Paul Lombard
  Collection

Dear Paul,

To write about you is an arduous task. One must choose the where and the what to even begin to describe a life of such extraordinary richness.

Born in Marseille in 1927, you left an indelible imprint on those fortunate enough to have met you, especially in the realm of art.

Your careers as lawyer, writer and collector combined and intertwined for over 50 years, guided by the necessities of your inborn tendency to appreciate beauty, elegance, intelligence, and the spiritual dimension.

There is also a playful side to your personality, exemplified not only by your great gift for telling witty stories and sharing laughter, but also your pride in the singing intonations of your Phocaean origins that gave your exceptional journey even greater impact. You remind me of my own father, who also left the shores of the Mediterranean to embrace a career that only France’s capital could satisfy and appreciate.

Nevertheless, Marseilles was never far. Your firm remained active there since your debut in 1955, and the "Dictionnaire Amoureux de Marseille" that you published in 2009 is also here to recall the close connection.

Thanks to the auction, the collection you have left to your family, and more generally to all lovers of 20th  century art can now be explored. César, a compatriot and long-standing friend, created a "Centaure" who converses with a hieratic nude by La Fresnaye in a stylistic confrontation that is one of many in an unique itinerary where pre-and post-war periods intersect to recount and share your life.

Your collection was built as you built your career – with convictions, curiosity and eclecticism both in the cases you chose and the artistic creations that crossed your path, arousing both excitement and deep feeling.

Your active participation as a lawyer and often a friend in a large number of successions of the greatest artists of the 20th century (Chagall, Picasso, César, etc.) could only reinforce the abundant connections bridging both your passions.

You knew so well how to discern, understand and cultivate the precious qualities in this terrestrial nourishment that enables us to see the world from on high.

François Tajan
Deputy Chairman