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Lot Essay
The French collector Georges de Batz is most associated with the renowned Museum of Fine Arts, Boston exhibition in 1953, which featured his Chinese ceramics and European drawings. As well-known as his name has become amongst revered 20th-century collectors in the field of Chinese art, it appears that little is known about the collector himself. In the introduction to the 1953 exhibition catalogue, the curator George Boas noted that de Batz arrived in the United States in 1939 on the last ship leaving France, with a suitcase of European drawings and objets de virtu, and that “His taste was of such developed quality that friends and colleagues soon recognized the virtuoso that he was, which was certainly remarkable for how deeply moved he was by every purchase.”
In the years 1940-1942, de Batz was instrumental in organizing exhibitions of his collection at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore where he served as the secretary of the fine arts curriculum, so that students had access to studying art first hand. He also organized a catalogue of the art of Vincent Van Gogh in aid of the American and Dutch war relief at Wildenstein in New York in 1943. At some point he moved from New York to California, and became known for his passionate involvement with the objects he collected and for his notable generosity to institutions including the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and the Achenbach Foundation in San Francisco. In "Georges de Batz, The Mysterious Case of an Art Collector Extraordinary Found by Examination of a Painting," www.econservationline.com, No. 4, April 2008, pp. 52-68⁄94, the author N. Caldadaro relays a visit to de Batz’s San Francisco apartment in 1979 as Assistant Curator of the Achenbach Foundation, regarding the acquisition of de Batz’ collection of prints and drawings. He notes that “Mr. de Batz had been a collector known to curators and dealers from coast to coast in America… Both de Batz’ connoisseurship and his generosity are reflected in his museum donations. He was as great a mystery as his collections were rich.” The author also notes a Butterfield & Butterfield sale of the de Batz’ estate in San Francisco in the 1980s, perhaps where the present vase first appeared on the market, however, no records of this sale survive. The Georges de Batz Collection of Chinese Ceramics was presented at Christie's New York, 30 November 1983, while the collector was still alive, and comprised exceptional early wares and bronzes from the Shang to the Song dynasties.
In the years 1940-1942, de Batz was instrumental in organizing exhibitions of his collection at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore where he served as the secretary of the fine arts curriculum, so that students had access to studying art first hand. He also organized a catalogue of the art of Vincent Van Gogh in aid of the American and Dutch war relief at Wildenstein in New York in 1943. At some point he moved from New York to California, and became known for his passionate involvement with the objects he collected and for his notable generosity to institutions including the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and the Achenbach Foundation in San Francisco. In "Georges de Batz, The Mysterious Case of an Art Collector Extraordinary Found by Examination of a Painting," www.econservationline.com, No. 4, April 2008, pp. 52-68⁄94, the author N. Caldadaro relays a visit to de Batz’s San Francisco apartment in 1979 as Assistant Curator of the Achenbach Foundation, regarding the acquisition of de Batz’ collection of prints and drawings. He notes that “Mr. de Batz had been a collector known to curators and dealers from coast to coast in America… Both de Batz’ connoisseurship and his generosity are reflected in his museum donations. He was as great a mystery as his collections were rich.” The author also notes a Butterfield & Butterfield sale of the de Batz’ estate in San Francisco in the 1980s, perhaps where the present vase first appeared on the market, however, no records of this sale survive. The Georges de Batz Collection of Chinese Ceramics was presented at Christie's New York, 30 November 1983, while the collector was still alive, and comprised exceptional early wares and bronzes from the Shang to the Song dynasties.