Presented by ArtCurial

On October 24, 2026, during Art Basel Paris, Artcurial will auction Louis Grandchamp des Raux’s collection, A shared Modernity. Bringing together nearly 75 works by 44 artists, this remarkably cohesive collection reflects a discerning and sensitive eye, shaped over twenty years of passionate collecting.

Spanning the major movements that transformed French and Belgian painting from the late 19th to the mid-20th century, the collection traces a journey from Impressionism to Symbolism, from the Pont-Aven School to the Nabis, and ultimately to the chromatic freedom of Bonnard. More than a historical panorama, it reveals the personal affinities of a collector drawn to artists who helped redefine painting and usher it into modernity.

The Conquest of Modernity

The collection opens with the pioneers of plein-air painting and Pre-Impressionism, including Théodore Géricault’s Cheval alezan and Jean-François Millet’s Barque de pêche, estimated at €500,000–800,000. Corot, Courbet, and Boudin further illustrate the growing sensitivity to nature, light, and the painted motif that would pave the way for the revolutions of the second half of the 19th century.

Impressionism is represented by two paintings by Berthe Morisot, Dans les vignes and La Roche Plate au Portrieux (est. €200,000–300,000), whose delicate brushwork captures the fleeting effects of light. Works by Henri Martin, Armand Guillaumin, and Henry Moret further explore the relationship between landscape and colour.

The Pont-Aven School & the Nabis: The Heart of the Collection

At the heart of the collection are the artists who radically transformed the language of painting at the end of the 19th century. The Pont-Aven School and the Nabis are represented by major works by Maurice Denis, Pierre Bonnard, and Édouard Vuillard.

Among the highlights of the sale, Maurice Denis’s L’île Chevalier, estimated at €700,000–1,000,000, stands as the collection’s star lot. It is presented alongside Sancta Martha (est. €600,000–800,000), revealing the spiritual, decorative, and deeply modern dimensions of Denis’s art.

Pierre Bonnard is represented by two works of remarkable chromatic intensity: La petite fenêtre (est. €550,000–750,000) and La baignade (est. €150,000–250,000). In Bonnard’s work, colour becomes an experience in itself, transforming both space and perception and embodying the freedom that characterises his artistic language.

Édouard Vuillard’s Misia Natanson dans les bois (est. €450,000–650,000) brings a more intimate dimension to the collection. His subtle interplay of figures, patterns, and surroundings blurs the boundaries between portrait, interior, and decorative composition.

Vallotton, Laval, Sérusier, and Paul Ranson, with Suzanne et les vieillards, further enrich this exceptional chapter devoted to one of the most fertile periods in the development of modern painting.

Belle Époque & Symbolism: Worlds Within

The collection also explores the more mysterious and introspective worlds of the Belle Époque and Symbolism. Louis Anquetin’s Au bar, alongside works by Forain and Raffaëlli, evokes the nightlife and social fringes of a Paris in full transformation.

Belgian Symbolism is represented by two particularly rare works: Fernand Khnopff’s Étude pour la Défiance (est. €300,000–400,000), imbued with an atmosphere of aristocratic melancholy, and Léon Spilliaert’s striking Fillette au grand chapeau (est. €300,000–400,000). Both reveal the Symbolist fascination with introspection, ambiguity, and the world of dreams.

Works by Odilon Redon, Puvis de Chavannes, Lévy-Dhurmer, and Lacoste complete this exploration of an art turned towards the imagination and inner life.

Louis Grandchamp des Raux: A Collector’s Journey

Behind the collection lies a deeply personal story. Louis Grandchamp des Raux began visiting Parisian museums at the age of ten, developing an early and intimate relationship with art. The inheritance of his grandfather’s collection would later crystallise his vocation and sharpen his eye, guided by a simple conviction: to look at a painting as one gets to know a person.

For nearly twenty years, he built a collection devoted to major French painters of the 17th and 18th centuries, including Boucher, Fragonard, Hubert Robert, and Greuze. From 2010 onwards, his focus shifted towards the transition to modernity, from Corot to the Nabis, with a particular fascination for Maurice Denis and Édouard Vuillard and the aesthetic rupture they embodied at the turn of the century.

In 2015, the first auction of his collection, dedicated to 17th- and 18th-century French painting and organised with Artcurial and Sotheby’s, marked an important milestone in his collecting journey.

Today, A shared Modernity, continues this dynamic approach to collecting. Rather than allowing a collection to become static, Louis Grandchamp des Raux embraces renewal, guided by passion, high standards, and an ever-evolving eye.

Through this selection, Artcurial presents not only an exceptional group of works, but also the portrait of a collector and his personal journey through the birth of modernity — a modernity he has chosen to explore, share, and now pass on.

For more information, please visit https://www.artcurial.com/en/sales/6540