person Marie Potard

Ulrike Christina Goetz, conseillère en art : « Il existe une vie en dehors des grandes maisons de ventes »

Ulrike Christina Goetz, a specialist in sculpture and objets d'art who spent nearly 30 years at Sotheby's Paris, discusses her unexpected departure in October 2024 amid a wave of layoffs at the auction house. She founded her own advisory firm, Ulrike Christina Goetz Art Advisory, and now operates from an office on Rue de la Paix in Paris, preparing to launch her website. Goetz reflects on the profound changes at Sotheby's since its 2019 acquisition by Patrick Drahi, including the dismissal of many historical specialists and a shift toward younger, less expensive consultants.

Antike in Basel, les antiquités aux racines de l’art moderne

The Antike in Basel fair, traditionally held in November, has moved its 10th edition to June to coincide with Art Basel. Taking place at Galerie Cahn in Basel, the fair brings together around thirty international dealers showcasing antiquities from Prehistory to non-European arts. Highlights include a Heracles statuette from Plektron Fine Arts, an Egyptian pyramidion from Eberwein, a Pan-shaped oinochoe from Jürgen Haering, and an Apulian calyx krater from Günter Puhze. The fair also features a Tau-Tau head from Bigler Fine Arts and a ceremonial ladle from Meyer Oceanic & Eskimo Art, aiming to attract a broader audience through cross-collecting.

L’actualité des maisons de ventes - juin 2026

The June 2026 auction news roundup reports a sharp slowdown in the ultra-contemporary art market, with sales of artists under 40 dropping from $306 million in 2022 to just $48 million in 2025—a 47% decline from 2024. Painting dominates 80% of this segment, but top prices remain far below pre-pandemic peaks, with Flora Yukhnovich's $1.73 million work leading. London now holds 26% of the market, ahead of New York's 24%, while Paris lags at 0.9%. Other highlights include a sale of over 150 unseen concert photographs by Patrick Ullman at Quai des Enchères, a record €10.2 million for Henry Taylor, and a €10.2 million Monet record in France at Sotheby's Paris. Ader also offers rediscovered Renaissance and Baroque works by Antonello da Messina and Rubens at Drouot.

Aristophil : Gérard Lhéritier reconnaît sa culpabilité et obtient une peine réduite

Gérard Lhéritier, founder of the art investment firm Aristophil, has pleaded guilty in a French court under a procedure known as comparution sur reconnaissance préalable de culpabilité (CRPC), effectively a plea bargain. On April 14, he admitted responsibility for fraud and deceptive commercial practices after more than a decade of denial. This late admission, made just before his expected incarceration, reduces his sentence from the five years of imprisonment handed down in December 2025 to two years under electronic monitoring. The case stems from Aristophil’s collapse, which involved selling shares in manuscripts and historical documents as attractive investments, leaving thousands of investors heavily impacted.

Mexico faces sales of pre-Columbian art

Le Mexique face aux ventes d’art précolombien

The Mexican government is facing ongoing legal and diplomatic hurdles in its attempts to halt the sale of pre-Columbian artifacts in Paris. Despite formal protests from the Mexican embassy citing national heritage laws from 1827, auction houses like Millon continue to proceed with sales, generating millions in revenue. French authorities and legal experts maintain that Mexican national laws do not supersede French jurisdiction, which largely adheres to the 1970 UNESCO Convention regarding the illicit import and export of cultural property.

Millon Takes Over Pierre Bergé & Associés

Millon reprend Pierre Bergé & Associés

The Millon Auction Group has acquired Pierre Bergé & Associés (PBA), becoming the sole shareholder of the historic house founded in 2002. This acquisition follows a turbulent period for PBA, which was placed in receivership in 2023 and briefly owned by Alexandre Landre after being embroiled in a high-profile antiquities trafficking scandal. Under the leadership of Alexandre Millon and newly appointed Managing Director Marc Chochon, the firm plans to return to Drouot and focus on prestigious collections and rare books.