T his November, Sotheby’s is honored to invite the perfume publisher Frédéric Malle to curate our sale Important Design, featuring the creations of the greatest 20th century and contemporary designers.
Major works of historic and prestigious provenance are displayed, including the console by Eileen Gray from the Charles and Marie-Laure de Noailles collection, and the silver box by Jean Goulden created for his wife.
Spanning the finest works of key designers, this auction presents an exceptional selection of ingenuous designs, through which Frédéric Malle shares his choices. With the infamous Proust questionnaire, the 19th century interrogation of the mind, heart, and soul, we get into Frédéric’s creative attitude…
My favorite virtue
Kindness.
The quality I prefer in a man
The courage.
The quality I prefer in a woman
Intelligence.
What I most value in my friends
Loyalty and humour.
My main default
Intransigence.
My favorite occupation
To observe.
My dream of happiness
A family trip.
What would be my greatest misfortune
Losing my loved one.
What I would like to be
So many things.
The country I would like to live
I chose to live in the United States.
My favorite color
It depends on the light and my mood.
My favorite flower
Epiphyllum Oxypetalum, also called "Dama di Nocce", because it’s rare and I love its fragrance.
My favorite bird
The one who flies away from me.
My favorite poet
Victor Hugo, because I love the character.
My favorite composer
Bach, Wagner, The Rolling Stones….
My favorite painter
Impossible! Piero de la Francesca, Cézanne, Malevich, Matisse, Carl André…?
My real-life heroes
Those who resisted.
My heroines of history
The women behind the success of their loved ones, who are never talked about. Starting with artists’ wives.
What I hate most of all
The smell of garbage trucks.
The gift of nature I would like to have
A hyper-precise nose.
How I would like to die
In my sleep.
Actual state of mind
Conqueror.
Faults that I find most forgiving
Over-enthusiasm.
My motto
Go the distance.
My favorite designers
Jacob, Sottsass, Eileen Gray, Jean-Michel Frank, Marcel Breuer, Charlotte Perriand, Poul Kjærholm, Donald Judd, Andrea Branzi, Pierre Charpin, Martin Szekely….
