Six offices, one calendar. Most members use three of them; the value is that they are worked by the same people, in the same year, against the same list of deadlines.
01
Le placement
Shows, showrooms, re-sees.
A seat is not a ticket. Placement is a relationship with a house's press office, held over years and spent carefully — which show, which row, and whether the showroom appointment that matters more comes after it.
02
Les foires
Venice, Basel, Frieze, TEFAF.
The fair is decided during the two days before it opens. We hold VIP and preview credentials across the majors, walk the floor with you or ahead of you, and get a first look sent through before it is on a wall.
03
Les ventes
Auction representation and advisory.
We read the catalogue with you, form a view on estimate against condition and provenance, and sit the room — or the phone — on your instruction. Discretion here is the whole of the service.
04
Les collections privées
Houses and ateliers, opened.
The collections that never travel and the studios that do not receive. Visits are secured one at a time, by name, and the invitation is rarely repeated — so we make the day around it worth the journey.
05
Les premières
Opera, ballet, theatre.
Premieres sell before they are announced. We hold the houses on subscription-level terms, place you in the right box rather than the best one, and see to what happens after the curtain — which is usually the point.
06
Les commandes
Brokering work that does not exist yet.
Approaching an artist is a matter of timing and of who is asking. We structure the commission — brief, fee, schedule, rights, installation — so the conversation stays about the work.
01
Janvier
Couture
Paris
02
Février
The Collections
London · Milan · Paris
03
Mars
TEFAF
Maastricht
04
Avril
The Biennale opens
Venice
05
Mai
The spring sales
New York
06
Juin
Art Basel
Basel
07
Juillet
Couture · the festival season
Paris · Aix
08
Août
Festspiele
Salzburg
09
Septembre
The Collections
New York · London · Milan
10
Octobre
Frieze · Art Basel Paris
London · Paris
11
Novembre
The autumn sales
New York
12
Décembre
Art Basel Miami Beach
Miami
The public calendar is the smaller half of it. The dates that matter to a member — a preview two days before a vernissage, a re-see that is never listed, a specialist’s call before a catalogue goes to print — are not printed anywhere, which is rather the point of the bureau.
Membership and terms