Sotheby's Transforms Paris Apartment Into Restaurant With $150M Art

(MENAFN- USA Art News) Sotheby's Paris is poised to enter the restaurant business for a single week, taking over a Rue de Rivoli apartment that overlooks the Jardin des Tuileries. The auction house will fill the space with nearly $150 million worth of art, featuring works by Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Andy Warhol, Gerhard Richter, and Francis Bacon, among others. The event, dubbed“Chez Sotheby's,” aims to blend an exhibition with a dining experience during Art Basel Paris next month.

Scheduled from October 19 to October 24, the project is a collaboration with art and design consultants Polimeno. Sotheby's describes the concept as a fusion of an exhibition, a restaurant, and a traditional Parisian salon, inviting visitors to enjoy drinks and lunch while considering potential art acquisitions. The experience is designed to evoke the atmosphere of Gertrude Stein's apartment combined with a 1960s Café de Flore lunch. All of the displayed art is available for private sale, including Picasso's Deux nus couchés (1968). Sotheby's announced that this collection represents its most valuable private-sales exhibition ever presented in Europe.

The culinary offerings will include Italian food, French desserts, champagne, and martinis, with drinks mixed by Colin Field, who previously served as head bartender at the Hemingway Bar at the Ritz. The apartment will also feature a dedicated presentation of works by Alexander Calder. A complete list of works will be released at a later date.“Great art is best experienced in good company. Chez Sotheby's brings art and people together in a setting that feels natural, social and distinctly Parisian,” said David Rothschild, Sotheby's head of contemporary art and private sales for the UK.

Valerio Polimeno, a consultant for the project, stated:“Art and food have the same magic: they bring people together. More than an exhibition, Chez Sotheby's was imagined as a place to gather, spend time and discover art in a memorable setting.” Chez Sotheby's will be open daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. A limited number of complimentary lunch reservations will be available each day at 1 p.m., though the precise address will remain undisclosed by Sotheby's for now.

We previously reported:

Christie's will offer 62 works from Paul Durand-Ruel's family trust during Paris Art Week, estimated at €30 million to €43 million.

Christie's will auction British collector Peter Simon's art collection, valued at up to £127 million, featuring works by Bacon, Mondrian, and Warhol.

Source: ARTnews

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