MONSIEUR & MADAME FRANÇOIS - A LIFETIME OF COLLECTING The superb collections of Old Master and Impressionist pictures, French furniture, porcelain, silver and objets d'art assembled by M. and Mme. François are testament to a lifetime of collecting. In the homes they shared in Geneva, Monaco and Paris these works of art were carefully arranged in beautifully decorated rooms created by Mme François herself. M. François' interest in art started in his twenties and he was initially drawn to the great Impressionist artists. Soon his taste evolved to 20th Century art with Vuillard and Picasso among his favourites. Following his marriage in 1952 to Pari Riahi, his taste took a new course and together they embarked on a 'journey' of passionate collecting which would last their entire lives. Mme François had studied at the Beaux-Arts in Brussels and had developed considerable knowledge and a discerning eye. The collections they soon formed demonstrate a beautiful mix of old and new, with works of art of the 18th, 19th and 20th Centuries living harmoniously side by side. The pictures in the François collection range from the 16th to the 20th Century; from Breughel, Boucher, Rubens and Goya to Vuillard, Bonnard, Sisley, Renoir and Picasso, the list of artists represented in the collection is vast. Each item was studied, considered and carefully chosen, each purchase a mutual decision and testimony to a passionate lifetime of collecting.

Henri Lebasque (1865-1937)