The auction house's new premises offer 1600 square metres on five floors with two salerooms and numerous viewing rooms. Prior to this Cornette held the majority of their sales at Drouot with the exception of their biannual Ventes de Prestige, which were staged at the Hotel Salomon de Rothschild.
The inaugural sale of Impressionist and Modern art on October 27 got proceedings off to a flying start when the auctioneers sold a rare signed marble bust by Camille Claudel (1864-1943) titled L'Aurore for a hammer price of €2.1m (£1.73m) - €2.46m including premium.
The price, which was within the pre-sale expectations of around €2m-2.5m, is the second highest price for the artist after her bronze Valse that realised £4.5m (then €5m) at Sotheby's in London in June last year.
The 13¾in (35cm) high bust, dated to c.1898-1900, was making its first appearance on the auction market, having been given by the sculptor to her sister and passing down by direct descent before entering a private collection.
