PARIS — Where can you see the very first Birkin bag, grab a bite and purchase a René Magritte that once belonged to Elton John?
At 83 Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, Sotheby’s new 35,500-square-foot Paris headquarters on the corner of Avenue Matignon, catty-corner with Le Bristol Paris and bang in the middle of the art gallery district of the tony 8th arrondissement.
“This building embodies the results of the past and the ambitions we have for the future,” said Mario Tavella, president of Sotheby’s France and chairman of Sotheby’s Europe, calling it a symbol of the company’s growth in Paris and commitment to France, as well as a sign of its confidence.
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Open just in time for the art crowd flocking to the first edition of Art Basel Paris at the Grand Palais, “83 Faubourg” unfurls over five floors with nearly 14,000 square feet of exhibition space, a 30-seat restaurant and a wine cellar where tastings will be held.
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Exhibited until their Friday sale are Surrealist masterpieces that will star in Sotheby’s third annual sale dedicated to the art movement, which celebrates its centenary this year and is the subject of an exhibition at the Centre Pompidou. The other inaugural sale will be “Modernités,” on the works of Impressionist, modern and contemporary artists such as Auguste Renoir, Joan Miró, Alexander Calder and Pablo Picasso.
Also taking pride of place until Oct. 31 is the first Hermès Birkin — and it’s not for sale. Owned by collector and vintage dealer Catherine B, the “world’s most famous handbag” has only been publicly displayed twice previously, at the Museum of Modern Art in 2018 and the Victoria & Albert Museum in 2020.
Although the new Sotheby’s Paris flagship comes with 30 percent more space than its previous home opposite the Elysée Palace, it isn’t just about outgrowing the Galerie Charpentier the firm rented for the past 20 years or even becoming the owner of its premises.
It’s also about offering “a cultural and fine arts and decorative arts and luxury hub in the very center of Paris,” as well as overcoming the daunting reputation of auction houses working behind closed doors, Tavella said.
Case in point: the 70-meter stretch of bay windows on the ground floor that give a full view of the happenings inside the corner building — even drivers stopping at the traffic light can sit in on auctions, he joked.
Clearly visible from the street is the heart of the new flagship, a 2,500-square-foot triple-height atrium that serves primarily as a 200-seat auction room visible from the street and the building’s loggia mezzanines. Bathed in natural light from a skylight above, it will serve as a multipurpose event space that could host fashion shows.
This feature was also one of the biggest challenges of the overhaul of this 19th century building, home of the Galerie Bernheim-Jeune art gallery from 1925 to 2019, when it shuttered permanently. Sotheby’s and its new owner Patrick Drahi acquired it for 68 million euros, according to French media reports.
An extensive two-year overhaul and remodeling overseen by the Architecturestudio practice included breaking down walls to creating a 22-meter perspective from the Avenue Matignon side; conservation work to restore the Art Deco elements of the facade; bringing the building up to the latest technology and energy efficiency standards, and raising a 1-ton skylight by several levels.
Sandy stone from Bourgogne, eucalyptus wood and brass were chosen to give the interiors warmth without distracting from thousands of exhibits, and chandeliers by artist Hubert Le Gall were also commissioned.
Represented here will be 15 of the auction house’s 40 departments, including art from Europe’s Old Masters to modern and contemporary art as well as those hailing from Asia, Africa and Oceania; design, books and manuscripts, and a cross-section of luxury with handbags, watches and jewelry, wine and even classic automobiles.
Come December, Sotheby’s Parisian teams will also move into the office spaces occupying the top floors of the building.
For all this, the biggest novelty lies on the first floor, where luxury goods will be displayed in cases, “as if we were a retailer on Avenue Montaigne,” said Tavella.
This marks the formalization in Paris of Sotheby’s recent retail offer, which currently amounts to “a small part of the business,” according to the executive.
Paired with the café helmed by Gaëtan Thibert, an alum of the Ritz, the George V and the Tout-Paris restaurant in Paris’ Cheval Blanc hotel, this partakes of a “reinvention of the client experience” for the executive.
Amid a slowdown in art sales that saw the company report a 25 percent decline in auction sales and 88 percent slump in its core business in late August, this configuration feels all the more timely given that Paris has been buoyant for the auction house.
According to figures provided by Sotheby’s, luxury sales rose sharply in Paris for the first half of 2024. Jewelry was particularly strong, growing 45 percent, while bags and accessories came a close second at 39 percent. Watches and wines also grew by about a third for the period.
New buyers accounted for around 20 percent of sales, with nearly 30 percent more bidders thanks to a new-buyer fee strategy. This adds onto a strong period between 2021 and 2023 that saw sales rise by 33 percent, with a younger clientele coming in, with half of buyers in France under the age of 40.
Asked whether the luxury downturn was also making itself felt, he expressed serenity in light of luxury figures “on the high side, on the increase” and despite “a bit less appetite” for fine arts.
Given the rising interest in pre-owned luxury goods, opportunities feel plentiful although Tavella expects the process to be “a learning curve.”
In the jewelry market alone, he put auction houses’ business at around 5 percent of the worldwide turnover of jewels. “It’s almost nothing, so there is definitely space for growth,” he said. “And then it’s amazing that a brand like Sotheby’s should be recognized not only for auctions but also for private sales every day.”