CLAUDE Aguttes, the dynamic auctioneer with salerooms at Neuilly and Lyons, has been named president of a new conseil de surveillance or supervisory board to oversee the running of the Hôtel Drouot.
This central auction venue in the heart of the Paris financial
district is used by most Paris auctioneers.
Alain Cadiou, director general of auctioneers Piasa, who hold
regular sales at Drouot, has been named as vice president.
The appointment of the eight-man board is part of a wider
restructuring which began in June to ensure greater transparency
following the widely publicised porters'
scandal at Drouot.
Board members will serve a three-year term and supervise the
running of Drouot Enchères, a new entity principally concerned with
the renting out and running of the various salerooms. Their task is
to balance the interests of shareholders and operators.
Maître Aguttes, who describes himself as passionate about
objects and ancient monuments, called Drouot "a place unique in the
world which, like a historic monument, has a soul that is a
challenge to take care of". He said his task would be made easier
by its extraordinary potential.
Drouot's new structure recognises five traditional activities of
the Drouot group: auctions, publishing, valuation, development and
the running of the Drouot buildings. This is administered and
co-ordinated by a holding company, Drouot Patrimoine, under the
presidency of the newly re-elected Georges Delettrez, with Olivier
Lange as CEO.
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