L a Polynésie Découverte: Collection Charles-Edouard Duflon attests to the exacting standards of the collector and the adventure of a man with an extraordinary life. This collection of works reflects an imagination nourished by dreams, daring and achievements. Assembled with great care, they pay a masterful homage to Polynesian art and to the epic history of this part of the globe.
The beauty of the engravings, the rarity of the first editions, and the provenance of the ethnographic objects speak of Charles-Edouard Duflon's passion for Oceania and its history, and it is to this passion that the sale pays tribute. The collection includes an exceptional panorama of the history of the discovery of Polynesia, through accounts of the first voyagers, the iconography of the exceptional set of period engravings and by works of art with prestigious provenance.
"I am fascinated by the art of the Marquesas Islands, especially the tiki heads. Their repetitiveness is not static; It is almost hypnotic to me. The same face is repeated again and again on each object, as if in a surrealistic dream" (Berend Hoekstra, in Conru,"Les 'Yeux de Moko'", Tribal, No. 3, Summer 2003, p. 101).
