In a special summer issue of Art+Auction, which will be published in installments on ARTINFO this month, we bring you the information you need to navigate the vast auction market. We’ve assembled the top 250 houses, along with some of their most notable sales, as well as insider takes from 50 CEOs and specialists on the past year and the changes ahead. Below you’ll find Q&As with auction house leaders based in Paris. To see other installments from the special issue, click here.
ARTCURIAL
Paris, France; Monaco
ESTABLISHED: 2002
SPECIALTIES: Modern and contemporary art, wines and spirits, Orientalist paintings, books and manuscripts, automobilia, Old Master paintings, arms and historical souvenirs, medieval art, Asian art
CONTACT: artcurial.com, +33142992020
François Tajan, Co-Chairman
What was your most successful auction in the past year?
My most successful auction in the past year was the largest comic strip sale ever realized, thus underlining Artcurial’s pioneering role in this field of the art market. This sale, notably focusing on “world of Tintin” lots, in May 2014, realized a total of €7.46 million ($10.2 million), including commission. It was marked by a series of records and illustrated the dynamic, modern nature of the comic strip market.
Which lot was the most exciting or surprising?
Hergé’s flyleaves for the “Adventures of Tintin” albums in dark blue Indian ink, published between 1937 and 1958, totaled €2,654,400 ($3.6 million), a world- record auction price for a comic strip work of art. This drawing from 1937 was very much valued because it showed Tintin and Snowy in 34 different scenarios, each relating to a key moment in an album. An important detail appreciated by collectors and enthusiasts: Hergé drew his heroes at the North Pole for an album that was never produced. I never thought that comic strips could reach such incredible prices. But the recent evolution of the art market has now made it clear that comic strips are considered real works of art. Finally!
Is there an artist, market, or medium you think is overlooked right now? Something you’d invest in?
Despite the fact that I tend to prefer works of art of the 20th century, I believe that the market unjustly neglects furniture and objects of art of the 18th and 19th centuries. We hope that Chinese collectors, who are very much interested in European culture, and notably French culture, will transform this interest into future private collections, museums, and foundations. Artcurial’s first sale in Hong Kong next October will enable us to facilitate this. Artist- wise, I believe that Jean Dubuffet is not yet truly appreciated. He was a very productive artist of the second half of the 20th century, mixing modernity and originality in all of his pieces of art, varied as they are, down to the very last one.
How have online auctions changed the way you do business?
They enabled us to reach people all around the world, far beyond the small circles of initiated people that used to constitute the core of our clients 15 to 20 years ago. Indeed, a recent survey revealed that in 2014, 11 percent of Frenchmen took part in an online auction.
What other trends do you see influencing the market?
The luxury industry has deeply influenced the auction market. Sales dedicated to art de vivre are also increasing. These sales of wines, jewels, collectors’ watches, collectors’ cars, and Hermès vintage bags are a way for these “industrial and handcrafted” productions to become, with time, great pieces of collection and desire. Artcurial has been a pioneer exploring such specialties. The best example would be the sale of the Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spider 1961 last February from the Baillon collection, which was sold for the incredible price of €16.3 million ($18.5 million), a world-record auction price for this model. The combination of a prestigious origin—a famous French actor— and an extraordinary original condition, notably with matching numbers, explains the outstanding success of the sale for this car, long thought to be lost.
What part of your business saw the most growth in 2014?
Works of art of the 20th century, from contemporary art to design, and the art de vivre departments, from collectors’ cars to jewelry, themselves totaled two-thirds of our 2014 annual sale figures. Exemplarily, the sale of a Van Cleef & Arpels 2.39-carat pear-cut diamond ring in Monaco on July 23, 2014, reached €1,799,800 ($2.4 million).
Where would you like to take the company in the next several years?
I would like to enhance Artcurial’s international expansion through the opening of new offices in Monaco and in Germany. Our new office in Munich, headed by Moritz von der Heydte, will enable us to reach new connoisseurs and collectors, while completing our European network, started in 2012. We are even going to expand beyond European borders. In October 2015, we will have our first sale in Hong Kong, with a mix of Asian and Occidental works of art.
