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Artcurial “The luxury goods market

complements the fine art market.”

Amongst current trends at auctions: fine art, luxury goods and comic books.

A sign that auctions are popular at the moment masterpiece, The Penitent Magdalene,
is that Artcurial’s January sales of jewellery, by Leonardo da Vinci’s pupil, Salai
designer watches, high fashion and luxury (sold for €1.7 million) and Alexander
accessories came close to €9 million (including Calder’s monumental stabile sculpture
fees), representing the auction house’s best-ever (bought for €4.9 million). These record-
results for winter sales. “Demand is there and so breaking sales show what works at
are the buyers and sellers. The entire Property of the moment. Fine art from the 20th an
a Lady collection, which included over 100 pieces 21st centuries is monopolising first
of designer jewellery, sold for over €1 million. At place at Artcurial’s auctions and this
the moment, I note growing interest, including for includes Impressionism, modern and © Artcurial
secondary sales and valuation days,” observes contemporary art, Art Deco, design,
Louise Grether, Director of Artcurial Monaco, street art and comic books. In mid-
who had already noticed this enthusiasm at January, the original cover draft of The
the first post-lockdown auction in July 2020. Blue Lotus Tintin comic strip created a HERMÈS - Sac BIRKIN 30 - 2003
Held at the Monaco Top Cars Collection, sales scramble at auction: in the end, the extremely Crocodile du Nil Bleu Jean
Vendu le 19 juillet 2020, à Monte-Carlo 65 000 € / 74 282 $
totalled €7 million, with the flagship lot being desirable work by Hergé was acquired by a
a 1955 Mercedes 300 SL Papillon, snapped up private collector for €3.175 million, a world HERMÈS - BIRKIN 30 bag - 2003
Denim blue porosus crocodile
for €1.416 million: “We had to turn people away,” record for an original comic book sold at auction. Sold on 19 July 2020, in Monte-Carlo 65 000 € / 74 282 $
remembers Ms Grether. Fans in Monaco had already seen it, as it had
made an appearance in the Principality before back in fashion,” Louise Grether informs us, like
Record sales its sale in Paris. Another safe bet is the fine the royal suite belonging to the Count of Artois,
For the Artcurial Group, the year 2020 was a arts, including old masters, 19th-century works, which reached a record price in 2020 of €1.2
good vintage, with total sales of €149.2 million, furniture, Orientalism and Asian art, as well as million, the highest price for French furniture
particularly with record sales such as the books and manuscripts. “Antique furniture is in 15 years.

Luxury leading the way
What new trends are being seen? “Luxury items,
without a doubt. Luxury goods complement the
fine art market very well, as long as there are
certain criteria: rarity, hallmark and provenance.
Our watch department has had a lot of success,
with original Pateks, Van Cleefs and Cartiers,
specially if they are vintage, which are very
rarely on the market. Very beautiful pieces are
hard to find and fascinate people,” responds
our expert; and it is the same story for antique
jewellery. “Very sought-after, particularly by
Chinese buyers, are items from the big designer
brands in the place Vendôme.” As for cars, this
market now represents 28% of Artcurial’s sales.
HERGÉ (Georges Remi dit),
Le Lotus bleu At the beginning of February, Artcurial’s La
Estimation : entre 2 et 3M € Parisienne 2021 auction created a buzz, with
L’univers du créateur de Tintin,
14 janvier 2021, Paris all lots sold for a total of €18 million. The star
HERGÉ (Georges Remi dit), © Hergé / Moulinsart 2020-2021 of the show was the Matra MS670 that won
Le Lotus bleu the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1972, with Henri
Estimate : 2/3M € Pescarolo and Graham Hill behind the wheel,
The World of Hergé, Tintin’s creator,
14 January 2021 selling for €6.9 million.
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