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€41,852
Domínguez, Picasso-style
HD
€21,080
Tuscany, 7th century
AUCTION RESULTS THE MAGAZINE
Proposed on 8 February at Drouot, this panel by Óscar Domínguez in the style of Picasso
garnered €41,852 (Ader auction house). Painted in 1954, it echoes the Malaga-born artist's
famous oil on canvas painting of 1921, "Musiciens aux masques", 203 x 188 cm, now in the
Philadelphia Museum of Art. Both artists shared a passion for women and bull-fighting.
During the war, the young painter produced works in the master's style to sell to the Germans.
Picasso didn't hold it against him, as the money earned in this way swelled the coffers of the
Resistance. Over the following years, Domínguez did pastiches of the two painters he
admired, Picasso and Chirico, that were "too often too close", according to critic and poet
Gérard Legrand. Here, enthusiasts didn't hold it against him… S. A.
On 30 January at Drouot, this "a cassetta" frame in carved gilded
wood obtained a bid higher than its estimate: €21,080 (Lasseron &
Associés auction house). This "bordure", a French word meaning
"border" used to describe frames in the 17th and 18th centuries, has
a generous format and finely-worked decoration featuring both
relief motifs and effects with matt and glossy gold. Balzac
considered that frames had extraordinary powers, enabling any old
daub to pass for a masterpiece... In his short story "Pierre Grassou",
the dealer Magus, when presenting a picture by the young painter
who gives his name to the novella, says, "I have placed it in a border
so that it can be given to someone who thinks they know all about
painting." The painting is sold for a price that remains secret, but
enables Magus to say: "I reimbursed my purchase, and even made
a little on top." Let's hope that this frame will serve as a setting for a
painting with its own particular take on the "human comedy"...
Sylvain Alliod