On June 6th, Artcurial will present an exceptional set of modern art, historical objects, and artefacts from great civilisations, all from the Philippe Dennery Collection. 

At the heart of this ensemble is Ville Verte by Zao Wou-Ki, a painting created in May 1952 (est. €2,500,000–€3,500,000), which invites viewers to immerse themselves in a dazzling universe of subtle atmospheric variations. Influenced by the work of Paul Klee, the artist develops a language of dynamic signs: suspended boats drift through the memory of a city where ancestral architecture mingles with the structures of a modern port. 

This dialogue continues with three major works by Alberto Giacometti — Tête de femme, Osselet and the Étoiles floor lamps (each estimated €150,000– 250,000) — whose gaunt purity reveals essential, hieratic silhouettes, echoing the figures found in Zao Wou-Ki’s work. A Bougeoir lamp by Diego Giacometti (est. €60,000–80,000), with its mordant tones that capture and reflect the light, extends this chromatic interplay.

These modern works, which draw their strength from the great masterpieces of the past — from Etruscan art to Chinese calligraphy — are surrounded by emblematic objects and furnishings that embody the craftsmanship of great civilisations. For instance, a group of Japanese prints by Utamaro offers a poetic evocation of traditional Japanese culture, while a set of missive boxes bearing the arms of the Grand Condé and King Louis XIII (est. €3,000–5,000) once held some of the most precious secrets in French history. 

A fragment of a late 16th-century Oudenaarde tapestry (est. €2,000–3,000), depicting a 

dramatic hunting scene between deer and lions, pays tribute to the universal presence of animal symbolism — an echo also found in an Inuit sculpture of a polar bear (est. €1,000–2,000). This recurring animal motif transcends centuries and cultures, reappearing in an elegant pair of large Regence carved walnut fauteuils a la reine (est. €15,000–20,000), adorned with a “parrot” motif immortalised in a painting by Jean-François de Troy.

Among the treasures from the Far East, two wooden statues of Guanyin from the Tang-Song dynasties (7th–12th centuries), formerly part of the Paul Houo-Ming-Tse collection (est. €30,000– 50,000), embody the spiritual depth of the Chinese pantheon. 

Finally, a drawing characteristic of late 19th-century Native American art — depicting horsemen galloping across the vast plains of the Kiowa — brings the collection to a close with a powerful evocation of free and ancestral cultures (est. €1,000–2,000).  
More than a mere assemblage of objects, the Philippe Dennery Collection embodies an intellectual and deeply sensitive journey — that of a curious and passionate mind, one who succeeded in creating a dialogue between forms, knowledge, and cultures across centuries.

While his father aligned himself with General de Gaulle as early as June 1940, Philippe Dennery moved to the United States, a country to which he would remain deeply connected throughout his life. He graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1954, followed by a Ph.D. in Theoretical Physics from Columbia University in 1958. He began his career as a researcher, first at the University of Pennsylvania, before joining CERN in Geneva.

Later, serving as an advisor to the French government, he took over the family furniture and decoration business, Société Dennery, which he expanded internationally, particularly in Africa and the Middle East, until its sale in 1999.

In parallel, Philippe Dennery acquired several companies, including the renowned paper and engraving house, Cassegrain. A man of strong convictions, he founded the Prix Novembre in 1989 — a literary alternative to the Goncourt Prize — which recognized authors such as Jean Echenoz, Régis Debray, and Lydie Salvayre over nearly ten years. Loyal to his roots, he also served for over 30 years on the board of the Fondation Franco-Américaine, the French counterpart to the French-American Foundation in New York, whose mission is to promote greater understanding between the two nations.