Three works by Paul Cézanne have been removed from the “Le Temps Retrouvé: The Schlumberger Collection” evening sale at Sotheby’s Paris on Thursday coinciding with Art Basel Paris.
The three works: La Ferme, Arbres au Bord de la Rivière and Ciel Entre les Arbres, carried a combined estimate of $1.57 million to $2.24 million (€1.4 million to €2 million) and were painted between 1862 and 1864. The paintings are being returned to the artist’s hometown in Aix-en-Provenance to be displayed at the Musée Granet along with the artist’s other work. Sotheby’s said it has been holding discussions with the Schlumberger family and the town of Aix-en-Provence which, with the support of the French Ministry of Culture, now intends to acquire the artworks for the museum.
Thomas Bompard, co-head of modern and contemporary art at Sotheby’s France, said in a statement that there “could scarcely be a more fitting homecoming for these three remarkable paintings” that were created at the Jas de Bouffan, the family estate and early studio of Cézanne, which was such a critical part of his artistic evolution. Bompard added that the three paintings have “an extraordinary connection to Aix-en-Provence. We are delighted to have helped bring together the Schlumberger family and the town of Aix-en-Provence, and that—thanks to their commitment and the support of the French Ministry of Culture—a perfect path has been found to enable the works to return to the place where their story began.”
The paintings were once an important part of Jas de Bouffan, as they made up a large mural painted on the ground floor walls as a nod to the great masters of the past that Cézanne admired. However, the mural was detached and transferred to canvas in 1899 following the dispersal of the estate and then divided into eight fragments.