Art: Jean Pierre Raynaud whithout reserve, Christie's Paris Oct. 27, 2006

The famous French artist, Jean-Pierre Raynaud, whose Golden Pot stands in front of the Pompidou Centre in Paris, is selling 80 of his own works from his personal collection, currently being shown at Nice's Musée d'Art Moderne et Contemporain.
This kind of radical artistic gesture is typical of the artist. The auction, which is taking place during the French art fair FIAC, will offer major historical works by Raynaud from the early 1960s through to those from the present day.
The 80 lots will be sold without reserve as the artist himself wishes to free these works by putting them on the market. This gesture is as impulsive and primal as the destruction of his tiled house in 1993. One of the most spectacular works in the sale is the 600 containers, to be sold in one lot, which hold the remains of his destroyed house.
The sale will offer a broad selection of pieces: from his first No Entry Sign, stolen in 1962 from a rubbish tip; the Pot rouge, a recollection of his years at horticultural school; Carrelage, tiled panels that are a homage to Mondrian; and Drapeau et boîte, with 182 cans that demonstrates our consumer-orientated and materialistic society.
Elegance and strength, fragility and power-these are the ingredients of Raynaud's artistic process and the auction itself will become the next step in his incredible oeuvre.