Artcurial has acquired an undisclosed stake in Swiss auction house Beurret Bailly Widmer.
The major French auction house, which celebrated its 20th anniversary last year, already has outlets in Paris, Monaco and Marrakech and also owns John Taylor, which specializes in luxury real estate, and Arqana, which focuses on the sale of horses.
Beurret Bailly Widmer was founded in 2011 by Nicolas Beurret and Emmanuel Bailley, with Markus Schöb, from Galerie Widmer, who then joined the firm in 2018. Specialized in modern and contemporary art, it is located in Basel, Zurich and St. Gallen.
“The acquisition of Beurret Bailly Widmer is above all the result of a rapprochement between players in the art market sharing an identical vision of the profession, that is to say, favoring human support and proximity to its customers,” says Nicolas Orlowski, CEO of Artcurial, which posted record sales of 216.5 million euros last year and continued to grab headlines in February for its record sale of 1.9 million. pounds sterling from an original TinTin in America drawing by Hergé.
He adds that the Swiss auction is “a discreet and serious business which has become one of the major players in the Swiss art market”.
The Swiss company will now operate under the name Artcurial Beurret Bailly Widmer, with the three Swiss founders remaining partners. A joint press release confirmed that the Swiss company’s current structure and operations would not be impacted and that the company’s three annual sales would continue as in previous years, including its Fine Art sale on June 21, during Art Basel.
“Several development projects” are reportedly planned for the next two years, but no further details have yet been released.
“By partnering with the leading French auction house, we will be able to offer our clients an even more complete service and benefit from Artcurial’s network while maintaining our national roots,” said Emmanuel Bailly, CEO of Beurret Bailly Widmer in a statement. A statement on the company’s website also highlighted the opportunity the acquisition provides for any of its customers wishing to branch out into new collecting areas such as jewelry, automobiles and design.
