PARIS, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- In 2019,
France's art auction turnover
total rose by +18% versus 2018, reaching a record 830 million US dollars and consolidating the
country's fourth place in the global ranking of major national
marketplaces. But, it isn't yet a direct competitor to the
United Kingdom which generated
turnover 2.5 times higher in the art auction sector.
"France has several assets
though, recalls thierry Ehrmann, CEO and Founder of
Artmarket.com and its Artprice department, "and notably its
hidden stock of old masterpieces, a number of which usually find
their way into the country's auction rooms every year. But it takes
all the know-how of an expert in Old Masters to defend their value
and their rightful place in Art History. The quality of the work
conducted by French art experts is today recognised all over the
world."
The expert lives at 69... rue Sainte-Anne in Paris
Old Master paintings expert Eric Turquin admits that the sale of
the small devotional panel attributed to the Master of Vyssi Brod
was probably his firm's biggest success story in 2019. And yet the
year was full of excitement as the Cabinet Turquin was deeply
involved in the sale of the Toulouse Caravaggio in June 2019 (which finally sold privately), the
Cimabue painting in October and even a work by Artemisia
Gentileschi in November.
However, the attribution of that small panel to the artist known
as Master of Vyssi Brod, a 14th century Gothic painter from
Prague, was indeed a veritable
tour de force. It took a lot of patient research to back up
this delicate attribution, but it ultimately demonstrated the
exceptional value of this small painting. Nine bidders competed for
it in Dijon and it finally went to the Benappi Fine Art Gallery
that bought the work for $6.8 million
on behalf of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
An intense research dossier was also triggered by the discovery
of a bronze bust of Paul Phélypeaux de Pontchartrain, one of Henri
IV's Ministers. When auctioneer Géraldine d'Ouince saw it for the
first time, she exclaimed "It can't be 17th century... it would
be too good to be true... no more exist! …" . Busts from that
period are indeed extremely rare, even in the most prestigious
museums, and they are totally absent from the market. But, with the
help of Elodie Jeannest and Alexandre
Lacroix of the Sculpture & Collection appraisal firm
(also based at 69 rue Sainte-Anne
in Paris, next to the Cabinet
Turquin), they were able to establish that the bronze dated from
the first half of the 17th century.
All in all, Géraldine d'Ouince recognized before the public sale
that the estimate provided in the catalogue – between $550,000 and $885,000 – could be substantially exceeded, and
indeed the bust of Paul Phélypeaux fetched almost $3.4 million.
The French model
While it represents a niche market in the United States generating just 3% of the
American art market's total auction turnover, the Old Masters
segment accounts for as much as 14% of the fine art auction revenue
in France. Last year, this segment
benefited from the excellent work of the country's consulting
firms, often involving lengthy research that is absolutely
necessary before an auction house can hope to attract informed and
convinced buyers.
When an appraisal report is both convincing and conclusive, news
of the sale seems to spread almost on its own. The media and
the Art Market are fond of stories of forgotten or misattributed
art works that gradually recover their rightful places in art
history as the research advances and the evidence accumulates. In
the end, the technical analyses, x-rays and comparisons with other
masterpieces are presented in a sales catalogue… and the work's
true identity and history are revealed.
The excellent results hammered in France during 2019 have proved that once an
appraisal report has been duly established, the sale of the
piece can be held outside the major capitals – in places like
Toulouse, Dijon or even in the small town of Senlis – and
still attract the world's biggest collectors and museums.
Top 10 Old Masters at auction in France in 2019
1. CIMABUE (c. 1240/50-c. 1302) - Christ Mocked
$26,780,000 -
(Estimated: $4,400,000 -
$6,600,000)
27/10/2019, Hôtel des Ventes de Senlis
2. Master of Vyssi BROD (act.1350-) - The Virgin and Child on
the Throne
$6,833,000
(Estimated: $440,000 - $660,000)
30/11/2019, Cortot & Associés, Dijon
3. Artemisia GENTILESCHI (1593-c.1654) -
Lucrèce
$5,255,000
(Estimated: $660,000 -
$880,000)
13/11/2019, Artcurial, Paris
4. Antonio SUSINI (Attrib.) (1558-1624) - Abduction of a
Sabine (c.1590-1610)
$4,985,000 (Estimated:
$2,775,000 -
$5,545,000)
11/12/2019, Sotheby's, Paris
5. Giambettino CIGNAROLI (Attrib.) (1706-1770) - Portrait of
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart [...]
