Between the Primary and Secondary Markets, Galleries Wear Two Hats


03/25/2021

This spring, Emmanuel Perrotin will open his ninth space in the heart of Paris’s Golden Triangle focusing on the purchase and resale of works on the secondary market. Contemporary art galleries are increasingly taking on this double role.



by Annick Colonna-Césari

Emmanuel Perrotin’s private mansion at 8 Avenue Matignon, which will be devoted to the secondary market. Photo: L’Atelier Senzu
True to form, and despite the context, Mr. Perrotin thinks big. His new gallery will be in a private mansion in Avenue Matignon in the city’s most stylish district. "I was already quietly working in the secondary market," he says, "because the clients who sell or buy through it are looking for discretion. But for a while, I’ve wanted to get more involved." When this prestigious residence became available, Mr. Perrotin jumped at the chance and teamed up with dealer Tom-David Bastok and Dylan Lessel, former head of the Kamel Mennour gallery, with whom he has worked for several years. He is not the only one in the business to officially wear two hats. Parisian Magda Danysz, known for promoting street art, recently announced the creation of a department devoted to the secondary market within her gallery. "Around 20 years ago," she jokes, "a leading Parisian dealer predicted I’d do it one day. In the midst of the contemporary art craze, I found the prospect incongruous!" The idea, however, seems more topical than ever. "Is it due to… read more...