Onzea-Govaerts Collection Sells for €10M at Christie's Paris

The Onzea-Govaerts Collection, amassed by Belgian couple Joris Onzea and Suzanne Govaerts, sold for €10 million at Christie's Paris on March 27, 2025, exceeding pre-sale estimates. The auction, curated by Axel Vervoordt, achieved a 93% sell-through rate with 66% of lots selling above their high estimates. The top lot was Rik Wouters' 1912 painting 'Reflets,' which sold for €2.46 million, setting a new auction record. Lucio Fontana's 'Concetto Spaziale, Attese' (1960) fetched €1.068 million. A granite Egyptian head of Sekhmet sold for €819,000, and a Roman marble torso of Venus from the 1st century exceeded its estimate tenfold, reaching €315,000. The Louvre exercised its preemption right to acquire a significant dinner service once owned by King George III. However, Pieter Brueghel the Younger's 'The Wedding Banquet' failed to sell despite an estimate of €1.5-2.5 million. The collection included over 140 lots spanning diverse periods and styles, with strong results for African sculptures and works by Wouters, whose 13 pieces combined for €4.2 million.