A s passionate collectors who shared the same fascination for art and curiosity, Catherine and Alain Bernard’s zeal was always driven by joy and humor. The couple, constantly seeking items of all genres, frequented auction houses as well as fairs, biennials, and other major artistic events.
Gradually, from Rue Cambon to Rue de l'Université, their apartment became a playground in which Catherine delighted in mingling styles: a fabulous antlers mirror by Claude Lalanne, an important painting by Simon Hantaï, a drawing by Picasso, and a coral-lacquered wood chest of drawers by Elisabeth Garouste. Their collection also includes unusual furniture-objects and an animal menagerie of all species in wood, ivory and ceramic, all against a background of bright colors, pastels, and intense hues.
From the Pigeon table lamp to the Monkey Sll in patinated bronze signed by François-Xavier Lalanne, Catherine delights in surrounding herself with specimens of all species: cats, dogs, rabbits and teddy bears, in wood, ceramic, ivory and resin, amidst her horde of little Jack Russell terriers.
No doubt inspired by the naturalist creativity of her grandfather, the famous sculptor Albert Cheuret, who seemed to breath life into his animals in bronze, Catherine will never cease to enlarge her bestiary. In her living room on the rue de l'Université, Catherine presides over a menagerie of the most astonishing animals: a silvered bronze mirror in the shape of an owl inherited from her grandfather; a large cockatoo in Japanese ivory; a seated rabbit by Marcel Sandoz; and a majestic Rhinoceros dressed in lace by Salvador Dali, not to mention her beautiful collection of fish in Italian blown glass.
