The sale of Jean Claude Abreu’s collection took place at Christie’s in Paris two days ago. Edited by Marie Benoit.

He was last of a generation of gentlemen who regarded even the mildest self-promotion as utter anathema. Abreu was the discrete shareholder of the magazine L’Oeil which was first published in 1957, entirely thanks to his generosity. Having been contacted by the writer Georges Bernier with the idea of creating a luxurious, highly-sophisticated publication to cover all visual and decorative arts, Abreu agreed to become backer and publisher. This revered publication still appears today and was subsidized by Abreu until 1971 when he sold the title. Characteristically he ensured that his name never once appeared on the masthead or in smallest print whatsoever.

As a man-of-letters, conversationalist, mountain climber and jazz expert his knowledge of literature was as extensive as his love of the visual arts. He was the ultimate enthusiast.

He liked mixing styles and eras. The objects in the auction, tell in a subtle way, the wonderful intellectual and cultural heritage of his Franco-Cuban family. Their family traditions of philanthropy, love of art and literature, but also patronage was well known both in France and Cuba. From his family, Jean Claude Abreu inherited paintings and objets d’art which were in this sale; but moreover he was able to develop an artistic sense and good taste from the rich and cultured milieu of his surroundings.

He was born in 1922 in Paris to a French-Armenian mother and a father from the fabled Abreu family of Santa Clara, Cuba, a land-owning dynasty whose wealth is only matched by the elegance of its Old World connections.The family had for a very long time sustained its links with France.

His aunt, Lilita Abreu, Madame Albert Henraux, founded with Pierre Abreu, her brother and father of Jean-Claude, the Maison de Cuba at the Cité Universitaire de Paris.

Lilita, mentor of the Nouvelle Revue Française, muse of Jean Giraudoux and of Saint John Perse was also a model for artists such as Vuillard and Dunoyer de Segonzac and she donated a great number of works of these artists to national museums.

Her husband, Albert Henraux, was President of the Société des Amis du Louvre, and also curator of the Musée du Château de Chantilly. A lover of art, particularly of the Far East and a collector, he was Jean-Claude’s godfather, his mentor and role model.

Jean Claude Abreu loved sport and transformed Zermatt, a little village in Haut Valais, into an elegant sports holiday resort. His chalet Turquino named after the highest summit in Cuba, was the rendez vous of elegant people who spent agreeable holidays there. Indeed Abreu was creator of Zermatt society, transforming it from a remote village into a highly fashionable resort.

Abreu was also a voracious reader and knew a large number of writers: Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir and others who dedicated their books to him. So, his apartment at the Rue de Verneuil with his “salon rose”, the work of the great Italian designer Renzo Mangiardino, was one of the most appreciated of Parisian homes, as were the salons of his aunt Lilita and his Great Aunt Rosa, Madame Joseph Grancher.

The collection consisted of some 200 pieces, mostly made up of paintings and objets d’art but also books signed by their author and CDs.