Pierre Bergé Collection Achieves $31 Million at Sotheby's Paris

More Than Triple Expectations and 100% Sold

Proceeds to Benefit the Fondation Pierre Bergé - Yves Saint Laurent and the Fondation Jardin Majorelle

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Nov 01, 2018, 08:28 ET

PARIS, Nov. 1, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Over the course of two days, Sotheby's (NYSE: BID) Paris sold nearly 1,000 lots from the collection of Pierre Bergé for a total of $31.3 million and with 100% of lots sold for a rare 'white glove' event. Over the course of the four-day exhibition, 5,000 visitors filled the galleries, and more than 80,000 visited the online catalogue for 'Collection Pierre Bergé: From One Home to Another'.

The contents of four homes collected by Pierre Bergé achieved a stunning total of $31.3 million at Sotheby's Paris this week, with every one of the nearly 1,000 items finding a buyer for a rare 100% 'white glove' event.

Mario Tavella, Chairman of Sotheby's France and Chairman of Sotheby's Europe commented: "It has been a true privilege to have orchestrated the final great sale of the legendary Pierre Bergé - Yves Saint Laurent collection. This adventure was a wonder from start to finish. Above all, it gave us the unique opportunity to step into the four different homes of Pierre Bergé, and in doing so discover his personality and exacting eye. From there, we put together a comprehensive catalogue in tribute to his taste, an extraordinary exhibition, and finally, two-days of successful sales."

Tour the Exhibition & Watch the Bidding Battles

The record-breaking auction featured the contents of four of Pierre Bergé's homes – Rue Bonaparte, Mas Théo, Villa Mabrouka and La Datcha – and included Orientalist paintings, twelve paintings by Bernard Buffet – ten of which were given by the artist to Bergé, works by Claude and François-Xavier Lalanne, African art, sculpture, other decorative objects and more. The top selling lot was one of Jean-Jules-Antoine Lecomte du Noüy's most ambitious paintings - the luminous 'The Harem's Gate, Souvenir of Cairo', which set a world auction record for the artist when it sold for $2.7 million, more than three times the pre-sale estimate.

24 Hours of Sales and Ten Auctioneers

Four Days of Public Exhibition with 5,000 Visitors

2,500 Participants from 72 Countries

1,200 Online Participants from 56 Countries

30% of Clients New to Sotheby's

100% Sold

About Sotheby's
Sotheby's has been uniting collectors with world-class works of art since 1744. Sotheby's became the first international auction house when it expanded from London to New York (1955), the first to conduct sales in Hong Kong (1973), India (1992) and France (2001), and the first international fine art auction house in China (2012). Today, Sotheby's presents auctions in 10 different salesrooms, including New York, London, Hong Kong and Paris, and Sotheby's BidNow program allows visitors to view all auctions live online and place bids from anywhere in the world. Sotheby's offers collectors the resources of Sotheby's Financial Services, the world's only full-service art financing company, as well as the collection, artist, estate & foundation advisory services of its subsidiary, Art Agency, Partners. Sotheby's presents private sale opportunities in more than 70 categories, including S|2, the gallery arm of Sotheby's Global Fine Art Division, and three retail businesses: Sotheby's Wine, Sotheby's Diamonds, and Sotheby's Home, the online marketplace for interior design. Sotheby's has a global network of 80 offices in 40 countries and is the oldest company listed on the New York Stock Exchange (BID).