FABULOUS JEWELS FIND NEW HOME IN CYBERSPACE

An exhibition of sci-fi jewelry closed this week at the Villa De Bondt, the Art Deco paradise in the Belgian city of Ghent. Fans of the jewelry designer Bernard Francois were left begging for more, and so he announced a virtual museum then and there, available for anyone to access for free. This is not the first time that Bernard Francois has kicked against convention. Thirty years ago he set up his Neon Gallery, and treated visitors who came to view his jewelled creations like long-lost friends. And there were some astonishing creations for his new audience to view, where nanotechnology, cartoon strips and sci-fi collide head on with beauty and bling, and where plastic is just as important as precious metals. Now, in keeping with his sense of mischief and surprise, Bernard Francois has decided to exhibit his amazing Villa De Bondt collection not alongside other word-renowned jewellers but alongside ordinary members of the public.

His preferred global gallery is our CollectValue social network site, where he has found a new ally to champion his cause. Our Curator, Etienne Verbist says, “I took one look at his exhibition on our site and decided he must have his own online museum. Don’t get me wrong, I love people who use us to display their collections of say Barbie dolls and vintage motorbikes, but this man’s visionary jewelry looks like it was designed to be worn by future cyber-lady robots.”

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CRASH COURSE IN PLANE SAILING

An avid plane-spotter has been putting excellent images in the Aviation gallery of the CollectValue museum.
Nothing unusual about that, you may think. But alongside the embroidered flyers' patches and military choppers, his latest exhibition is a collection of plane crashes. Our spies tell us that the photographer is a banker based in Luxembourg, which may explain the expression on the face of the Boeing 747 as it poses for his camera. Read more ...

THIS IS NOT A BLOG

The only complete manuscripts of The Surrealist Manifesto have been sold at auction for the amazing value of five million dollars. This has enraged art historians and critics, but all you true surrealists will be delighted. The CollectValue Gazette certainly is. The Paris Museum of Letters and Manuscripts is now the proud owner of these papers from 1924, which represent the most influential documents in modern art. They are all signed by the founder of surrealism himself, Andre Breton.

Andre Breton completely rejected the whole idea of art having any lasting value at all, and he must be happily spinning in his grave at the absurdity of it all. His Surrealist Manifesto influenced the work of the most collectable artists of the 20th Century, including Pablo Picasso, René Magritte, Salvador Dali and Marcel Duchamps. Their artworks have all commanded huge sums of money for years, but now a printed manifesto by the Daddy Of Them All has achieved the same heady heights. Read more ...

A MUSEUM CONSTRUCTED OUT OF 32,000 BEER CRATES

A museum made out of 33,000 beer crates has shot up in the middle of Brussels. Called ‘The Pavilion of Temporary Happiness’, it commemorates the 50th anniversary of the Brussels Expo 58 World Fair, and it will stand proudly in front of the Atomium landmark - the 1958 symbol of post-war optimism and the Atomic Age - until it gets demolished and recycled on October 19th.
The giant yellow plastic structure houses an exhibition of classic style icons, partly culled from the private collection of CollectValue.

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For sale: The world’s largest record collection!

The world’s largest music collection - 3 million vinyl records & 300.000 cd’s - is up for sale! Paul Mawhinney, 69 years of age and in bad health after a few strokes, put his whole collection on eBay at a starting price of three million dollars. The resulting winning bid ($ 3.002.150) turned out to be false.

Mawhinney, who resides in Pittsburgh, is currently negotiating with other potential buyers. He remains upbeat and states turning down an offer of 28 million dollars nine years ago.

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Nooit genoeg! Verzamelpassie in beeld

Uitgeverij Lannoo brengt een nieuw boek over en voor gepassioneerde verzamelaars. Vijftig fascinerende privé-collecties en vijftig intrigerende portretten van de mens achter de verzameling in één boek. Vier auteurs gaan vanuit verschillende disciplines op zoek naar een verklaring voor de verzamelwoede. Fotograaf Jelle Vermeersch trok met de camera op pad om de vijftig verzamelaars in hun eigen omgeving met hun verzameling te portretteren wat resulteert in een fotografisch portret dat balanceert tussen een etnografisch - documentaire blik en een artistieke verbeelding.

Vanaf vandaag in de boekhandel.

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CollectValue @ Utrecht International Collector fair

Saturday and Sunday the Jaarbeurs in Utrecht was the only place to be for European collectors, as they swarmed over the displays of 2,000 exhibitors. And CollectValue was in the thick of it. We welcomed many old friends to our stand, and welcomed loads of new ones… 

Special thanks to Martin Miesi, who drove all the way from the UK to park his wonderful Nissan Figaro on our stand…

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‘Tintin en Amérique’ auction breaks all records

Today the Paris based auction house Artcurial has sold a gouache by Hergé, which was produced for the 1932 cover of Tintin en Amérique for a staggering 650.000 € - an absolute world record price for a work of art by a cartoon artist. The Hergé painting was expected to sell for 280.000 €.

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CollectValue @ the International Collector fair Pt 2

Come over to our booth and discover this Classic car!

Back in the mid 1980s Shoji Takahashi, a Japanese designer, set about creating a retro-styled car that would have all the charisma of a Sixties classic but with all the benefits. of modern standards in safety, comfort and performance. The result is the Nissan Figaro, which remains one of the most unusual cars of the late 20th century.

Revealed at the 1989 Tokyo motor show, the Nissan Figaro was an instant hit and it soon became apparent that the manufacturer’s original intention to produce just 8,000 units would fall well short of the potential demand. It was so over-subscribed at launch that the 250,000 would-be buyers had to enter a lottery and hope they would be one of the 20,000 names out of the hat. Fifteen years on, the Figaro is still in demand and a classic in its own right, with a devoted British following. High-profile owners include Eric Clapton and Frank Skinner.

Powered by a 1 litre petrol engine, the Figaro was, in essence, a reskinned Nissan Micra. A turbocharger boosted its power to 75bhp and, thanks to a kerb weight of just under 1,800lb, the car offered plenty of zip for the city while still returning good fuel economy.

But few buyers were concerned with the Figaro’s technical specifications, it was the model’s looks that set it apart. With styling more reminiscent of the late 1950s and early 1960s the Figaro was offered in just four body colours – topaz mist, emerald green, pale aqua and lapis grey – with each of the nonmetallic, matt finishes designed to represent a different season of the year.

CollectValue’s booth is located at the ‘Museum Plaza’ in Hall 7.

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CollectValue @ the International Collector fair.

Europe’s biggest event for collectors: that is the international Collector’s Fair taking place on Saturday, 5th and Sunday, 6th April 2008 the Jaarbeurs Utrecht, The Netherlands. Over 2000 stalls in five halls offer every possible collectable item, from china dolls to seventies lampshades and from design glass ware to pocket watches. For anyone that enjoys browsing around flea markets and bric-a-brac shops the biannual Collector’s Fair is a true paradise.

The fair also offers an entertaining programme with special exhibitions, presentations, demonstrations and signing sessions. This edition the fair’s focus is on contemporary collections of vintage fashion and clothes. The Dutch Hat Museum exhibits a hundred ladies hats with flowers, the exhibition ‘From hat to toe’ shows a collection of festive dresses from 1930 on, complete with period accessories and a collection of shoes and handbags. Specially for this spring fair a great number of classic cars line up on two locations.

CollectValue will have a large booth at the ‘Museum Plaza’ in Hall 7, so we invite you all to come over.

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