MONACO.- A white glove sale !
Artcurial’s week of summer sales got off to a flying start in the prestigious surroundings of the Hôtel Hermitage in Monte-Carlo. This first sale featured a collection of 11 collectors’ automobiles. The sale realised 697 439 € / 753 234 $, over twice the overall estimate, with 100% of lots sold. International collectors were there in force, representing 80% of the buyers in the sale.
Prices soared from the outset, in the auction taken by Matthieu Lamoure, Managing Director of Artcurial’s collectors’ car department. Lot no.1, the 1989 Aston Martin Lagonda, finally changed hands after a fierce bidding battle for 157 300 € / 169 884$, three times its estimate !
And when the soprano voice of Maria Callas was heard singing the first notes of Habanera, from Bizet’s opera Carmen, the room held its breath. Pierre Novikoff, specialist in Artcurial’s Collectors’ Car department, described the two prestigious limousines, both bought new for the singer to use on her European tours and other travels. The first lot (lot 3) sold for 106 100 € / 114 588 $, and the second (lot 7) 119 200 € / 128 736 $, above the pre-sale estimates.
Matthieu Lamoure, Managing Director of the department at Artcurial, declared: « This evening, the bids matched the scale of the Prima Donna’s immense talent. A dynamic saleroom, numerous telephone bids and a white glove result...Monaco is an exceptional playground ! »
Artcurial Collectors’ Car Department’s next sales will be:
• Automobiles sur les Champs IX – on 11 November 2015
• The official Salon Retromobile sale – on 5 February 2016
