Robert Capa's photo of Françoise Gilot under Picasso's umbrella, on a beach on the Côte d'Azur in the late 1940s is an iconic image. Gilot, herself a talented painter, had met the artist, who was forty years her senior, five years earlier at her first exhibition in Paris. Their relationship resulted in two children, and they moved together to the south of France, where said photo was taken. However in 1953, Gilot left Picasso and wanted to return to her life as a painter. The offended artist exerted his influence on the Paris galleries and forbade them from exhibiting Gilot's works. Françoise Gilot later published an autobiography reminiscing about her time with Picasso.
From now until May 13, you can bid on a work by Françoise Gilot at Catawiki, which is currently being presented as part of the 'Exclusive Selection' auctions from 13-15 May.
The 'Exclusive Selection' auctions on 13 May include modern art, coveted watches and collector's items from the sports sector. Classic cars, musical instruments and memorabilia, as well as design and wines, will follow on 14 May, while collectors of archaeological and natural history treasures, antiques and jewellery and fashion shouldn't miss 5he sales on 15 May.
Another highlight of the modern art auction is one of the sought-after embossed prints by Günther Uecker. The signed woodcut Nagel was published in 1992 in an edition of only 75 copies.
The music auction, which ends 14 May, features one of the Beatles' most coveted collectables: a copy of the Yesterday... And Today LP, featuring the controversial Butcher cover, released in June 1966 in the US.
For the cover photo of the LP, whose track list includes songs from various Beatles albums including Yesterday, Drive My Car and We Can Work It Out, the band once again collaborated with photographer Robert Whitaker, who had something different in mind for this project. The result was John, Paul, George and Ringo, dressed in butcher's smocks decorated with cuts of meat, broken dolls and dentures, smiling for the camera. 750,000 records were pressed and sent to journalists and dealers in advance of the actual release. But the cover was met with such great rejection that all copies had to be pasted over with a less controversial image before they went on sale. Catawiki is now offering one of the highly coveted copies of Yesterday... And Today that escaped this censorship.
In addition to dream cars from Ferrari, Porsche and Mercedes-Benz, the exclusive classic car auction also has this darling from Alfa Romeo on offer. The Giulia Sprint GTA first rolled off the assembly line in 1965 and was one of the two sports variants that Alfa Romeo had built from the Giulia GT model. 483 Giulia Sprint GTAs were produced, with only 50 of them with right-hand drive. At Catawiki, collectors and fans of Alfa Romeo now have the opportunity to bid on one of these rare cars.
Also from Italy comes this upholstered sofa and chairs set called Camaleonda, created in 1970, which is offered here in seven individually combinable modules. The creator of the spacious seating area is designer and architect Mario Bellini, who describes his inspiration as follows: "Camaleonda is a neologism that I invented in 1970 by crossing two words: the name of that extraordinary animal that is the chameleon capable of adapting to its environment and the word wave that indicates the curves of the sea and desert. Both of these words describe the form and function of this seat."
On the final day of the Exclusive Selection auctions, let's take a look at this showpiece from Hermès. In fact, the Haut à Courroies is the oldest bag model from the famous leather goods manufacturer, which was actually intended for transporting saddles and other bulky riding accessories. Catawiki is offering a Cosmos variant, in which the leather has been prepared by hand with a colour pattern that seems to resemble watercolour.
You can discover all the lots from Catawiki 's Exclusive Selection auctions right here.
