Provisional figures suggest that overall auction sales in Paris dipped around 10 per cent to €615m (£394m), starkly reflecting the morose economic climate. Despite the arrival of Sotheby’s and Christie’s, several traditional French firms retained a major share of the market – led by Tajan, who comfortably retained top spot with sales of €69.5m (£44.5m), although that figure was well down on the Fr626m (£59m) the firm posted in 2001.
Next came the new ArtCurial auction house on the Champs-Elysées, formed by the merger of Briest and Poulain-Le Fur, which posted sales of €60.3m (£38.7m). Christie’s ranked third with sales of €57.1m (£36.6m) from 31 auctions, although that figure climbs to €64.7m (£41.5m) if the Giacometti sale which Christie’s organised and promoted (but which was relocated to the Hôtel Drouot at the last minute by court order) is included.
Sotheby’s followed with sales of €49m (£31.4m), although these were achieved from just 17 sales, compared to 31 at Christie’s and 101 at Tajan. Both Christie’s and Sotheby’s, unlike their French-based rivals, also exported many items from France for sale in New York, London and Geneva.
Drouot-based Piasa reported an auction turnover of €49m (£31.4m) and were the leading contributor to sales at the Hôtel Drouot, which totalled €376m (£241m) and included the year’s top hammer price in Paris: €4.1m (£2.62m) for Sonia Delaunay’s Le Marché au Minho at Calmels-Cohen in June.
• Turnover figures include
premiums.
Tajan top Paris sales totals for 2002
Christie’s and Sotheby’s failed to establish saleroom predominance in Paris in 2002, the first full year in which, thanks to France’s recent auction reform, they have been allowed to stage auctions on French soil.
