Nécessaire de bureau par Cartier de la vente Boni de Castellane.
Chaise Louis XVI provenant du château de Versailles, issue de la collection Rothschild.
Table aux caryatides de Diego Giacometti vendue par Hubert de Givenchy.
département Collections et enchaîné les provenances prestigieuses : Hélène Rochas, Alberto Pinto, Boni de Castellane, Paul-Louis Weiller, Hubert de Givenchy. Avec ce dernier, il a organisé la vente de ses pièces de Diego Giacometti et se souvient d’un détail qui résume l’homme : « une demi-heure après avoir enlevé les tables, au manoir du Jonchet, sont arrivées leurs copies réalisées par un ferronnier local et la gouvernante a reposé les piles de livres dessus, afin que « monsieur » ne soit pas trop perturbé. » Mais son émerveillement le plus mémorable restera sans doute celui qu’il ressentit en ouvrant les containers de la collection Rothschild… « Des objets qui avaient dormi pendant vingt ans dans un garde-meuble et qu’on redécouvrait, voire qu’on découvrait pour la première fois ! » Exemple avec cette chaise Louis XVI dont l’origine était incertaine… jusqu’au moment où le château de Versailles confirma qu’elle provenait du salon des Jeux. « Dans le même genre, il y a aussi la tête de Modigliani que j’ai découverte dans un appartement de Neuilly… » Elle a été adjugée plus de 34 millions de dollars. Aujourd’hui, Lionel Gosset se retire, mais de son fief en Normandie, il continuera à ouvrir l’œil. •
2008, however, brought a change: François de Ricqlès obtained the Pierre Bergé - Yves Saint Laurent sale, and asked Lionel to entirely devote himself to it. “There were things everywhere: rue de Babylone, rue Bonaparte, the apartments in avenue de Breteuil and avenue Marceau, the Bénerville property, the storage units… I went from one discovery to another.” The experience also allowed him to get to know Pierre Bergé’s more private and endearing side: “When I set up the collection for the exhibition, I locked myself away for 48 hours and one night, Pierre showed up. He inspected everything, and then slipped into the sculpture room which I hadn’t yet started on. He asked me: can I do a showcase? Of course, I replied. He then set up a beautiful 17 th century ensemble representing a Unicorn Hunt which was on a pedestal table in the rue Bonaparte apartment’s entrance hall. And each time he walked past, he moved the characters a little. It was like a tic. Finally, he set up each character in the showcase, and said to me: that’s it, I won’t touch them again.” Just one of dozens of anecdotes Lionel Gosset has up his sleeve… After the Saint Laurent sale, he created a Collections department and prestigious
sales accumulated: Hélène Rochas, Alberto Pinto, Boni de Castellane, Paul- Louis Weiller, Hubert de Givenchy. He organized the sale of the latter’s Diego Giacometti collection and remembers a detail which sums up the couturier to a tee. “Half an hour after having removed the tables from the Chateau de Jonchet, they were replaced with copies made by a local metalworker. Upon these piles of books were put back on top by the housekeeper so that “sir” would not be too disturbed.” But undoubtedly his most memorable frisson will remain the one he felt when opening the containers of the Rothschild collection… “We rediscovered objects which had been dormant in a storage unit for two decades, and in some cases discovered pieces for the first time.” An example, this Louis XVI chair with an unknown origin... unknown, that is, until the Palace of Versailles confirmed that it came from the Salon des Jeux. “In a similar genre, there is also the Modigliani head sculpture that I discovered in an apartment in Neuilly…” It was sold for over 34 million dollars. Today, although Lionel Gosset is retiring to his stronghold in Normandy, he will no doubt continue to keep his eyes wide open. •
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