between jobs or on short rations, so-to-speak. I freely admit that my knowledge in the world of art is lacking. Without using a lot of cliché’s trying to support my ignorance (“I know what I like”, etc.) I confess that my admiration is usually limited to  saying ….”that cost how much?”

Well this collection is something you have to see to believe. Over 6 world records were set for art works and there must have been 50 set for furniture. Those of you who are true aficionados will revel in it and those who don’t know anymore than I do will share my astonishment.

The magazine spread displayed many of the items sold with a tag of what room they’d been in at St. Laurent’s digs.  The first page displayed 12 items of furniture and some bric-a-brac that sold for a little over $53 million. I liked a wooden sculpture that resembled a large nut cracker but I thought that $37 million was too much.  I wouldn’t have paid a penny over $35 million. There also were some lack luster jugs that sold for about $130,000 that  didn’t impress me but there was another pair of jugs that looked a lot nicer and went just under $3,000,000.  I think at that price they are called a “brace of vases”….with a long “Aaaaaa.”

The second and third pages were identified as “The Grand Salon 1976” but the total here was a paltry  $32 million. Admittedly that didn’t include whatever was paid for some partially empty liquor bottles but it did include an old leather chair that went for $28 million! ( I’m almost sure I saw its twin at a Belmont Shore garage sale just before Christmas.)  I did like the four nice wooden chairs that were a bargain, I guess, at $132,000, and also a very nice piece of wooden statuary of a pregnant pelican. I know, I know,  pelicans don’t get pregnant .. but I don’t think the artist knew.   Anyway it was only $774,000.

When I got to the fourth and fifth pages, “The Grand Salon 2008” I finally saw something I recognized….(see I’m not totally a tyro)  A Matisse that sold for $10 million and a de Chirico for $14,233,226.  Imagine adding twenty six dollars to a $14 million dollar bid to win? That called “chutzpah.”

I thought one of the highlights of the auction happened before it began by Mr. Berge, apparently he  is not only an unique collector but a businessman with a great knack for negotiation. Prior to the sale a dispute had unfolded over two Qing dynasty bronze animal heads, a rabbit and a rat, originally looted from an imperial palace in China by British soldiers in 1860 (who else?) but purchased legally. China had demanded their return, but a French court ruled the evening before the sale that the auction of the heads could proceed as scheduled.

The issue had become a heated one in China, stirring nationalist indignation. Mr. Berge countered that the heads belonged to him, saying, however, he would gladly give them to China if Beijing would “observe human rights and give liberty to the Tibetan people and welcome the Dalai Lama.”    The heads were sold.

I know Yves was a brilliant and creative man but some of these things must  have been purchased when he was in one of his drug induced hazes. Of course that would  then that beg the question, what about the bidders this year who were willing to pay more than  St. Laurent did when they bought these things.

Which begs the next question….what the heck do I know?

The grand total of the sale was almost one half a billion dollars!  Perhaps not enough to help GM or AIG but certainly a wonderful contribution for “”Research on Aids” and a host of other charities created by St. Laurent and Berge.

A most noble gesture by two true “Renaissance Princes.”

Go to:http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2009/0224/1224241708940.html  Or:
http://themoment.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/02/23/hammer-time-yves-saint-laurent-and-pierre-berges-art-collection/
Or:
http://www.forbes.com/2009/03/02/christies-auction-sabotage-lifestyle-collecting_chinese_sculptures.html

Or :

www.architecturaldigest.com <http://www.architecturaldigest.com>
(July issue of  Architectural Digest was not on line as of Tuesday , June 9, 2009)

Have Things Got You Down?

Well Then, Consider These . . ……………………….  In a hospital’s Intensive Care Unit, patients always died in the same bed, on Sunday morning, at about 11:00 am, regardless of their medical condition.  This puzzled the doctors and some even thought it had something to do with the supernatural. No one could solve the mystery as to why the deaths occurred around 11:00 am Sunday, so a team of experts was assembled to investigate the cause of the incidents.  The next Sunday morning, a few minutes before 11:00 am., all of the doctors and nurses nervously waited outside the ward to see for themselves what the terrible phenomenon was all about. Some were holding wooden crosses, prayer books, and other holy objects to ward off the evil spirits.  Just when the clock struck 11:00, Pookie Johnson, the part-time Sunday sweeper, entered the ward and unplugged the life support system so he could use the vacuum cleaner. Still Having a Bad Day?  Think about this. The average cost of rehabilitating a seal after the Exxon Valdez Oil spill in Alaska was $80,000.00. At a special ceremony, two of the most expensively saved animals were being released back into the wild amid cheers and applause from onlookers.  A minute later, in full view, a killer whale ate them both. Still think its a Bad Day?  A woman came home to find her husband in the kitchen shaking frantically, almost in a dancing frenzy, with some kind of wire running from his waist towards the electric kettle. Intending to jolt him away from the deadly current, she whacked him with a handy plank of wood, breaking his arm in two places.  Up to that moment, he had been happily listening to his Walkman. Are Ya OK Now? – No?  Two animal rights defenders were protesting the cruelty of sending pigs to a slaughterhouse in Bonn , Germany . Suddenly, all two thousand pigs broke loose and escaped through a broken fence, stampeding madly.  The two helpless protesters were trampled to death. What you still think you have trouble?  Terrorist Khay Rahnajet didn’t pay enough postage on a letter bomb. It came back with ‘Return to Sender’ stamped on it.  Forgetting it was the bomb, he opened it and was blown to bits. God is Good!  There now, Feeling Better ?

