Artcurial, the leading French auction house, has recognised the importance of having a base in Monaco for many years, and in 2014 opened its office in the Principality under the leadership of Louise Gréther.

They now conduct summer and winter auctions for important watches, fine jewellery and Hermès & Luxury bags, in January and July at the Hotel Hermitage in Monte Carlo.

The Monaco office also organises monthly expertise days, inventories and cultural events in Monaco and the Cote d’Azur region.

Her background, including working for the BBC and Kroll, the American risk consulting firm, has held her in good stead for this multifaceted role in what she describes as “a very lean and dynamic organisation”.

“Artcurial cleverly combines a real passion for art with a great entrepreneurial spirit,” Louise said. It is a multi-disciplinary auction house with its headquarters in the spectacular Hotel Marcel Dassault in Paris hosting over 150 auctions per year from Contemporary art to Old Masters, Street Art, Motorcars and Design amongst other specialities.

The Monaco office actively supports the Paris sales and provides advice and expertise to their clients in all disciplines. During the darkest days of lockdown Artcurial “battled on and became very creative”. Appointments with the experts were hosted via Zoom and buyers used telephone and online bidding.

“Business held up extremely well,” Louise said.

However, nothing can replace physical auctions: “I love the excitement and thrill of the auction room. We always strive to achieve the best price for each lot presented at auction,” Louise said.

This summer Artcurial will return to the Hotel Hermitage for its now traditional summer sales. In addition to the fine jewellery, important watches and Hermès & Luxury bag sales, Artcurial is presenting ‘Monaco Sculptures’ in partnership with the Monte Carlo Société des Bains de Mer (SBM) and the Artcurial Motorcars sale.

This is the second edition of ‘Monaco Sculptures’ where visitors to the Principality can enjoy a carefully curated selection of sculptures on display in the stunning SBM palace hotels and grounds.

Artcurial Motorcars also returns to the Principality to present over 100 superb cars for sale and the spectacular exhibition in the Prince’s Car Museum is not to be missed.

Artcurial are also proud to support Monaco Liver Disorder for whom they are conducting a charity auction on July 17 – you can view the fabulous selection of customised helmets by renowned artists including Arman, Combas and Bernar Venet in advance of the sale online or at the Prince’s car museum in Fontvieille.

The run up to the auctions is an extremely busy time for the team, preparing for the important sale period.

There is also the matter of due diligence, both in terms of provenance and buyers. This is very rigorous and important procedure that we take very seriously indeed, Louise explained. Artcurial have experienced a market increase in the number of online and telephone bidders in recent years and in the last auction had a strong interest from Chinese buyers, hiring three Chinese interpreters at the last auction in January.

As Artcurial’s summer auction approaches, so the excitement mounts.

“We have never been so busy. Here in Monaco we have a great base to build on, especially, of course, in the luxury sector that we intend to focus on.”

Artcurial’s Monaco summer auctions start on July 19 with Artcurial Motorcars and continue all week. The auctions are open to the public and more information including contact details for the office can be found via: https://www.artcurial.com/en/artcurial-monaco

PHOTO: Louise Gréther