For 30 years French art director, scenographer and designer Alexandre de Betak has pulled off some the fashion world’s most outstanding catwalk shows. Who could forget the 59 ft mountain of blue delphiniums he constructed in the courtyard of the Louvre for Raf Simons’ final Dior show in 2015, or last year’s Paris show for Rodarte in a 16th-century hospital garden cloister – a location de Betak himself found.
In addition to pulling together more than 1,000 catwalk spectacles, the runway producer has also designed furniture and houses and amassed a vast collection of art and objets. On 28 March, Paris auction house Piasa holds a sale of more than 200 pieces taken from his Paris apartment. Among them are minimal and kinetic artworks and lights, furniture from the 1940s to the 1970s and prototypes of his own pieces.
Alexandre de Betak’s collection spans from the 1930s to the 1980s, combining futuristic pieces with pop in art and design
Pieces up for auction include Quanta, €10,000-€15,000, by Fabrizzio Cocchia and Giafranco Fini, 1970 and ‘Day Bed’ prototype, €10,000-€15,000, by Alexandre de Betak
Left, Gisele, €15,000-€20,000, by Alexandre de Betak, 2002. Right, Armchair prototype, €10,000-€15,000, by Jorgen Kastholm & Preben Fabricius, 1960s
Also up for sale is a range of toy figures, including Darth Vader and C-3PO cases, €300-€400
The 13-piece super-hero figure collection is expected to sell for between €5,000-€7,000
Tableau Mobile, Voyage n° III, €8,000-€12,000, by Frank Malina, 1958
‘Non stop sofa, modèle DS-600’ canapé, €3,000-€4,000, by Ueli Berger, 1972
Left, 4 cercles concentriques, €3,000-€4,000, by Gregorio Vardanega, 1969. Right, Radio, €600-€900, by Paul Louis Gastaud
Left, Programma, €18,000-€25,000, by Gianfranco Fini, 1970. Right, ‘Set of three chairs’, €800-€1,200, by Marinus A. Vjim
‘Centre de table’, €150-€200, by Joseph Hoffman, 1970
INFORMATION
‘Alexandre de Betak, My Parisian Interior Art + Design’ is on view from 22 – 28 March. For more information, visit the Piasa website
ADDRESS
Piasa
118 rue du faubourg
saint-honoré 75008
Paris
-
Jack White's Third Man Records opens a Paris pop-upJack White's immaculately-branded record store will set up shop in the 9th arrondissement this weekend
-
Designer Marta de la Rica’s elegant Madrid studio is full of perfectly-pitched contradictionsThe studio, or ‘the laboratory’ as de la Rica and her team call it, plays with colour, texture and scale in eminently rewarding ways
-
‘Nothing just because it’s beautiful’: Performance artist Marina Abramović on turning her hand to furniture designMarina Abramović has no qualms about describing her segue into design as a ‘domestication’. But, argues the ‘grandmother of performance art’ as she unveils a collection of chairs, something doesn’t have to be provocative to be meaningful
-
‘It feels almost alive’: This rare Judy Kensley McKie ‘Leopard Couch’ could be yoursDesigner Judy Kensley McKie’s 1983 ‘Leopard Couch’ will be auctioned at Phillips; one of her first fully realised sculptural furniture designs, it’s a zoomorphic delight
-
Elegant floor lamps to brighten autumn nightsThe best floor lamps and where to buy them: switch on to subtle lighting with our edit of elegant standing lamps for your home
-
The Bouroullecs’ ‘Belleville’ chair reimagined 53 ways for La Source Garouste auctionThe ‘Belleville’ chair is spliced, diced and furrified for La Source Garouste’s charity auction, by designers from Christian Louboutin to Constance Guisset
-
Dior Maison and Sam Baron unite for elegant outdoor furnitureSam Baron’s collaboration with Dior Maison draw on classic French design codes
-
Pierre Yovanovitch’s desk accessories for Dior are inspired by the south of France‘In the age of at-home work and virtual meetings, there is something very romantic about juxtaposing modern work life with well-crafted, tangible desk accessories,’ says Pierre Yovanovitch upon debuting his collection
-
Housden’s collection of Gerrit Rietveld’s furniture goes on sale at Christie’sBrian and Margaret Housden’s daughter shares musings on the legacy of the furniture that lived at Housden House, going to auction tomorrow
-
Christie’s opens sale of the century with Rockefeller collection, offering Picasso to Monet -
A former printworks makes an impression as a gallery and home for designer Xavier Lust