$4,435,000 (Estimated:
$880,000 - $1,320,000)
27/11/2019, Christie's, Paris
6 Ambrosius I BOSSCHAERT (1573-1621) - Cut flowers in a
Römer [...]
$3,709,000 (Estimated:
$2,470,000 - $2,800,000)
06/19/2019, Fraysse - Binoche & Giquello, Paris
7. Francesco BORDONI (1580-1654) - Paul Phélypeaux
[...]
$3,372,000 (Estimated:
$550,000 - $885,000)
20/11/2019, from Baecque - d'Ouince, Paris
8. Hans DAUHER (c.1485-1538) - Putti (c.1525-1530)
$2,630,000 (Estimated:
$1,120,000 - $1,680,000)
16/05/2019, Sotheby's, Paris
9. Bernardino LUINI (c.1480 / 85-1532)2,534,000 - Madonna and
Child with Saint
George
$2,534,000 (Estimated: $1,980,000 - $
2,200,000)
14/11/2019, Aguttes, Paris
10. Antonio SUSINI (Attrib.) (1558-1624) La fortune
(1580-1600)
$2,011,000 (Estimated:
$1,110,000 - $2,220,000)
12/11/2019 Sotheby's, Paris
Sell or appraise: you have to choose
An appraisal carries much more weight when carried out by
an independent firm whose reputation is at stake regarding the
objectivity of its report.
An auctioneer who sees a work for the first time is already
partly committed to its sale and the quality of his/her work will
be measured according to the success of the transaction. Auction
houses sometimes give the impression of over-focusing on the
marketing and financial aspects of a sale. When Patrick Drahi
acquired Sotheby's and appointed businessman Charles F. Steward to its head, it sent out a
strong signal about Sotheby's strategy and priorities. In the case
of Salvator Mundi, one may
wonder if Christie's didn't put more energy into organizing its
international tour than analyzing its artistic qualities and
questioning its place in da Vinci's œuvre.
For the time being, both Eric Turquin and Alexandre
Lacroix seem to appreciate their collaborations with French
auction houses, whether Parisian or provincial. There is no doubt
these auctioneers benefit from its expertise, knowledge, experience
and reputation but, above all from its independence. This avoids
certain pressures from the Art Market, in which conflicts of
interest sometimes have repercussions... even in the collections of
the largest museums.
A pledge of quality
More than twenty years ago, Thomas
Hoving – former Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art –
already drew the art world's attention to the presence of fakes in
large museum collections. In 1997, he wrote in the introduction to
his book False Impression, The Hunt for Big-Times Art Fakes:
"In the decade and a half I spent at the Metropolitan Museum of
Art, I had to examine fifty thousand works in all areas. In total,
40 percent were fakes, or had been restored so hypocritically or so
poorly attributed that they were exactly the same as fakes. Since
then, I am sure that percentage has increased. [...]
"When art became an increasingly expensive commodity in the
1970s and 1980s, fakes flourished. The young millionaires or
billionaires began to covet art as an object of investment, as well
as a mark of prestige and social superiority. As the originals were
no longer numerous enough, the false Old Masters (or fully
repainted) filled the gaps."
The former MET Director lent credence, at least in part, to this
explanation: "One of the fiercest of all [fakebusters], the
Italian Giuseppe "Pico" Cellini, now in his early eighties and
still exposing all sorts of artistic garbage, believes the tendency
of most American museums to keep their fakes quiet or secret is due
to their having sold out to their wealthy donors and trustees.
Perhaps he doesn't exaggerate."
It is probably no coincidence that in 2019 the Metropolitan
Museum of Art in New York was one
of the major buyers of paintings appraised by Eric Turquin's
independent firm. The French expertise faces a new world
demand.
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