Les Stern: une famille de collectionneurs

Les Stern: une famille de collectionneurs

Sale Overview

Christie’s a le plaisir de présenter Les Stern : une famille de collectionneurs.
Au cours de plus d’un siècle, la famille Stern — banquiers éclairés et esthètes passionnés — a constitué une collection remarquable tant par sa cohérence que par sa diversité. Répartie en deux ventes (Live et Online) et regroupant 360 lots, elle reflète leur fascination durable pour les maîtres anciens (Boucher, Drouais, Hubert Robert, Prud’hon, van Oosterwyck), la sculpture de Clodion à Dalou, une sélection notable de bronzes (cercles de Giambologna, Ferdinando Tacca, Bernin jusqu’à Michel Anguier et François Girardon), les arts décoratifs (mobilier du XVIIIe siècle, verrerie de Gallé à Décorchemont, émaux de Soyer à Grandhomme), ainsi que la peinture de la fin du XIXe siècle, incluant Ernest-Ange Duez, George Alfred Bottini, Maurice Poirson ou encore James Tissot.

De nombreuses pièces bénéficient également de prestigieuses provenances, parmi lesquelles celles de Jacques Doucet, Jules Strauss, Sir Richard Wallace et des ducs de Hamilton provenant de Hamilton Palace, ainsi que plusieurs lots d’orfèvrerie issus de la famille David-Weill.

Partiellement spoliée pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale, la collection conserve encore d’importantes œuvres qui ont par la suite été restituées. Ensemble, ces ventes rendent hommage à une famille de collectionneurs dont l’œil averti et le goût raffiné de l’art de vivre se sont transmis au fil des générations, laissant une empreinte durable dans l’histoire du goût.

En complément de cette série de ventes, et en point d’orgue de la vente Old Masters de Londres le 2 décembre, figurent trois tableaux issus de la collection Stern — de Meindhert Hobbema, Jakob Isaaksz. van Ruisdael et Jan Josefsz. van Goyen — de véritables chefs-d’œuvre qui incarnent le génie et la splendeur de la peinture hollandaise du XVIIe siècle.

---

Christie’s is pleased to present Les Stern: une famille de collectionneurs. Over the course of more than a century, the Stern family — enlightened bankers and passionate aesthetes — assembled a collection remarkable for both its coherence and its diversity. Spanning two sales (Live and Online) and comprising 360 lots, it reflects their enduring fascination with Old Masters (Boucher, Drouais, Hubert Robert, Prud’hon, van Oosterwyck), sculpture from Clodion to Dalou, a notable selection of bronzes (circles of Giambologna, Ferdinando Tacca, Bernini to Michel Anguier and François Girardon), the decorative arts (18th-century furniture, glassware from Gallé to Décorchemont, enamels from Soyer to Grandhomme), and late 19th-century painting, including Ernest-Ange Duez, George Alfred Bottini, Maurice Poirson or James Tissot.

Many pieces also boast prestigious provenances, including those of Jacques Doucet, Jules Strauss, Sir Richard Wallace and the Dukes of Hamilton from Hamilton Palace, in addition to some silver lots from the David-Weill family.

Partly looted during the Second World War, the collection still preserves major works that were subsequently restituted. Together, these sales pay tribute to a family of collectors whose discerning eye and cultivated the art of living were transmitted across generations, leaving an enduring mark on the history of taste.

In addition to this series of sales and highlighting the London Old Masters sale on 2 December, are three paintings from the Stern Collection — by Meindhert Hobbema, Jakob Isaaksz. van Ruisdael and Jan Josefsz. van Goyen — true masterpieces that capture the genius and splendour of the 17th-century Dutch painting.

