Georgina Adam diverts a little attention from the up-coming sales in London toward Christie’s travelling exhibition from the €35-50m Château de Gourdon sale of art deco and modernist furniture and objects that will be held in Paris in March:

The collection was until recently on show in a medieval château on the French Riviera and was put together by Laurent Negro, heir to an employment agency fortune in France. For various reasons – he cites disagreements with the local municipality – he has decided to sell the whole group. The 700 lots are being dispersed over three days, March 29-31, in Paris.

The collection is rich in art deco works, particularly by Dunand, Eileen Gray and Ruhlmann – with, for example, a super-smart macassar ebony commode with inlaid ivory and silvered bronze pulls (€500,000-€700,000). But the “heart” of the holdings is the array of modernist works by members of the Union des Artistes Modernes. A Le Corbusier chaise longue is estimated at €50,000-€70,000. There is even a cubist-inspired carpet by Francis Bacon, dating from his early days as a designer, estimated at €20,000-€30,000.

The Art Market: the Big-Hitters in London (Financial Times)