Louvre Museum invoked a rare legal provision to acquire a 17th-century terracotta sculpture, even after it was sold in an auction.
The sculpture in question is a funerary monument created by artist François Anguier. It was commissioned for former governor Touraine Jacques de Souvré who died in 1670. François Anguier was one of the most influential sculpting artists of medieval Europe and was considered the best sculptor during the times of King Louis XIV. The sculpture went on the auction block at the Osenat House in Versailles. It sold for $2.85 million on 18th June. Previously, it was estimated to fetch $2.19-$3.29 million.
However, the Louvre Museum decided to use the Droit de préemption – which is the French law of pre-emption. Under this law, any government entity is entitled to acquire an object of cultural significance before they are sold to the public. However, due to the nature of private auctions like the one organized at Osenat House, public museums like the Louvre cannot really participate in such sales. To circumvent this, Louvre used a provision of the law, which allows government entities to acquire works that were already sold if they manage to match the price.
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The legal opinion around the provision is: “In practice, the pre-emption right is exercised by an administrative agent who makes an announcement after the auctioneer’s hammer falls for the artwork that the state wishes to pre-empt.” This is exactly what the Louvre Museum did as they paid the auction price of $2.85 million and acquired the sculpture.
