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All auctions / Contemporary Art / Karl Lagerfeld (1938-2019) - Authentische Fendi Modeskizze
There are drawings that document a craft. And there are drawings that plunge you into the visual world of a genius. Karl Lagerfeld was not only one of the most influential fashion designers of the 20th and early 21st centuries – he was a compulsive draftsman. Long before a design found its way into the studio, he lived on paper. With pencil, ink, sometimes watercolor. Quick, precise, incorruptible. Lagerfeld drew daily – not as an end in itself, but as an independent artistic practice. His sketches were sought after by collectors, museums, and fashion houses alike because they showed what finished collections conceal: the immediate moment of the idea. This authentic sketch was created in 2014 for the Haute Couture collection of Fendi, right in a creative phase during which Karl Lagerfeld reinvented the fashion world season after season, with a productivity and consistency that is unmatched in fashion history. The motif is a fashion sketch of a lady in frontal view. She wears a long light gray A-line coat with a line of small buttons down the front, set off at the collar and the voluminous, puffed sleeve heads with a distinctive textured weave. Her hair is piled into a high, sharp, sculptural updo. The lady wears long black gloves, and at her visible foot a single pointed black pump can be seen. The expressive black ink line work is combined with a soft gray watercolor wash. Red appears in three places: in the hand-drawn frame that encloses the sketch, as well as in the handwritten inscriptions 'Fendi' at the top left and 'HC2014' at the top right, which associate the work with the Fendi Haute Couture collection 2014. At the bottom right is the signature 'Karl Lagerfeld'. The work is presented on cream-colored paper in a simple white frame. The work comes directly from the renowned Maison Lesage in Pantin, France – placing it in the inner creative orbit of Karl Lagerfeld at Fendi. Maison Lesage is no ordinary address. Founded in 1858, since 2002 part of Chanel Métiers d’Art, the house is regarded as the world’s most important embroidery atelier. Generations of couturiers – from Schiaparelli to Balenciaga, from Dior to Fendi to Saint Laurent – have relied on Lesage. For Lagerfeld, Lesage was for decades an indispensable creative partner: the most elaborate embroideries of haute couture collections, season after season, were produced in the Pantin ateliers. No house stood closer to the Chanel and Fendi cosmos. And from this house comes this work – directly. On the back of the sheet is still the original seal (Ref. KL4 77/90). The frame has been fitted with a bespoke viewing window so the document can always be viewed without opening the frame. A gallery certificate confirming impeccable provenance from Maison Lesage accompanies the work. Comparable drawings with identical and direct Lesage provenance have been offered at major international auction houses with estimated prices of USD 10,000–15,000. The present work also stands out for its extraordinary coloristic quality – the watercolor wash and the lavender tinting of the dress elevate it well above the mass of comparable pencil-ink sketches. For collectors who want the Chanel universe, the aesthetics of the Lagerfeld era, or the history of haute couture close at hand – this sketch is a rare document from the center of that world. +++ Details about the work & shipping +++ Artist: Atelier Maison Lesage, Karl Lagerfeld (German, 1933–2019) Title: KL4 77/90 – Fashion Sketch / Fashion Sketch Fendi Year: 2014 Technique: Mixed media on paper (pencil, ink, watercolor) Sheet size: approx. 21 × 30 cm (A4) Signature: Signed “Karl Lagerfeld”, bottom right Provenance: Directly acquired from Maison Lesage, 20 Rue du Cheval Blanc, 93500 Pantin, France · Gallery certificate of provenance included with shipment. Condition: Very good. The sheet shows minimal, studio-immanent creases that were already present during the creation at Maison Lesage. No foxing, no color loss, no restorations. Framing: The sheet is framelessly mounted in a mat and professionally framed under UV-protective glass. A viewing window is integrated on the back to allow sight of the original seal. Shipping: The work will be framed and carefully packaged for shipment. Because of the UV-protective glass, shipping is with appropriate protective packaging.
Estimate:£8,477.54
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Estimate:
£8,477.54
OCT 8 | 3:00 PM
OCT 8 | 3:00 PM
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