Koller Review 2024

Top prices for Loiseau and Rodin Gustave Loiseau’s winter scene ‘Tournedos-sur-Seine’, painted in bright, atmospheric colours, fea- tures his characteristic brushwork. The artist had formative encoun- ters with Bernard, Gauguin and others in Pont-Aven around 1890. Apparently, the plein-air painting practised there was very much in line with his own artistic intentions. His exhibitions at the Paris Salon des Indépendants from 1893 and his contact with the influential Pa- risian art dealer Paul Durand-Ruel around this time would be crucial to his later successful career. The price achieved at our auction is the second-highest ever realised world- wide for a work by Loiseau. Auguste Rodin’s watercolours form an exciting counterpoint to his mag- nificent sculptural oeuvre in bronze. With astonishing ease, the artist manages to capture the essence of his subject on paper. The econom- ical use of form and colour in his watercolours, which he only began to produce in his later years, ena- bled Rodin to develop a timeless- ly modern and expressive formal language, as his ‘Femme nageant’ from circa 1898/1900 impressively demonstrates. The realised price of CHF 145 000 is one of the highest auction results ever for a watercol- our by Rodin. Gustave Loiseau. Tournedos-sur-Seine. Neige, givre, soleil. 1899/1900. Oil on canvas. 54.6 × 73 cm. Sold for CHF 620 000 Pierre Bonnard. Matin bleu ou Petite rivière. 1927. Oil on canvas. 52.5 × 73.5 cm. Sold for CHF 200 000 8