Artcurial chalked up €122.5m for sales in their Paris, Deauville, Lyon and Toulouse rooms, representing a 6% increase on the equivalent period last year. Their individual lots list was topped by a 1957 red Ferrari which sold at Retromobile in February for a premium-inclusive €32.075m (£25.9m).
Christie’s Paris sales came in at €112m for their first half. Six of their ten highest prices were drawn from a single sale - the June 8-9 auction of works from the Collection of Zeineb and Jean Pierre Marcie-Rivière.
Sotheby’s Paris recorded sales of €107m with a piece of tribal art, a Lega ivory mask from the Democratic Republic of Congo, topping the individual highs at €3.67m.
Drouot Figures
Sales at the Drouot auction centre were €192m for the first half year the same as for the equivalent period in 2015 maintaining stability “in the context of a difficult global market”.
The highest individual price recorded there for this period was the €2.2m for a Rodin bronze of The Kiss, a record for a posthumous cast by the sculptor.
Other French auction rooms that have issued half year figures so far include Beaussant Lefevre on €7.9m and Ader on €12m.
All figures quoted include premiums but do not include private sales or ventes grés à grés.
