France

What has been billed as the most significant sale of French 17th and 18th century paintings for 20 years was announced earlier this month.

One of the greatest ‘barn finds’ ever has uncovered 60 classic cars – just one of which is a rare Ferraris valued at several million pounds – in outbuildings in the west of France.

The French National Antique Dealers’ Association (Syndicat National des Antiquaires), organisers of the long-running Paris ‘Biennale des Antiquaires’, have decided to mount an additional new annual fair for the French capital – the first to be held next spring.

Arguably the most famous historic figure in French history and a princely provenance proved an irresistible combination earlier this month in France when a collection of Napoleonic memorabilia formed by the Grimaldi dynasty of Monaco went under the hammer.

Piasa are not the only Paris étude to have moved to new premises this autumn. Cornette de Saint Cyr have now opened their new saleroom in a 19th century hôtel particulier on the avenue Hoche near the Parc Monceau.

Christie’s have reorganised the sale schedule for their future auctions of Chinese works of Art in Europe making some significant changes.

Sotheby’s are to offer 400 works in nearly 300 lots by Man Ray on November 15 in Paris. The collection, property of the Man Ray Trust, includes photographs, paintings, drawings, jewellery, objects and film.

ALL 49 lots from the Murray Frum collection of Oceanic art found a buyer on September 16 at Sotheby’s (25/20/12% buyer’s premium) in Paris. The hammer total was €6.24m (£5.2m).

As Paris moved into top gear last week with the opening of the ‘Biennale des Antiquaires’ fair at the Grand Palais and the ‘Parcours des Mondes’ tribal art trail, the auction firm Piasa chose this as the moment to unveil their new headquarters at number 118 on the fashionable rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, set midway between Sotheby’s and Christie’s Paris rooms.

As the summer break ends, next month sees a rush of activity in the art world with a flurry of events not least in the Tribal Art category.

An ancient Roman marble bust of the Emperor Hadrian that had been in the same private collection for over half a century was the runaway highlight in a recent sale held by Tessier Sarrou & Associés at Drouot in Paris.

The new owner of the biggest antique markets in Paris has pledged to vet them for authenticity and quality.

A very hefty price for a Baroque work of art emerged recently at the Drouot auction centre.

Christie’s are hoping to tap the international movie star market by putting on a preview for a new annual summer sale at the Cannes Film Festival.

The uncompromising Danish furniture designer/carpenter Peder Moos (1906-91) carefully hand-crafted virtually all his distinctive furniture.

The medieval town of L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, near Avignon, is one of the most visited places in Provence.

A packed saleroom and a continuous barrage of phone bids combined to ensure a near sell-out, multi-estimate result at Sotheby’s in Paris for their three-session auction (in association with Artcurial) of the collection of Félix Marcilhac.

A small contingent of dealers from the UK are currently travelling to Paris for the launch of Cipolat SA’s new biannual antiques fair.

Like those London buses where you wait forever then two come along at once, two versions of a rare Olympic torch limited to just 33 examples turned up in separate Drouot auctions in Paris within the space of just ten days.

Paris auction house Piasa will move this spring to a new location at 118 rue du Faubourg St-Honoré, the prestigious Right Bank shopping street, home to art and antiques galleries and to Sotheby’s Paris.