Modern & Contemporary Art - Léon Lef Forster Collection - Design

MODERN AND CONTEMPORARY ART DESIGN

Including Léon Lef Forster collection

November 21, 2025 at 2:00 PM - Hôtel Drouot - Salle 10

ALL LOTS, WITHOUT CONSIDERATION OF WEIGHT, SIZE, PRICE OR METHOD OF ADJUDICATION (Telephone order, Drouot Live, Interenchères and in room) ARE LIKELY TO DESCEND AT DROUOT'S WAREHOUSE ACCORDING TO THE CONDITIONS OF THE DROUOT HÔTEL DES VENTES :

-Administration fee per lot: €5 / €10 / €15 / €20 / €25, depending on the nature of the lot*.

-From the 2nd day, storage fees per lot: 1 € / 5 € / 10 € / 15 € / 20 €, depending on the nature of the lot*.

Processing fees are capped at €50 incl. VAT per withdrawal.

A 50% reduction on storage fees is granted to foreign customers and art market professionals in the provinces (upon presentation of proof).

Le Magasinage de L'hôtel Drouot is open Monday to Friday from 1:30 pm to 7:00 pm.

6 bis, rue Rossini - 75009 Paris - France

Tel. +33 (0)1 48 00 20 18

magasinage@drouot.com

Léon-Lef FORSTER Collection: Singular, crude or naive?

A leading criminal lawyer born in 1947, Léon-Lef Forster is known for his commitment to defending leading political figures

and for his unwavering commitment to anti-racist causes. A tenor of the bar and Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur, he is also

He is also a passionate art collector, cultivating an eclectic and abundant vision of creation. An advocate of sometimes radical

radical forms of expression, he doesn't dwell on artist ratings, fashions or speculation.

his instinct and desire.

Glasses on the tip of his nose, licorice stick screwed to the corner of his mouth, Maître Forster welcomes me to his home, which resembles a 20th-century cabinet of curiosities.

twentieth-century cabinet of curiosities. In the large, richly decorated and molded salon, the light from the imposing basket chandelier

the light from the imposing corbeille chandelier. In this climate of light torpor, visitors are spied by the eyes of the masks of primitive arts or Guanyin.

or Guanyin masks. Carved ivories and other antiques stand on the secretary, mantelpiece and cabinet. On the walls

large-scale drawings by Micha Laury and Hervé Télémaque converse with formats by Philippe Pasqua and Agata Siecińska, alongside

a refined selection of 18th-century portraits and a superb canvas from Poussin's studio.

"I'm a compulsive collector," he tells me, his eyes bright and laughing. A euphemistic statement, given that only a tiny part of his collection graces his apartment.

of his collection adorns his apartment. A small Louvre, in fact: a few works on display, the rest hidden from view.

The auctioneer's complete inventory would take several days.

Léon-Lef Forster's love of contemporary art and his curiosity about discovering new talent has led him to acquire over the years both in galleries and at auction.

both in galleries and at auction. He befriended Éric Dupont, founder of the eponymous gallery, and Frédéric Roulette, of the

of Les Singuliers gallery.

"Singulière, brut ou naïve": this phrase comes to me spontaneously to describe the spirit of the collection. The expression echoes

echoes an emblematic exhibition at the Musée d'Art Moderne in Paris in 1988, which aimed to give a platform to young

and redefine emerging forms of creation. It featured Mickaël Bethe-Sélassié (1951-2020) and Jaber (1938-

2021), two artists also featured in the collection. This name consecrates, without reducing, these currents and gives them

the place they deserve in the history of contemporary art.

In parallel, artists from diverse horizons coexist: a drawing by Albert Bitran (1931-2018) with works by Marine Joatton (b.

1972) or Yazid Oulab (b. 1958), while paintings by Anne van der Linden (b. 1959) meet those by Gérard

Guyomard (b. 1936) and Pierre Bettencourt (1917-2006).

"There's a very artistic side to my collection," he emphasizes. If, by "artistic", Léon-Lef Forster means profusion, plastic research

or that subtle dissonance that grows in us when we fall in love with a work, then yes, this collection is deeply artistic.

is profoundly artistic.

It's up to the flâneur, the dreamer, the collector and the connoisseur to find their own coherence.

Ugo LEVOYER