FEATURES ARCHIVE

"As a child I often visited the great museums, and this developed my interest for art. Very soon this matured into a passion and I made my first acquisitions around the 1950s."  - Monsieur François

Jean Pierre François led a rewarding and fascinating life as an international banker, eventually acting as an advisor to President François Mitterand. His life as a collector truly began in 1952 when he married Pari, née Riahi, who was at the time a young Iranian student at the Beaux Arts. They shared a common passion for art, although initially they had quite different tastes. “As an adolescent, I was deeply influenced by great impressionist artists of the second half of the 19th century such as Renoir. This then encouraged my interest in other great painters of the early 20th century, for example Vuillard and Picasso. Before my marriage, I ignored all antique furniture as I didn’t possess any and had no particular interest for it. However when I married Pari Riahi, I found that my taste evolved significantly. Since then together we have decorated our three residences with antique furniture.”

This sumptuous collection brings together furniture and works of art from the François’ homes in Geneva, Paris and Monaco. In his interview with Christie’s, Monsieur François reveals that most of the works of art were purchased from auctions and dealers in Switzerland and France. “We looked systematically at international and national auction catalogues”. So focused and consistent was their approach, that some of the photographs from their different homes are almost indistinguishable. Amongst the incredible paintings in the collection are two important highlights by Sisley and Pissarro to be sold in the Impressionist and Modern Art Evening sale on 21 June. Overleaf we explore some of the most interesting highlights from the collection.

In his concluding remarks Monsieur François imparts his personal advice for aspiring collectors. “One should take time to familiarize oneself with art and to form a personal taste. One must not listen to fables from so-called ‘collectors’ who collect money and whose interest only lies in the investment, and not in the quality of the works of art. It is imperative to understand the importance of drawing, the base of pictorial art, and when contemplating a purchase, one must resist the temptation of certain contemporary works which will only be of transient interest.” The timelessness of the François’ collection pays tribute to these unwavering and steadfast ideals.