A rendering of the new Sotheby's Paris in the 8th arrondissement, set to open in October
Courtesy Sotheby's
Sotheby’s will relocate its Paris headquarters down the street from its current address this autumn to gain more space. The announcement comes as the auction house prepares to move its Hong Kong offices to a new location next month and Sotheby’s New York to the Breuer building in 2025.
The auction house announced Monday (24 June) that it is planning a move to 83 Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, Paris, on a corner lot in the French capital’s 8th arrondissement. The new space measures 3,300 sq. m across five floors, and Sotheby’s will gain nearly 30% more exhibition space for its Paris showroom, the auction house said. The upper floors will consist of a “luxury showroom with special lots at fixed prices, along with dedicated spaces for private sales, a part of the business which Sotheby’s said has grown quickly over the past few years. The new location will also feature a cafe and wine cellar with a tasting area.
The space was previously home to the Galerie Bernheim-Jeune, one of Paris’s oldest galleries before it closed in 2019. The family-run gallery was an early proponent of Impressionism and organised the first show in Paris dedicated to Vincent van Gogh. Sotheby’s says the move from its current location at 76 Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré is planned for next year.
“Passersby will have a unique glimpse into the auction room through the full-length transparent windows giving onto the street. The new space will also be particularly suited for showcasing single-owner collections. It will be a destination in its own right,” Sotheby’s Europe chairman Mario Tavella said in a statement. Sotheby’s named its collections department, led by Tavella, as a factor in the auction house’s “considerable growth in Paris in recent years”.
The announcement of the new Paris location is the latest for Sotheby’s, which is rapidly expanding its global real estate. Sotheby’s Hong Kong will relocate next month to a new 2,200 sq. m space. A year ago, Sotheby’s announced it would purchase the famed Breuer building in New York, once home to the Whitney Museum of American Art and most recently the temporary home of the Frick Collection. Sotheby’s reportedly spent around $100m on purchasing the site, and plans to move there in September.
Last month, The Art Newspaper reported Sotheby’s has entered a consultation period in London in preparation for dozens of redundancies in the British capital. Cuts are also planned at other locations.