Do you have a collecting obsession? If so, what purchase are you most proud of?
I am not an obsessive collector. However, there is indeed one piece of art that I am particularly fond of: a picture by Andres Serrano that I bought 25 years ago and that still gives me a lot of pleasure when I look at it.
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PIASA
Paris, France
ESTABLISHED: 1996
SPECIALTIES: Modern and contemporary art, Asian art, jewelry, 20th century design, Old Master paintings and drawings, books and manuscripts, furniture, photography, wines and spirits
CONTACT: piasa.fr, contact@piasa.fr, +33153341010
Frédéric Chambre, Associate Vice-Chairman and Chief Executive
What was your most successful auction in the past year?
The auction I most enjoyed was the Serrurier-Bovy collection. This auction reflects Piasa’s spirit, research of a certain aesthetic, and specific choices and position. Serrurier-Bovy is one of the most important designers from the beginning of the 20th century and as rare to the market as he was creative.
Which lot was the most exciting or surprising?
It is always challenging to sell artists or works that are not so famous to the market, so there are a lot of exciting moments in an auctioneer’s life. We had a Marcello Fantoni auction in April 2015, Axel Salto—with a world record—in September 2014, and Christophe Allegrain’s sculpture in December 2014.
Is there an artist, market, or medium you think is overlooked right now? Something you’d invest in?
Without going into specifics, we are still way too far from the prices for postwar design. Collectors are keen on design, but there is no risk in investing, as prices are still pretty low and will continue to grow.
How have online auctions changed the way you do business?
Online auctions offer a possibility for auction houses to increase their visibility, as well as to reach out more directly to some buyers and collectors. Buyers are starting to be more active with the live bid. During the first half of 2015, we have had a 300 percent increase; it now represents 3 to 4 percent of buyers. A few months ago, it was only 0.8 or 0.9 percent. To the auctioneers this is a source of surprise, as we often do not know which lot will receive online bids. I assume this is a more playful way for clients to bid.
What other trends do you see influencing the market?
With respect to design, institutional interest has the most influence.
What part of your business saw the most growth in 2014?
In 2013, we did €10 million ($14 million) for the decorative art and design department; then €18 million ($22,000,000) in 2014; and in the first half of this year, more than €9 million ($10 million).
Where would you like to take the company in the next several years?
We are focusing our development on design and on modern and contemporary art. Today we are a curated auction house with specific choices, thematic auctions, and invitations to curators. This is a strategy to respond to an increasingly selective market that is seeking rare, unusual, or clever objects and works of art.
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TAJAN
Paris, France; Geneva, Switzerland
CONTACT: tajan.com, webmaster@tajan.com, +33153303030
Rodica Seward, Owner
What was your most successful auction in the past year?
The sale of a Gouro mask from Ivory Coast, from the André Breton collection, for €1,375,000 ($1.9 million) in June 2014.
Which lot was the most exciting or surprising?
Two lots. A world record for a French painter from the Raw Art movement, Augustin Lesage’s Composition symbolique – L’énigme des siècles, 1929, sold for €373,800($516,000) in April 2014, and a painting by Qi Baishi sold for €814,440 ($1 million) in December.
Is there an artist, market, or medium you think is overlooked right now? Something you’d invest in?
Painting! I have a strong passion for the young creators in painting like Amy Sillman, Eva Nielsen, Matthias Weischer, and several artists from Cluj in Romania.
How have online auctions changed the way you do business?
We make 20 percent of our sales on the Internet. We follow our international customers around the world through social networks, live auctions, the flipbook catalogues, our newsletter. We have a strong online presence. We created an online auction brand, T-live @studio 37, with one sale per month, and we collaborated with Auctionata in June 2015 for a sale called Paris Berlin–L’Art de Vivre.
Do you have a collecting obsession? If so, what purchase are you most proud of?
I am an obsessive collector. I particularly collect contemporary art and Chinese ceramics. Maybe [most proud of] a painting by Adrian Ghenie, before he became famous.
