SALE OF THE CENTURY

Yves Saint LaurentIn Life, Yves Saint Laurent captivated the world with his runway collections for 50 years.   In death, it is the collection that took 50 years to amass that has the world in awe.   Who else but YSL could inspire art collectors to spend almost $500 million dollars in this economic environment? Last week Christies's auction house facilitated the 3 day sale with a staggering 700 items on the block    Name a major artist - they was there.   Matisse, Picasso, Degas - going once, twice, sold!    Sculpture, furniture, paintings - all chosen with the impeccable eye of an artist himself.    

Matisse - Les Couscous...-$46 MillionTo be fair, YSL's partner in business and in life - Pierre Berge, deserves a great deal of the credit.   Berge had been the glue that kept the fragile Yves together for 5 decades.  Imperial Chinese Rat Head - $20 Million When they met, Berge was an avid art collector who transferred his passion for promoting artists on canvas to an artist who worked in fabric.   While YSL was famous for his own battle with personal demons - both real and imagined  (Karl Lagerfeld just might have horns under that powdered wig!) it was the battles Berge handled in the business world that yielded massively lucrative licensees and fragrance contracts for the designer.Eileen Gray Chair - $28 Million

The timing of the auction is superb.   We need every ounce of good news to remind us all that one important key to the economic recovery is positive thinking- and how can you not smile seeing these treasures so enthusiastically snatched up one after the other at record prices!  With the state of the stock market and global banking - perhaps buyers feel artwork is a safer investment.

Timed just as Paris was preparing for fashion week - the auction garnered world wide press that no runway collection could hope to receive!  Hats off to Pierre Berge and once again to Yves Saint Laurent!