This season, Artcurial shines a light on a selection of private collections, each telling a singular story, shaped over time with patience, discernment and intuition. Each sale offers a rare opportunity to discover carefully selected works, where history, taste and legacy come together.
To build a collection is to refine a vision and give lasting form to a passion. This season, Artcurial shines a light on a selection of private ensembles, each telling a singular story shaped by patience, discernment and intuition. Each sale offers a rare opportunity to discover carefully chosen pieces, where history, taste and legacy converge.

Shaped by extensive travels throughout Africa and enriched by exchanges with leading specialists, the Jean-Jacques Rotthier Collection (Brussels, 1932-2009), assembled from the 1970s onwards, stands in the tradition of the great private collections of African art formed during the 20th century. This first chapter brings together a selection of works of remarkable quality, primarily from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Regularly featured in major exhibitions through loans of its works, the collection is presented here in its full breadth for the first time.
Carried by the unique personality of Henri de Rothschild – physician, patron of the arts, playwright and collector – this sale unveils a collection formed by insatiable curiosity and a remarkably discerning eye. Paintings, furniture, porcelains and rare books trace the story of a legacy built through successive inheritances and generations of family passion. A collection in which elegance intertwines with the living memory of one of Europe’s greatest dynasties.


Carle Vernet (1758-1836)
Tableaux historiques des campagnes d’Italie…
Paris, Auber, 1806
Dedicated to the Napoleonic campaigns, the Library of José Luís Dotti (Barcelona, 1935 – Majorca, 2025) brings together a remarkable collection of works from across Europe. From Bacler d’Albe’s Souvenirs and Laborde’s Voyage pittoresque et historique de l’Espagne to Goya’s Desastres de la Guerra and a copy of the Description de l’Égypte, it offers a rare panorama where military history is viewed through the eyes of the artists and witnesses of the period.
Kept in Kees Van Dongen’s studio for over sixty years, the exceptional portrait of Brigitte Bardot features eighteen works from the artist’s Estate. It embodies the meeting of two icons of modernity: the portraitist of Parisian high society and one of the greatest symbols of feminine freedom.

Kees Van Dongen (1877-1968)
Portrait de Brigitte Bardot, 1959
Estimate: €800,000 - 1,200,000

Maurice Denis (1870-1943)
L’Île Chevalier, 1894
Estimate: €700,000 - 1,000,000
Brought together with passion over the years, this ensemble invites a journey into the heart of the major artistic movements that shaped the French and Belgian scenes from the late 19th to the mid-20th century. Sunlit landscapes, intimate interiors and Symbolist visions compose a sensitive and poetic universe. From Impressionism to the Nabis, from Pont-Aven to Post-Impressionism, nearly eighty works trace the paths of modernity.
Carefully curated between 2013 and 2023 by Carole Colin and Denis Jamet, the cellar of the Parisian restaurant Les Climats offers a remarkable panorama of Burgundy’s finest terroirs. The restaurant’s wine list, honoured by Wine Spectator for three consecutive years, reflects the exacting standards behind this exceptional selection of more than 17,000 bottles, offered across over 3,000 lots, from Crus Villages to Grands Crus.

View of Les Climats restaurant, rue de Lille in Paris (2013-2023)

Bringing together significant personal belongings and memorabilia of Jean Mermoz (1901-1936), preserved by his family since his disappearance, this sale pays tribute to one of the greatest figures in French aviation. His leather coat, parachute, flying goggles and many other keepsakes trace the extraordinary life of this pioneer of Aéropostale. A remarkable ensemble at the crossroads of adventure, modernity and the spirit of exploration.
Guided by Victor Barrios Llanos’ fascination with the Kené motifs of the Shipibo-Konibo people, this collection highlights the richness of contemporary Peruvian art. Bringing together works of art and artefacts, it reflects the diversity of Amazonian cultures through artists such as Sara Flores, Celia Vásquez Yui, Brus Rubio Churay, Roldán Pinedo, Pablo Amaringo and Petronila Cauper.

Roldán Pinedo (born in 1971)
El mundo amarillo

As director of the Fondation Cartier, Mudam Luxembourg, and the Nouveau Musée National de Monaco, Marie-Claude Beaud championed a free and multidisciplinary vision of artistic creation. Throughout her career, she forged close relationships with artists such as César, James Turrell, Chéri Samba, Jean-Michel Othoniel, and many others.
Shaped by these encounters and friendships, her collection reflects her distinctive perspective and a life devoted to contemporary art.
Assembled by a discerning Swiss collector and expertly assessed by Thierry de Lachaise, this private collection comprises more than two hundred works. Centered predominantly on outstanding German and Swiss production ranging from the 16th to the 17th century, it offers an exceptional panorama of European goldsmithing, with a particular emphasis on quality, provenance and rarity.


© Dennis Noten
The result of more than forty years of passion, the Thierry Dehaeck Collection brings together exceptional motorcars chosen for their rarity, history and state of preservation. Structured around major brands: Citroen, Ferrari, Maserati, Jaguar, Bentley, Rolls-Royce and Mercedes-Benz, it forms a singular panorama of the collector car world from the 1950s to the 2000s.
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