Art Of The Day Weekly
#365 - from 20 November 2014 to 26 November 2014
Paul Signac, Le Château de Comblat, BAL Collection © Ville de Liège.
Paris in the summer
LIÈGE – The buyers at the auction in Lucerne, concerned not to favour speculation, which would have been good for the Reich’s matters and legitimized its policy, made a tacit decision not to up the ante. At the end of the day, the delegation from Liège, already lucky to hold nine major works, still had a much better treasure: they had only spent less than 20% of the 5 million they had! A part of the money was spent during a visit by the municipal councillors Buisseret, Gilbart and Ochs to Paris galleries and artists. They came back with nine other valuable paintings, among which a Nu by Signac, a Violoniste by Kees van Dongen and Coquillages by Ensor. And there was still money to be spent! But it was August 1st, 1939. A month later, Hitler would invade Poland.
• Les achats de Paris at the musée des Beaux-Arts of Liège, from 17 October 2014 to 29 March 2015.