Artcurial

Artcurial works out of the Hôtel Marcel Dassault on the rond-point des Champs-Élysées, and its calendar leans heavily on named private collections — the kind of sale where the provenance is the headline. A typical month mixes room sales in Paris with online-only strands.

What you can buy

• Old Master and 19th-century paintings.
• Modern and contemporary art, including African and Oceanic art.
• Books, manuscripts and antique prints, often as whole libraries.
• Fine wine and spirits, run as online sales.
• Collectors' motor cars and automobilia.
• Jewellery and watches.

How the bidding works

Room sales are held at the Paris premises with live online bidding alongside, and each has a published catalogue and viewing days. Online-only sales run over about a week — the wine strand is a standing example. Single-collection sales are announced well in advance, which matters because that is when the catalogue and the condition reports appear.

What to check before you bid

Collection sales attract buyers who want the provenance rather than the object, so prices in those sales are a poor guide to what the same piece makes in an ordinary auction. French sales carry a droit de suite on qualifying works and the buyer's premium is on top of the hammer — read the conditions for the specific sale, since the online strands are not always on the same terms as the room. For wine, check the stated storage history: it is the difference between a drinkable bottle and a decorative one.