A previously unaccounted-for self-portrait by 18th-century French artist Adélaïde Labille-Guiard sold at Tajan auction house in Paris for €843,800 ($988,785), far exceeding its estimate of €300,000–€500,000. After the hammer fell, a representative of the Palace of Versailles invoked France's droit de préemption law to claim the 1782 pastel work for the national collection, preventing its private sale.
Un nouveau Roubiliac entre au Louvre
The Musée du Louvre has acquired a bronze bust of the poet Alexander Pope by the 18th-century sculptor Louis François Roubiliac. The work was purchased via private treaty through Sotheby’s after failing to find a buyer during the Manny Davidson collection sale, despite an estimate of €60,000 to €80,000. This acquisition strengthens the museum’s modest but significant collection of non-French European sculpture and is expected to go on public display in the coming weeks.
Spain has preempted two polychrome terracotta sculptures by Luisa Roldán, known as La Roldana, at an Abalarte auction on December 5, 2025. The works, *La Fuite en Égypte* and *L’Éducation de la Vierge*, each sold for €335,500 including fees. *La Fuite en Égypte* has been acquired by the Museo del Prado in Madrid, while *L’Éducation de la Vierge* has gone to the Museo Nacional de Escultura in Valladolid.