Renowned Art Expert, Author of Catalogues Raisonnés
« Olivier Bertrand or passion turned into man, » wrote Pierre Cockshaw, Chief Curator of the Royal Library of Belgium, in the preface to his introduction to Olivier Bertrand first catalogue raisonné, dedicated to Rik Wouters.
“When passion, art and research converge, an infinite number of possibilities open up.”
Olivier Bertrand and a painting by Théo Van Rysselberghe, examined for Christie’s in New York.
1. EXPERTISE
The art expert
It is true that Olivier Bertrand camped out in the famous Brussels library, mainly in the Archives and Museum of Literature. Other libraries in Belgium, the Netherlands, France, and the United States saw the young man settle into their reading rooms for weeks, often months, sometimes years, as was the case at the Library of the Royal Museums of Belgium, where he combed through all the collections in search of information for his future publications and exhibition projects.
Compiling a catalogue raisonné was a natural choice for Olivier Bertrand, who combined impeccable ethics with unwavering rigor.
Rik Wouters was another obvious choice for the young Boitsfort resident, whose family from the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg settled in Watermael-Boitsfort in 1907, the same year as Rik Wouters and his wife. The two families lived a few kilometers apart and never knew each other. They were brought together in a way when Olivier Bertrand published the catalog raisonné of the famous painter in 1995. Other works by Olivier Bertrand devoted to Rik Wouters were subsequently published.
Olivier next to Rik Wouter’s Masterpiece which he purchased from Baron Lambert mythic collection.
Catalogue raisonné, volume 1, 2015
In 1920 and 1921, Russian painter Ivan Pokhitonov, who was living on Rue du Trône in Brussels at the time, would regularly set up his easel in Watermael-Boitsfort, on Rue Louis Ernotte to be precise, where he painted the opulent villas of what was then the Brussels countryside. It was on this street that Olivier Bertrand’s Luxembourgish great-grandfather built what would become the family home for four generations. Again, there was no connection between the Bertrands and Pokhitonov until the publication in 2015 of the Russian painter’s catalogue raisonné. This is the first catalogue raisonné devoted to a Russian artist and signed by Olivier Bertrand, who is the world’s leading authority on the artist’s work.
After Rik Wouters and Ivan Pokhitonov, Olivier Bertrand is now studying two other painters, Théo Van Rysselberghe and Georges Lemmen and, for whom he is also the authority on the authenticity of their works, as he prepares their respective catalogues raisonnés.
Forgers are becoming increasingly ingenious in their attempts to deceive the world, and a competent authority is essential to protect the memory of artists and all those involved in the market.
Théo Van Rysselberghe exhibition catalogue, Bozar, Brussels, Gemeentemuseum The Hague, 2006
Olivier Bertrand, La Cote de l’Art Belge, 2003.
Defining Belgian Art Values
Olivier Bertrand has also played a pioneering role in documenting the Belgian art market. He published the first art price guides dedicated exclusively to Belgian artists, notably La Cote de l’Art Belge / Belgian Artists in 2003. This landmark publication brought together price references for more than 2,000 Belgian artists, offering collectors, professionals, and institutions an unprecedented overview of the Belgian art scene and establishing a key reference tool for the valuation of Belgian art.
The shortlist of the artists included: Jean Brusselmans, Edgard Tytgat, Xavier Mellery, William Degouve de Nuncques, Jean-Jacques Gailliard, Louis Thévenet, Philibert Cockx, Willem Paerels, Constantin Meunier, Henri Ramah, Adrien-Joseph Heymans, Juliette Wytsman, Rododlphe Wytsman, James Ensor, among many others.
2.curation
The Exhibition Curator
Olivier Bertrand was the curator of the two largest retrospectives devoted to Rik Wouters and Théo Van Rysselberghe, which respectively welcomed 120,000 (Bozar) and 140,000 visitors (Bozar and Gemeentemuseum of The Hague) after having organised a first biographical exhibition in the Nassau Chapel of the Royal Library of Belgium. Olivier Bertrand, drawing on his experience, expertise and knowledge of the market and collectors, has also contributed to numerous other exhibitions dedicated to the artists of whom he is an expert or to subjects concerning them such as European Fauvism.
The Théo Van Rysselberghe exhibition in Bozar, Brussels, 2006, curated by Olivier Bertrand
More than 10 years of negociation for Rik Wouters masterpiece. Patience is another quality for an Art dealer.
3. ADVICE
The Art Advisor and Dealer
“L’homme pressé” (The Man in a Hurry), starring Alain Delon and based on the novel of the same name by Paul Morand, and the discovery of Betty Barman’s legendary collection in Ixelles (masterpieces by Pistoletto, Warhol, Wesselmann, Picasso, Calder, André, Lewitt, etc.) were the two triggers for a vocation that has never lost its momentum, fueled by a passion for research, discovery, emotion, and sharing.
Olivier Bertrand has negotiated works and sometimes masterpieces by numerous sculptors, from Rodin to Calder and Wouters, as well as numerous painters, from Renoir to Spilliaert, Van Rysselberghe, Magritte, and Alechinsky. But other, much less well-known artists have also caught his attention, the only condition being the emotion they are capable of evoking.
4. RESEARCH
The Insatiable Researcher
Olivier Bertrand’s passion for study and research has never waned over time. His expertise relies on impeccable sources, such as photographic archives, the correspondence of the artists studied, and documentary archives like those of the renowned Galerie Georges Giroux, Rik Wouters’ long-time dealer.
On a personal level, Olivier Bertrand has assembled a unique collection of several hundred unpublished letters written to Théo Van Rysselberghe and signed by Paul Signac, Henri-Edmond Cross, Octave Maus, and André Fontainas. More than 500 catalogues annotated by the successive directors of the Galerie Georges Giroux are also important sources of information. All of this has enabled Olivier Bertrand to publish two catalogues raisonnés with an impeccable reputation, equivalent to two doctoral theses. Catalogues raisonnés of Théo Van Rysselberghe and Georges Lemmen are currently in preparation.
Unpublished letters as a source of details, evidences, titles, contexts and dates but also authentification for works of art.
