Galerie Jean Desert: The Price of Desire: How The Dragons by Eileen Gray became a $28 million chair

At a Christie’s auction in 2009, an armchair by Irish designer Eileen Gray sold for €21,905,000 (approximately $28.3 million USD). At almost seven times the pre-sale estimate for this piece, the result set a record for a single piece of decorative art, a record that will likely stand for some time. According to popular opinion, the chair in question is not exactly…attractive. So how did this happen?

There is a triad of circumstances – a perfect storm, perhaps – that led to this outcome:

1) a rare piece by an important designer;

2) a star-studded provenance (this relates to the ownership history); and

3) the desire and means of the purchaser (coupled with unbridled consumerism)

The Dragons in situ at the Paris home of Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé (prior to the 2009 sale)

The Piece:

Designed between 1917 and 1919, The Dragons is a small-scaled club chair in the art deco style. It features leather upholstery framed in elaborately carved and lacquered wood, in the form of two intertwined dragons. A bespoke piece created for Suzanne Talbot (one of Gray’s early patrons), it is truly one-of-a-kind...apparently a good thing based on some opinions voiced in the media (the words hideous and ugly were chosen by David K. Li from The New York Post).

The Provenance:

This chair was from the collection of Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé, and it sold in the larger context of a very high-profile Christie’s sale of their entire collection (which incidentally yielded approximately US$75 million in total, almost tripling its pre-sale estimate). The Dragons had several owners prior to YSL, but was originally in the collection of the famous Parisian milliner, Suzanne Talbot. One can speculate that YSL and Bergé were attracted by this prior ownership due to Talbot’s high-profile role in the rag trade, especially since their collection also included pieces previously owned by Jacques Doucet, another famed Parisian couturier.

Suzanne Talbot's apartment in the rue de Lota, designed by Gray 1917-1919. The Dragons is shown here in its original white leather upholstery.

The Purchase:

The winning bid belonged to art dealers, Cheska and Robert Vallois, presumably on behalf of an anonymous client. When interviewed about the purchase, Cheska’s explanation was that “it’s the price of desire!” Another perspective came from New York collector and dealer Jose Mugrabi, who summed up the situation, “I think this sale is close to vulgar…people are hypnotized. They don’t know what they’re buying”.

What would Ms. Gray have made of all this? Here’s a clue…early in her career (while her work was still quite decorative, more aligned with what would become Art Deco than the Modernist aesthetic she later embraced), she created a number of bespoke pieces for Jacques Doucet (1853-1929), including a lacquered screen called Le Destin. In 1972 (when Gray was in her 90s), the screen garnered a record-breaking $36,000 at auction (purchased by YSL, incidentally…provenance played a role here, too). Gray scoffed at the news of this sale, especially as this piece was representative of a style she dismissed as ‘the sins of her youth’. No doubt, news of the bizarre alchemy leading to her more recent auction results would have her spinning in her grave.

Le Destin, a laquered screen by Gray, 1914

A few notes:

L’Amour Fou (Pierre Thoretton, 2011) is lovely, moody film about the relationship between YSL and Bergé. Filmed in the wake of YSL’s death, it documents Bergé as he prepares to auction the vast collection amassed by the couple over their many years together. Definitely worth watching, however frustratingly low on detail about the specific lots and auction results.