Paris top auctioneer Jacques Tajan faced charges for having sold a Giacometti statuette in a private transaction in July 1994 after it had failed to reach its reserve price in an auction sale.
Jacques Tajan was questioned by an investigating judge on April 9th 1999 for having sold a nude statuette by Alberto Giacometti which had remained unsold in the artist's succession sale. Such sale had been organised to meet heavy succession costs incurred by Annette Giacometti, the artist's widow, at the request of French lawyer, former foreign minister Roland Dumas, who was the executor of the succession.
French auctioneers are not allowed by law to sell bought in works of art privately. In addition, Jacques Tajan has been accused of having falsified sales records in adding the controversial piece in the list of lots sold during that auction sale.
The statuette was bought for US $ 200,000 by London dealer and collector Joe Nahmad two weeks after the sale.
Nahmad expressed surprise about the severity of French justice and added that such practice was in fact common in Paris.
Jacques Tajan however said that Joe Nahmad lied to French police during questioning and added that the transaction did not take place the way he pretended. The auctioneer however did not disclose his own version.
It is not not known whether French justice will try to determine the role of Roland Dumas who had decided to entrust Jacques Tajan with that auction sale.
Jacques Tajan said that without Roland Dumas' consent he would not have sold that statuette privately while French police sifted through the sales records and discovered that out of the 42 millions francs (US $ 7 millions)
turnover some 9 million francs (US $ 1,5 million) had not been handled back to the notary in charge of the succession four and half years after the sale.
jacques Tajan explained that he had taken care of the storing of hundreds of pieces and insurance costs and that he did not know to whom he was to remit such sum. It is true that Annette Giacometti bequeathed her belongings and her husband's collection worth one billion francs (US $ 166 million) to a foundation which still remains to be set up.
Jacques Tajan added that this sum was at the disposal of the legal recipient once he would know who he is.
Adrian Darmon
Home