Auction times
11 Dec 02:00 PM (CET)

Brought to you by

Etienne de Couville

Etienne de Couville

Specialist, Auctioneer | European Furniture & Works of Art

After studies in History, Art History at the Ecole du Louvre and Law at Panthéon-Sorbonne, Etienne appointed Commissaire-priseur in 2014. He started his career as a generalist in an international auction house in Paris in 2015. Etienne joined recently Christie’s Paris as a specialist in Furniture and decorative arts.
A la suite d’études en histoire, histoire de l’art et droit, Etienne est nommé commissaire-priseur en 2014. Il commence sa carrière l’année suivante comme généraliste dans une maison de vente internationale. Etienne rejoint récemment Christie’s Paris en tant que spécialiste en mobilier et arts décoratifs.
Charles Cator

Charles Cator

Chairman, Christie's EMEA | European Furniture & Works of Art

As Chairman of Christie's EMEA, Charles Cator is responsible for maintaining and enhancing Christie's business development opportunities throughout the country, as well as internationally. A renowned furniture specialist, Charles Cator is also Chairman of the Furniture and Decorative Arts Department, and has been with the company for fifty-one years. Under his leadership, Christie's set the current world auction record for any piece of traditional furniture - £19 million for the Badminton Cabinet in 2004, this broke the previous record of £8.5 million which the Badminton Cabinet had set fourteen years earlier in 1990. Charles has been directly involved with the sale of all ten of the top furniture lots ever sold at Christie's internationally in London, Monaco/Paris and New York and has been closely involved with many landmark sales of major single-owner collections including the two landmark sales of Hubert de Givenchy's (1993 and 2022), through to Works of Art from Longleat (2002), The Champalimaud Collection (2005), Wildenstein (2005), The Simon Sainsbury Collection (2008), The Spencer House Sale (2010), both the first and second part of the Riahi Collection ( 2000/2012), Masterpieces from a Rothschild Collection (2019), The Private Collection of Jayne Wrightsman (2020) and The Ann and Gordon Getty Collection (2022 and 2023). He has worked closely on the highly successful annual various owner auction format introduced in 2008: The Exceptional Sale.

A keen historian, Charles is passionate about the history of collecting, not only in terms of academic research but particularly in working closely with colleagues in the Private Collections department and most importantly with collectors themselves; inspiring, nurturing and celebrating true connoisseurship. He has written the definitive work on the furniture of William Ince and John Mayhew, in collaboration with Sir Hugh Roberts, Director Emeritus of the Royal Collection which was published in 2022.
Nathalie Honnay

Nathalie Honnay

Project Manager | European Furniture & Works of Art

A graduate with a Master’s in law and art history, Nathalie joined Christie's in 2017. Since joining the Collections department in 2019, Nathalie has regularly been instrumental in the success of iconic collections sales. In 2019, the Catherine Deneuve et Yves Saint Laurent sale, the first haute couture auction in Christie's history, was a global sensation (€1.1 million). In 2020, the monumental 20th century sculptures of the Jardin secret de Paul Haim fetched €20.6 million. In 2021, the Collection Daniel Lebard, sous le prisme de la modernité sale, was a resounding success (€31.6 million), setting a number of world records for designers. In 2023, the Rothschild Collection, sold between Paris and New York, achieved a total of nearly €70 million. In 2024, Nathalie's expertise in auctioning exceptional objects took her to a new level: she was entrusted with the organisation of all collection sales in Paris.

>>>
Diplômée d’un Master en droit et en histoire de l'art, Nathalie rejoint Christie's en 2017. Depuis 2019, date à laquelle elle intègre le département des collections, Nathalie contribue régulièrement au succès de ventes iconiques. Première vacation de Haute Couture de l’histoire de Christie’s, la vente Catherine Deneuve et Yves Saint Laurent connait un retentissement mondial en 2019 (1,1M€). En 2020, les sculptures monumentales du XXe siècle du Jardin secret de Paul Haim totalisent 20,6M€. En 2021, c’est le design qui connaît un succès retentissant et une pluie de records mondiaux avec la vente de la Collection Daniel Lebard, sous le prisme de la modernité (31,6M€). En 2023, la collection Rothschild est dispersée entre Paris et New York pour un total de près de 70M€. Forte de son expertise dans le domaine des ventes aux enchères d'objets d'exception, Nathalie est promue responsable de l’organisation des ventes de Collections à Paris en 2024.

How to find us

Launchpad