Reminder: The French INHA provides a link to search the famous Drouot Auction House Catalogues
https://aucase.inha.fr/search
Searcb possibilities include
- Artist or School
- Date
- Auctioneer
- Expert
- Item category
- Texts
One can find, for example, auctions of artworks that were looted from the estates of Jewish collectors like Gentili di Giuseppe and later restituted to heirs.
Succession de M. Gentili di Giuseppe, 1re vente [...] : [vente des 23 et 24 avril 1941]
Sothebys 2018
Manner of Alessandro Magnasco
Cardplayers by a fire
oil on canvas
59 x 44.3 cm.; 23 1/4 x 17 1/2 in.
Provenance
With Benno Geiger, Venice, 1914;
Frederico Gentili di Giuseppe (1868–1940), Paris;
Forced sale of his deceased estate, Paris, Hôtel Drouot, 23–24 April 1941, lot 53, for 20,000 FRF;
Private collection, Milan, by 1949;
On deposit in the Musée du Louvre, Paris, 1951–1999, inv. no. MNR 798;
Restituted to the heirs of Frederico Gentili di Giuseppe;
By whom sold ('The Collection of Federico Gentili di Giuseppe'), New York, Christie's, 27 January 2000, lot 83;
Jacob Elie Safra (b. 1948), New York;
By whom sold, ('The Collection of Jacob Elie Safra'), New York, Sotheby's, 26 January 2011, lot 32, for $130,000;
Where acquired by the present owner.
***
(Sometimes, however, it's hard to find the Drouot transaction, like for this Signac, sold by Sothebys:
Description
Paul Signac
LES TOURS VERTES, LA ROCHELLE
signed P. Signac and dated 1913 (lower right)
oil on canvas
73 by 92cm.
28 3/4 by 36 1/4 in.
Provenance
Bernheim-Jeune, Paris (acquired in 1913)
Léonce Rosenberg, Paris (acquired on 2nd December 1913)
Clausen, Copenhagen (1920)
Leicester Galleries, London (acquired circa 1920)
A. Metthey, Paris (1927)
Gaston Lévy, Paris (acquired by 1933)
Sale: Hôtel Drouot, Paris, 15th December 1943, lot 97
Galerie Robert Schmit, Paris
Galerie de l'Elysée, Paris
Acquired from the above by the family of the present owners in 1953
(Maybe an art historian can find it in the digital auction catalogue?)
***
More digital resources for art historians and provenance researchers are listed on the French Agorha site: https://agorha.inha.fr/database/76
The French INHA (Institut National d'Histoire de l'Art) digital library includes over 6,000 20th century auction catalogues. French catalogues are from Drouot - 3,542, Christie, Manson and Woods - 921, Baudoin, Henri (1876-1963) - 636, Ader, Étienne (1903-1993) - 626, Sotheby's - 286, Lair-Dubreuil, Fernand (1867-1931) - 275, Dillée, Bernard - 251, Baudoin, Denis Émile Pierre - 249, Desvouges, André (1871-19??) - 249, Paulme, Marius (1863-1928) -239, Bottolier-Lasquin, Georges (18??-1932) - 228, Damidot, Paul - 198. (lootedart.com)
Url to search:
https://bibliotheque-numerique.inha.fr/collection/?&refine[Categories][]=Imprimés&refine[Categories][]=Imprimés$$$Catalogues%20de%20vente$$$20e%20siècle
