Joseph Csaky

Collection of Jacques Doucet, Paris

Tajan, Paris, 21 May 2001, lot 87

Acquired from the above by the present owner

Jacques Doucet - Yves Saint Laurent, Fondation Pierre Bergé - Yves Saint Laurent, Paris, 15 October 2015 - 14 February 2016

Félix Marcilhac, Joseph Czaky, du cubisme historique à la figuration réaliste, Paris, 2007, p. 119, 123 and 348

Jacques Doucet Yves Saint Laurent, vivre pour l’art, exhibition catalogue, Fondation Pierre Bergé Yves Saint Laurent, Paris, 2015, p. 25-26 and 96

In 1927, Jacques Doucet started refurbishing his new residence at the 33 rue Saint James in Neuilly-sur-Seine, conceived as a manifesto of modern taste and meant to gather his collection of contemporary art, encompassing artworks by Picasso, Brancusi, Modigliani, Picabia or even Duchamp.

Joseph Czaky was then commissioned to realize the staircase, the main piece of the entrance, facing the Table au char by Eileen Gray and overseen by the Demoiselles d’Avignon by Picasso, placed on the first floor.

Built in aluminum and wrought iron, this staircase was decorated with black glass panels engraved with animal motifs, of which our Colombe au Rameau comes from. 

Jacques Doucet studio at Neuilly-sur-Seine, 1928. Start of the staircase ramp by Csaky, L’Illustration, 3rd may 1930. DR