Bringing together nearly seventy-five works by forty-four artists, this remarkably cohesive collection spans the major movements that shaped French and Belgian painting from the late 19th to the mid-20th century: from Impressionism to Symbolism, from the Nabis to the Pont-Aven School, right up to the chromatic explosion embodied by Bonnard. 

Among the highlights of the sale are Maurice Denis’s L’île Chevalier, the star lot estimated at €700,000–1,000,000, Pierre Bonnard’s La petite fenêtre (est. €550,000–750,000), and Édouard Vuillard’s Misia Natanson dans les bois (est. €450,000–650,000) represent the pinnacle of a collection where masterpieces and discoveries coexist with equal elegance.

The Pont-Aven School & the Nabis: The Heart of the Collection
At the heart of the auction, the Nabis and the Pont-Aven School take center stage, bringing together some of the most striking works in the collection. Maurice Denis’s L’Île Chevalier, the auction’s star lot (est. €700,000–1,000,000), dialogues with the artist’s Sancta Martha (est. €600,000–800,000) to reveal the full spiritual and decorative depth of this master of modernity. True to their name – Nabis means “prophets” in Hebrew – these artists embodied a major break in the evolution of painting in the 1890s, driven by Bonnard’s conviction that painting must above all be decorative. 

Pierre Bonnard is represented by two paintings of remarkable chromatic intensity: La petite fenêtre (est. €550,000–750,000) and La baignade (est. €150,000–250,000), two works that embody the freedom of color and space so characteristic of his artistic language. Misia Natanson dans les bois by Édouard Vuillard (est. €450,000 – €650,000) completes this collection with the painter’s signature intimate subtlety. Vallotton, Laval, Sérusier, and Paul Ranson – whose Suzanne et les vieillards further enrich this exceptional moment – are also featured.

Belle Époque & Symbolism: Worlds on the Margins
The Parisian Belle Époque comes to life with Louis Anquetin’s Au bar, alongside works by Forain and Raffaëlli, which evoke the nightlife and social fringes of a Paris in full swing.  

Belgian Symbolism offers two rare gems: Fernand Khnopff’s Étude pour la Défiance (est. €300,000–400,000), imbued with an aristocratic melancholy, and Léon Spilliaert’s striking Fillette au grand chapeau (est. €300,000–400,000), a work of unsettling presence. Redon, Puvis de Chavannes, Lévy-Dhurmer, and Lacoste round out this exploration of the world of inner life and dreams. 

For nearly twenty years, he built up an initial collection devoted to the great French painting of the 17th and 18th centuries: Boucher, Fragonard, Hubert, Robert, and Greuze, before devoting himself fully, starting in 2010, to the transition to modernism: from Corot to the Nabis, with a particular fascination for Maurice Denis and Edouard Vuillard, who embodied the boldness and aesthetic break of the late 19th century.

In 2015, the first auction of his collection, dedicated to 17th- and 18th-century French painting and organized in collaboration with Artcurial and Sotheby’s, was a resounding success.

Today, remaining true to this dynamic vision of collecting – rejecting compromise and preferring to embark on a new chapter rather than settle for a static collection – Louis Grandchamp des Raux presents a new selection of works, guided by passion, high standards, and a constantly evolving perspective.