A Boat Sale you don’t want to miss – $100 million

Here’s a boat sale you don’t want to miss (headline)

It’s priced at $100 million but you can support keeping it in the U.S. for a lot less.  This was the fastest ship ever in the North Atlantic. Launched in 1953 it just barely pre-dated jet travel which demolished the big ship that used to command the seas between the U.S. and Europe.

The S.S. United States was the largest ship ever to carry passengers under the name of its country.  It and its sister, the S.S. America were the pride of the Atlantic from 1953 until 1969.

Read how you can contribute to saving the grand old lady who sits at a shipyard in Philadelphia while lovers of the sea look at methods to save her.

Go to http://bigshipfilms.com/bsf_final/videos/promotrailer.mov
=============

Aquarium of the Pacific Free Shark Nights

The public is invited to get up close with the ocean’s ultimate predators at the Aquarium of the Pacific for FREE during Shark Lagoon Nights. Guests will have the opportunity to touch bamboo sharks and see large sharks such as sandtigers as well as rays in the Aquarium’s Shark Lagoon.

Coffee, hot cocoa, beer, wine, desserts, and snacks are available for purchase.

When:   Friday nights from 6:00-9:00 pm April 24-May 22nd! 

For more information visit AquariumofPacific.org.

Too late to enter a car but…..

Yes it’s too late to enter a car in the 2009 Seal Beach Car Show but you may find one you want to buy this weekend at www.familyclassiccars.com and then you can drive to Seal Beach to visit one of the country’s premier shows.

 You can visit the cars on line or in person at 33033 Camino Capistrano in San Juan Capistrano on April the 18th and 19th.  Tel 496-3000. Their inventory includes a 67 corvette, 48 cadillac convertible and a 56 Nomad; as well as some older Ferraris and Alfas.

Oh yes, and you can also find a few classic cars listed in our classified ads.

Free Boston Flights On Jet Blue

Join the travel frenzy! Take two trips to/from Boston and any of the Western cities listed below and they will give you a certificate good for a free* flight to anywhere we jet.

* Denver, CO
* Las Vegas, NV
* Long Beach, CA
* Oakland, CA
* San Diego, CA
* San Francisco, CA ( service begins May 1)
* Seattle, WA
*Go jetblue.com for additional information.
(We weren’t able to find out if this includes their partnering flights to Ireland.)
There are some timing restrictions that you should also check on at jetblue.com

A Night in San Francisco for $1

Spend a night in San Francisco for $1? Here’s spring travel special that’s hard to believe. The “world famous” Orchard Hotel at 665 Bush Street in San Francisco if offering an April Fools special rate of one dollar  a night for the entire month of April!  The normal rate is $175 a night.  http://www.theorchardhotels.com/
What’s the catch?  (There’s always a catch right? ) Well in this case its not much of a catch.  You can only book on line and it can only be booked on line beginning at 10 a.m. on April 1, 2009.  It’s a great hotel and a great town for a spring get-away.
How do you get there on the cheap?  Well Jet Blue Airliines also has a spring special and you can fly from Long Beach to San Francisco for as little as $48 each way. If you haven’t flown out of Long Beach Airport you are in for a big surprise.  Long Beach airport is the best metropolitan airport in the USA. Easy access, short lines, no long waits and plenty of parking.  You don’t have to be there an hour and a half early for a flight either.
Now no one really needs to ask what do you do when you get to San Francisco but just in case you have a visitor from outer Mongolia you can start him off with these spots-The John Muir Woods, Fisherman’s Wharf,  Scoma’s Restaurant, Tiburon Ferry (ride past Alcatraz), The Exploratorium at the Palace of Fine Arts, Old First Concerts on Sacramento St. ( Chamber music, Jazz, Classical and avant-garde), Martini’s were made famous at the Clift Hotel,  Irish Coffee was invented (so the San Franciscan’s say ) at the Buena Vista Café…just a cable-car ride from downtown), The Japanese Garden in Golden Gate Park, (circa 1900 and rebuilt after WW II) and oysters on the half-shell with the natives, not at the wharf but on top of Russian Hill.  If none of that peeks your interest drop a line and we’ll send you more sites.

Storm Brings Rainbows to Town

Shopping in Long Beach yesterday we were able to catch a quick photo of a rainbow with a Blackberry! Enjoy!

For another interesting rainbow photo visit the story in the OC Register about scientists who recently caputured a rare photo of the end of a rainbow!

Found on You Tube – Seal Beach Pier Re-opening, March 27,1985

What a Wonderful World

« Previous Page — Next Page »