Hôtel Drouot
Auction venue in Paris, France
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Hôtel Drouot is a large auction venue in Paris, associated with fine art, antiques, antiquities and other collectables. It functions as a shared saleroom and services platform for independent auction firms operating under the Drouot name, rather than as a single integrated auction house.[1][2] Sales are generally preceded by public exhibitions of the lots.[1]
The main location, known as Drouot-Richelieu, is situated at 9 rue Drouot in the 9th arrondissement of Paris, on a site once occupied by the Paris Opera's Salle Le Peletier.[1] The nearest Métro station is Richelieu - Drouot.
Several other Drouot locations have operated at different times, including Drouot-Montaigne, Drouot-Montmartre, and Drouot-Véhicules.[3]
Details of forthcoming auctions, past results and articles on the art market are published by La Gazette Drouot, the weekly publication historically associated with the auction venue.[4]
In 2008 Hôtel Drouot was ranked fifth by sales amongst Paris auction houses, after Sotheby's, Christie's, Artcurial, and Ader-Picard-Tajan.[5]
History
The Hôtel Drouot was inaugurated on 1 June 1852. It was built for the Parisian commissaires-priseurs, whose association held a legally sanctioned role in public auctions during the nineteenth century.[6] Its creation gave the Parisian auction trade a permanent, purpose-built venue, at a time when sales of furniture, paintings, decorative arts and other movable goods were expanding in the city.[6]
During the second half of the nineteenth century, Drouot became a central venue for the sale and valuation of artworks, furniture, decorative art and curiosities in Paris.[6] Its catalogues and sales have subsequently been used by art historians for provenance research, particularly for the history of the French art market.
During World War II and the German occupation of France, a large number of artworks from collections that had been owned by Jews passed through Drouot. The Art Looting Investigation Unit consequently included it on its list of Red Flag names.[7][8] The Institut national d'histoire de l'art records that forced sales of property classified as Jewish took place there during the Occupation.[9]
From 1976 to 1980, while its present building was being constructed, sales took place in the former Gare d'Orsay, then often referred to in the auction context as Drouot-Rive Gauche.[10] In 2000, reform of the French auction laws, regulated through the system of commissaires-priseurs, opened the market to broader competition. The law of 10 July 2000 created a new framework for voluntary sales of movable goods by public auction, and its implementation allowed foreign auction houses such as Sotheby's and Christie's to operate in France.[11][12]
In 2023, the shareholders of Groupe Drouot approved the sale of up to 30 per cent of its capital to French investment funds led by Vesper Investissement and Groupe Chevrillon. The new investors were described as minority shareholders, while the auctioneers who were already shareholders retained decision-making rights on fundamental issues.[13]
The sale at Hôtel Drouot of ceremonial and sacred objects from Indigenous communities has attracted criticism. In 2014, objects associated with Navajo and Hopi communities were offered at auction in Paris despite requests from the United States embassy and Indigenous representatives to halt the sale. The auction went ahead, and Navajo officials bought back seven masks.[14]
