Yves Saint Laurent Pierre Bergé - Christie's

patronage. As Bergé himself explained it to me:
‘I’ve always been familiar with art, even if I wasn’t
the collector I later became. By that, I mean that
Yves and I forged our taste together. Don’t take it
as conceited, but our one rule was high standards.
That’s why we waited until we had money to start
buying – the first major item we bought was a
Senufu bird that Yves had noticed on one of our
strolls. And then the collection grew, in constant
collaboration, with no design other than the
unrivalled pleasure it brought. Naturally. About 20
years ago, Yves asked me how I felt about owning
one of the finest collections in the world, and I
answered, “Let’s not exaggerate – we’ll see about
that later!” Why this collection, rather than
another? I think a collection is like a dinner party.
It’s composed not only of invited friends, but also
the friends who weren’t invited – I’m categorical
on that point. And then there are the guests who
couldn’t come, who were too busy. It’s the same
thing with this collection, certain guests couldn’t
come. There aren’t many of them – Barnett
Newman, Mark Rothko, Francis Bacon, David
Hockney… I’ll stop there. Yves and I deeply loved
those four artists, but for various reasons our
paths didn’t cross at the right time.’
Bergé’s literary leanings are unmistakable, and his
collection reflects them. Like literature, it triggers
reveries of other worlds, it maps imaginary
continents in the mind, it establishes unfamiliar
connections between civilisations and periods, and
it revives certain vanished charms, notably those of
literate 19th-century aesthetes. In this respect,
Pierre Bergé is an authentic Parisian, not guided
by the taste of the moment; instead, he applies the
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rules of etiquette in speaking metaphorically,
according to which the desired attire indicated on
an invitation will always encourage guests to dress
to the best of their own style and culture.
Never succumbing to the temptation to
accumulate, Bergé’s collection reflects a merciless
hunt to flush out objects that stimulate his
imaginative faculty (one miraculously spared the
need to quote from the past). It conveys a
seductive appeal, lyrically mingling good taste with
intellect. Its power of literary evocation and the
sincerity with which it was assembled are
revelatory of its true nature.
Just as Yves Saint Laurent had an undeniable,
lasting influence on creative design of his day, it is
to be expected that the collection put together with
Pierre Bergé – seen here in its totality for the first
time – will impress itself on the public mind and
lastingly influence our way of looking at art,
reflecting the two men’s broad humanist vision.
Outstanding for its quality as well as its diversity,
this collection reveals all its eloquence at the very
moment of its dispersal. For, like grand collections
of the past that significantly influenced taste of the
day – those of René Gimpel, Jacques Doucet,
Thyssen-Bornemisza and André Breton, to
mention just of few of the most glamorous and
unusual 20th-century examples – this one is
similarly enhanced by the collectors’ own prestige,
stamping it with the permanent seal of immortality.
– José Alvarez
Director of Editions du Regard
Translated from the French by Deke Dusinberre