Since January 1st 1962, Nice has got another pensioner.

He is not coming from London, not from Stockholm, not even from one of those beautiful villages of the French countryside where the bourgeoisies dreamt to have their last days at the “Promenade des Anglais”.

His name is Georges Ganaye, he is 60 years old.

He is from Mantega, a working class suburb of Nice, he comes with the tram Number 4.

Georges Ganaye could afford to go by taxi.

He could even afford to have a car with a chauffeur, but as he has worked as a saw-specialist (micro) worker for 40 years, he does as the poor workers do, he walks along the seaside, and he takes a sandwich and a liter of milk.

Then he goes back home in the tram No. 4, gets off in Rue de la Mantega, a place surrounded by pickpockets and with a terrible noise.

His rented furnished home is opposite to a factory and a building site.

It’s an old Nice style building in red brick, with long curtains that are always drawled.

If a Sartre meridian wrote similar kind of work, it will be here, where he would install his héros. All the furniture is in white wood and the curtains in a shape of a cross.

On the left wall there are some chromos in glass that represent the exodus of the fishermen from Brittany heading to a new place.

On the right wall there is an unframed hallucination hang on a nail, 3 fantastic modern paintings, Atlan, yellow & black.

A grey geometric figure of Claude Venard, and a red landscape by James Coignard.

On the vitrine at a side, about 20 oil paintings and gouaches, plenty of pastels, engravings and lithos, attributed to Atlan, Clavé, Gen Paul, Pichette, Marchand, Singier, Goetz, Florés, Papart,  Bonhomme, Rouault. 

20 - 30 millions worth of old French Francs.

This is only a part.

Ganaye’s big collection is kept in a safe at a bank.  

In the beginning of last year (= 1961) the lot was valued in 70 million francs.

Ganaye started his collection in 1947 with his small savings as a worker.

He has not spent even one million in his collection.

Today, the whole lot is estimated to be worth between 100 & 200 millions, this is not known.

Someone who has never heard about Georges Ganaye, the American Expert Richard Bush, has just published an essay about the evolution of the Works of Art Market. He emphasizes that paintings is the most profitable investment.

The best industrial values and that the strange story of the pensioner from Nice, is less wired that he appears between 1945 & 1960, with names such as Matisse, Picasso, Braque or Leger.

We saw their value went up to 2000%.

Considering that this was 10 years after.

The hausse has started vertically since 1955.

Cézanne, Van Gogh, Gauguin, that had not gone up more than 177% between 1930 & 1950, they have been overtaken with 566% in 1955, to reach 833% in 1960 and the others will follow.

It was written.

Then, why you and me, that love paintings and who?

By Georges Menant  

From  PARIS MATCH

No 668/                January 1962