A view of the pre-sale exhibition inside the Galerie Charpentier, Sotheby's Paris.
(Photo courtesy of Kerry Taylor Auctions.)
(Photo courtesy of Kerry Taylor Auctions.)
Last weekend’s article in the New York Times Magazine, “How to Conduct an Auction,” could not have come at a more appropriate time given that I had just participated in the auction of a lifetime only days earlier.
The author, Malia Wollan, divulges what a good auctioneer innately knows: that is, “it’s the sound that sells.” By this she means neither the sound of bids being called from the audience nor the crack of the gavel on the rostrum, but the rhythm of the auctioneer’s voice and her choice of language, which can either provoke a perfectly choreographed battle dance or put the audience to sleep. Camille de Foresta, who expertly conducted the auction to which I refer, was clearly in the former category, having called for five hours without intermission and soliciting bids frequently in excess of 15 times the estimated selling price.
The auction, conducted on July 8, 2015 in Paris, featured 171 lots from world-renowned fashion antiquarian Didier Ludot’s private collection of vintage haute couture. Ludot first came to my attention in 2001, when I read his book La Petite Robe Noire, in which he juxtaposes his collection of black dresses from Dior, Chanel, Balenciaga and Balmain with historical photos of glitterati such as Catherine Deneuve in their own, which in many cases are the very dresses in Ludot’s collection. That such a collection of haute couture existed outside a museum was staggering to me; then I learned that his assortment of black dresses was only a fraction of his entire inventory, which numbered into the thousands. I was smitten.
The auction, conducted on July 8, 2015 in Paris, featured 171 lots from world-renowned fashion antiquarian Didier Ludot’s private collection of vintage haute couture. Ludot first came to my attention in 2001, when I read his book La Petite Robe Noire, in which he juxtaposes his collection of black dresses from Dior, Chanel, Balenciaga and Balmain with historical photos of glitterati such as Catherine Deneuve in their own, which in many cases are the very dresses in Ludot’s collection. That such a collection of haute couture existed outside a museum was staggering to me; then I learned that his assortment of black dresses was only a fraction of his entire inventory, which numbered into the thousands. I was smitten.
Ludot's book La Petite Robe Noire, available (in English too!) at amazon.com
Though Ludot has sold pieces in a trio of tiny boutiques in Paris’s Palais Royal since the 1970s, his 10,000-piece private collection of favorites has remained inviolate for over 40 years. Astonishingly all 171 lots in the auction were from this group, so it goes without saying that I wouldn’t have missed it even if I were in labor. What did it matter that half the starting bids were out of my financial comfort zone? Besides, some of my museum sources had indicated that—with less than two weeks between the announcement of the event and the auction itself—few institutions would be nimble enough to get funds approved to bid, which might mean less competition.
…to be continued…
…to be continued…
Display windows at 24 Galerie Montpensier, one of Ludot's three addresses near the Louvre.
(Photo courtesy of Jeff Hirsch/NYSD.com)
(Photo courtesy of Jeff Hirsch/NYSD.com)
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