The 7th “Photographic Promenades” of Vendôme will begin on Saturday, June 18, with an auction organized by the Maison de Vente Volontaires Rouillac. The core of this sale is comprised of ten Gustave Le Gray “seascapes”, exceptional both for their quality and for their provenance. For Yves Di Maria, auction expert, it is indeed quite rare to sell prints that originate directly from a collection of one of the photographer’s peers. In this case, the prints were conserved in the shipping family of Charles Denis Labrousse (1828-1898), who built this remarkably well-preserved collection.

Le Gray’s pictures taken between 1856 and 1858 are of the Reine Hortense in the Havre port the day prior to their departure for a North sea expedition, or shots of French and British fleets anchored in the Cherbourg harbor during Queen Victoria’s meeting with Emperor Napoléon III, the famous Vague brisée à Sète and a view of boats leaving the Havre port. In addition to these exceptional pieces, the auction is comprised of 176 lots including, among other items, 3 helio-engravings from Henri Fizeau’s daguerriene plates, and a portfolio of 15 Robert Doisneau pictures including the “Baiser de l’Hôtel de Ville”. There will also be a few works by Andy Warhol, Marc Riboud, William Klein, Edward Quinn and Yan Morvan…

Bernard Perrine
Bernard.Perrine1@orange.fr

Vendôme Photo Auction
Greniers de l’Abbaye
18 June 2011 at 2:30pm

PHILIPPE & AYMERIC ROUILLAC
Commissaires-priseurs, Expert près la Cour d’Appel
22, boulevard Béranger 37000 Tours
Tél: 33 (0)2 47 61 22 22
rouillac@rouillac.com

Expert
Yves Di Maria
+33 (0)6 73 39 03 44
yves.dimaria@free.fr