Alongside the traditional Monte Carlo prestige sale of jewellery and vintage timepieces, Artcurial Briest-Poulain-F.Tajan will also be staging another eye-catching event, with the auction of a technological and aesthetic bijou the RAL 5015. boat

This monochrome nautical sculpture – a brand new work by artist Xavier Veilhan, completed this year in collaboration with the prestigious Frauscher shipyard –combines art and technical prowess in an amazing boat that will be unveiled for the first time at the Hôtel Marcel-Dassault in Paris from 24-30 May 2010. This exceptional project marks the first time for Xavier Veilhan has been invited to design a functional object in sync with his aesthetic beliefs.

Xavier Veilhan was born in 1963, and lives and works in Paris. He emerged in the early 1990s and swiftly established himself as one of the leading artists of his generation. A string of exhibitions, showcasing every aspect of his unique plastic vocabulary, ensured his international fame. His work takes a variety of forms– from sculpture to painting via photography, installations, film and live performance. All these different approaches converge to create a world whose breadth and scope derives from a powerful relationship with history and a profound reflection on modern life.

Xavier Veilhan reappraises the history of statuary and exploits family themes with creature archetypes (lions, bears, horses, penguins, rhinos, sharks), portraits and effigies. He is concerned both with the question of perception (ghostly landscapes, light machines, lithophanies) and with vehicles (bicycles, automobiles, airships, boats, not forgetting the carriage he made for his exhibition at the Château of Versailles in 2009)…

This interest in transport (from the horse to contemporary vehicles via Amish carts) is linked to his idea of dynamics – and apparent wish to analyze or retranscribe movement. This explains why he often refers to the 19th century chronophotographs of Muybridge and Marey, and to Italian Futurism and 20th century kinetic art.

His Furtivo project in 2008 – a two-part exhibition at the Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin in Paris, then at the Pinacoteca Giovanni & Marella Agnelli in Turin – provided a masterly illustration of this, featuring a monumental 5-metre shark sculpture, and a film shot partly on board Gianni Agnelli’s black carbon yacht Stealth.

Xavier Veilhan has long accepted the idea of joint productions, working with other creators (like Sébastien Tellier or musicians from the group Air) and companies involved in cutting-edge technology. Collaborating with the Frauscher shipyard is entirely consistent with his approach.

The savoir-faire of the Frauscher shipyard means Xavier Veilhan’s RAL 5015 is a high-performance boat featuring the latest in nautical technology.

The Frauscher shipyard in Gmuden (Austria) has an eventful history dating back over 80 years, and is renowned throughout the world for its excellent craftsmanship – and for pioneering electric boats.

After fleeing Austria during the Second World War, Engelbert Frauscher returned to his native region to find his shipyard had been bombed. Nonetheless, the nautical base created by the Americans on the Traunsee (the deepest lake in Austria, and one of the largest) remained much frequented by soldiers using wooden boats. Engelbert Frauscher’s entrepreneurial spirit was kindled, and he decided to start up activity again and conquer this new market. Over the next few years Engelbert built a whole range of motor boats and yachts, and his two sons, Ernst and Hans, soon joined as part of his team.

Financed by Harry Halfon and Philippe Gellman…Un grand Bravo….

Tags: Emmanuel Perrotin, Frauscher, Harry Halfon, john dodelande, Philippe Gellman, Xavier Veilhan