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Lot 129 Damià Mateu (1864-1935) was one of the most important figures of the Catalan bourgeoisie during the first third of the twentieth century.
In 1904 Damià Mateu created “La Hispano Suiza, fábrica de Automóviles, S.A.”. They opened the doors to this auto manufacturer on Calle Floridablanca in Barcelona, opening a new location in La Sagrera in 1911 and later others in Levallois (France), Bois-Colombes (Paris) and Guadalajara. La Hispano was a leader in auto and aviation technology and became one of the crucial elements in the Allied air supremacy in World War II. The most prominent and elegant figures of the time drove and collected Hispano Suiza cars such as Pablo Picasso, Albert Einstein, Coco Chanel, Benjamin Guggenheim, Francis Picabia, etc...
Damià Mateu was also a passionate patron of the arts and one of the great private collectors of twentieth-century Catalonia, evidenced by his creation of the Museum of Chinese Art at the Palau de Pedralbes. His collection was acquired both during his several trips to China and on the European market. In 1935 a catalogue of pieces in the Museum was published. It was the first time in Spain that a Chinese art collection was important enough to be published. Today the Museum doesn't exist anymore, and the collection has been dispersed.
In 1904 Damià Mateu created “La Hispano Suiza, fábrica de Automóviles, S.A.”. They opened the doors to this auto manufacturer on Calle Floridablanca in Barcelona, opening a new location in La Sagrera in 1911 and later others in Levallois (France), Bois-Colombes (Paris) and Guadalajara. La Hispano was a leader in auto and aviation technology and became one of the crucial elements in the Allied air supremacy in World War II. The most prominent and elegant figures of the time drove and collected Hispano Suiza cars such as Pablo Picasso, Albert Einstein, Coco Chanel, Benjamin Guggenheim, Francis Picabia, etc...
Damià Mateu was also a passionate patron of the arts and one of the great private collectors of twentieth-century Catalonia, evidenced by his creation of the Museum of Chinese Art at the Palau de Pedralbes. His collection was acquired both during his several trips to China and on the European market. In 1935 a catalogue of pieces in the Museum was published. It was the first time in Spain that a Chinese art collection was important enough to be published. Today the Museum doesn't exist anymore, and the collection has been dispersed.
STATUE DE GUANYIN EN PORCELAINE DEHUA
CHINE, DYNASTIE QING, XVIIIÈME-XIXÈME SIÈCLE
Closed14 June 2023
Estimate
EUR 10,000–15,000