Artcurial Morocco Auction Nets 3.17 Million Euros in Marrakech Art Sale

Divided into three chapters dedicated to Majorelle and his contemporaries, Moroccan & international modern & contemporary art, and African contemporary art, the fifth edition of this event held behind closed doors in the ballroom of the La Mamounia hotel, was a real success. For Olivier Berman, Director of Artcurial Maroc, the success of this event, despite the health crisis, demonstrates the importance of Artcurial’s choice to establish a subsidiary in Morocco in November 2019 and to participate in giving international visibility to the art market in the "red city", Marrakech, the tourist and cultural capital and hub of art in Africa.

For Christophe Person, Director of the African Contemporary Art department at Artcurial, "the result of the African art sale has doubled our low estimates". "Under the hammer of Master Arnaux Oliveux, surrounded by a dozen employees of the House, these sales totaled 34.7 MDH / 3.17 M€ including fees. Nearly 300 clients from seventeen countries in Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia competed by telephone, on order and on the internet, thanks to the Artcurial Live Bid platform," the press release points out.

The first two sales dedicated to Majorelle and his contemporaries and Moroccan & international modern & contemporary art amounted to 28.1 MDH/ 2.56 M€ including fees for 106 lots. Regarding the chapter dedicated to Moroccan & international modern & contemporary art, the best bid was for the oil on canvas Valliere, sold for 1.5 MDH/ 137,000 € including fees. It should be noted that the four works by Mohamed Melehi, founder of Moroccan contemporary art who died last October, generated very good bids. For the chapter dedicated to African contemporary art, it totaled 6.6 MDH/ 602,000 € including fees, double its estimate.

It should be noted that for this fifth edition, 75% of the buyers are Moroccans, said Olivier Berman, inviting them to the end of April for Made in Morocco, dedicated to Moroccan decorative arts and a session dedicated to Orientalist and modern paintings.