Lot no. 1
ANDRE - Mr. A Gold (2026)
Val.: €1,000 - €1,500
October 15th, 2026 at 6:00 PM
21200 Beaune - France
October 15th, 2026 at 6:00 PM
21200 Beaune - France
Terms of sale
In 2025, the ‘Imaginaires Kréatifs’ exhibition invited world-renowned artists to create original works at the Hôtel-Dieu des Hospices de Beaune, in partnership with La Karrière. With Mode 2 acting as artistic advisor and guiding theme, ‘La Glorieuse Artistique’ will continue this unexpected encounter between centuries-old heritage and urban cultures on 15 October in the form of a unique auction. And in doing so, it charts a lasting journey in the service of art in Burgundy.
In the beginning was stone. That of the former Villars-Fontaine quarry, in the Hautes-Côtes de Nuits, a vast quarry face once scarred, now transformed into an open-air canvas. And that of the Hôtel-Dieu de Beaune, a 15th-century masterpiece of hospital architecture built to care for the ‘poor’ and to stand the test of time. Two types of stone, two histories and, on the face of it, two worlds that had no reason to meet.
In 2025, ‘Imaginaires Kréatifs’ built the first bridge between them. To mark its tenth anniversary, La Karrière treated itself to its first real foray beyond its walls by taking over, with the blessing of the Hospices Civils de Beaune, one of Burgundy’s most visited monuments. Jace had unleashed his ‘Gouzous’ on windows installed in the Cour des Fondateurs. Andrea Ravo Mattoni, in a much more sombre vein, had spray-painted six works evoking the enduring nature of care amidst the turmoil of history. Boris Tellegen, alias Delta, rounded off this dialogue across the centuries.
To blend street art, born of illegality, with a former hospital co-founded by a bourgeois lord was no mean feat. But provocation was never an end in itself. Sandrine Allard-Saint-Albin, director of the Hôtel-Dieu, had made this clear from the outset: “This initiative is not intended to be merely disruptive.” Some of the works have thus been added to Beaune’s collections, “to preserve our history”. More profoundly, the aim was to bring together “audiences who would not normally cross paths”.
To pull off this sort of pairing, it helps to know both ‘families’ intimately. This is where Mode 2 comes in. Born on the British colony of Mauritius, then arriving in England as a child, and a key figure in European graffiti culture since the 1980s, the artist belongs to a generation of pioneers. His address book reads like a living history of this art form.
Burgundy struck a much deeper chord with him. When he discovered La Karrière, its mineral strata and the surrounding vineyard landscapes reminded him of Chamarel, a geological treasure in Mauritius known as the ‘Land of Seven Colours’. “He immediately realised that the site was not just for him, but for his art,” recalls his guide Ruben Klein, a multi-talented Burgundian lawyer, a member of La Karrière’s board of directors and an old acquaintance.
Mode 2 had thus come to Villars-Fontaine as early as 2019 with the major works *Futura* and *Delta* in his luggage, then again in 2021 to create his spectacular *Bacchanale*. Burgundy is fortunate to have gained as a new patron an international artist so gifted with sensitivity and an appreciation for others. “As I am instinctively drawn to what is different from myself, I was swept away by this project right from the start. I’ve been active in this scene since the 1980s: I can draw on my network of contacts and connect Burgundy with passionate artists who are curious and open to the world,” he comments.
This is how a few legends came to develop a taste for Burgundy – Futura to the point of falling in love with Époisses –, how Eron marvelled at the Hôtel-Dieu with his wife, how Delta returned, and how Jace and his Gouzous slipped into the story.
Always driven by the same desire: to break away from the ‘Paris-centric’ mindset, to shift perspectives and to convince people that the most contemporary art can also find powerful outlets for expression far from the big cities. “I don’t want to impose this art on Burgundy,” clarifies Mode 2. “It’s not just decoration or a way to cover up poverty. It’s really about building bridges between enthusiasts from different fields, the aim being for everyone to inspire one another.” That sums up the whole philosophy of “Imaginaires Kréatifs”.
Graffiti at van der Weyden’s bedside
All that remained was to follow up on the experience. It will take place on 15 October, and its name has been chosen with a certain flair: ‘La Glorieuse Artistique’, an original preamble to the famous wine-themed celebrations at the Château du Clos de Vougeot, the Hospices de Beaune and the ‘paulée’ in Meursault.
Some of the works exhibited at the Hôtel-Dieu in 2025, along with original creations by leading figures in the world of graffiti, will be auctioned off and will help to fund the ongoing restoration of Rogier van der Weyden’s ‘Last Judgement’ polyptych. It is a magnificent symbol: artists from a culture born on the walls and in the heart of major cities are helping to preserve one of the masterpieces of Western painting.
The remainder of the proceeds will support La Karrière in its mission to promote artistic creation in Burgundy. And the event will be conducted in the true spirit of an art auction. Alongside the Dijon-based auctioneer Christophe Sadde will be Chloë Collin, a young specialist in graffiti and urban art (see box at the end of the article).
Part of the auction will be accessible online: this is essential for reaching the highly international niche market to which the artists brought together by Mode 2 belong. Mode 2 has, in particular, acquired rare works by Bando, a pioneer of European graffiti and a key figure in the movement’s history.
It was he who, in 1985, sought out the young Mode 2 in his London milieu to introduce him to the walls of Paris. An artistic lineage that, forty years on, is thus coming together in Beaune. André Saraiva will also be taking part, alongside other key figures from this history, which La Karrière recounts through a dual curatorial and sentimental lens.
See original version (French)
Sale commission: 0 % incl. taxes for voluntary sales
Nature of the sale Voluntary sale
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
Contact:
SADDE HÔTEL DES VENTES DE DIJON
Operator:
SADDE COMMISSAIRES-PRISEURS
Adjudication: As the Live auction report is not binding, the winning bids are confirmed after the sale by the auctioneer.
Terms of sale: Download the auctioneer's conditions of sale
Exposures: