Bonhams - Magritte and Picasso lead impressionist and modern art sale at Bonhams Cornette de Saint Cyr in Paris

2025-11-18

On 3 December 2025, Bonhams Cornette de Saint Cyr’s Impressionist and Modern Art Sale in Paris will be highlighted by René Magritte’s Le changement de vitesse, a very important work on paper from the Paul Colinet collection, illustrating a Surrealist review Vendredi in 1951 (estimate: €200,000-400,000) and by Pablo Picasso’s Tête de Mousquetaire, 11 May 1967 (Estimate : €350,000-550,000) . The sale will also include a selection of works of art from various owners.

Emilie Millon, specialist in Impressionist and Modern Art, said

"Magritte's drawing entitled Le Changement de Vitesse, published in Vendredi, perfectly captures the spirit of the publication: a poetic and absurd exploration of objects and their representation. This work is extremely rare, as very few drawings or mixed media works on paper of this quality and format are now in the hands of private collectors. Its provenance is equally remarkable: it has been preserved for decades in a prestigious European private collection. Its reappearance marks an important event for Magritte collectors and for the surrealist canon more broadly."

Vendredi was a surrealist publication created by Belgian artist Paul Colinet as a means of corresponding with his nephew, Robert Willems, who was then living in the Belgian Congo. Circulating from November 1949 to October 1951, the publication gathered works by various surrealist artists, including René Magritte, Louis Scutenaire, Marcel Mariën, and Pierre Alechinsky. Each issue was made of handwritten or illustrated sheets, rich in collages, poems, drawings, and surrealist ideas. Although Vendredi never enjoyed wide distribution, it represents an important moment in the history of Belgian surrealism and in Magritte's own artistic journey. The drawings published in this periodical reveal a more intimate and experimental side of his work, far removed from the large canvases.

This work comes directly from the collection of Robert Willems. The rose remains a central motif in Magritte's visual language. Le Changement de Vitesse is a rare and singular work that perfectly embodies René Magritte's poetic subtlety, affirming his place as a key figure of surrealism. In this delicate composition, the artist brings together several of his recurring motifs — enigmatic architecture, floating clouds, suspended flowers — to construct a deeply intriguing scene, poised between meditative stillness and invisible transformation.

An example of the musketeer series by Pablo Picasso from the artist’s late career, is remarkable for its rich brushwork and dynamism (Estimate: €350,000-550,000). During a period of convalescence in late 1965, Picasso began to re-read a number of literary classics — including Alexandre Dumas’ The Three Musketeers. By the spring of 1966, this story had taken root in the artist's mind, and by the beginning of the following year, the figure of the musketeer had become a permanent part of Picasso's repertoire. Both historical and fantastical, the musketeer figures were vehicles through which the artist represented himself. This painting comes from the former collection of Louis Broder, who occupied an interesting place in the art book landscape of the time, notably by using the same typography in all his works. He published ten books, including works by Antonin Artaud, René Char, Robert Desnos and René Crevel, most of which were divided into two collections, ‘Ecrits et gravures’ (Writings and Engravings) and ‘Miroir du poète’ (Mirror of the Poet). ‘Writings and Engravings’ and ‘Mirror of the Poet’.

Other highlights of the sale include

• Joan Miro (1893-1983) Le lézard aux plumes d'orsigned, inscribed, dedicated and dated 'Le lézard aux plumes d'or. 20/VI/71. à mon ami Louis Broder, cordial souvenir de Joan Miro' (lower centre) Executed on 2 June 1969 (estimate: €230,000-330,000) 
• Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919) Esquisse de Paysagestamped with the artist's signature 'Renoir' (estimate: €100,000-150,000€    )
• Frédéric Bazille (1841-1870), Sur les bords du Lez, signed and dated 'F.Bazille 68' (lower left), oil on canvas. Painted in 1868 (estimate: €80,000-150,000) 
• Jane Graverol (1905-1984), Le Bel Azur, oil on Masonite, painted in 1958 (estimate: €15,000-20,000) 

A rare and important 'Rose de France' vase, circa 1903 by Emile Gallé (estimate: £120,000-180,000) to be offered at Bonhams in London on 16 December will be exhibited in Paris during the Impressionist and Modern Art presentation. Émile Gallé’s lifelong, inherited passion for flowers and botany shaped all aspects of his artistic output, from ceramics to furniture and glass. His pursuit of faithfully representing nature culminated late in his career with the development of Sculpture de Verre, a high-relief glass technique. This breakthrough appeared in 1900 with his masterpiece, the 'Rose de France' cup, created for the Horticultural Society of Nancy in honor of Léon Simon. Inspired by the symbolically patriotic Galicia Rose—which was said to grow only on its native soil—the work also echoed regional sentiment following France’s 1871 loss of territory, including Simon’s hometown of Metz. In his final years, Gallé continued refining this technique, frequently returning to the Galicia Rose as a subject, producing works regarded as the height of his artistic achievement.

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