Vincent Noce

After two years of tremendous growth, France's art auction market is in decline

Overall auction results are strong—largely thanks to rise of second hand car purchases—but sales of fine art and antiques have fallen significantly from last year

Former Musée D’Orsay director announced as new chair of Versailles

Christophe Leribault’s move ends a controversy around the extended tenure of his predecessor

Masterpieces from the Barbier-Mueller African and Oceanic Art collection to be sold at Christie's in Paris

The auction next month will include 100 pieces acquired by Josef Müller and his family

AlUlanews

Head of Saudi Arabia's AlUla cultural development arrested over corruption claims

Amr al-Madani is accused of “abuse of authority and money laundering“, according to local media

Friends of the Louvre chair forced to step down

Louis-Antoine Prat, a French art historian and Old Master drawings collector, has been accused of slandering a respected art dealer with antisemitic stereotypes in his new book

Right-wing veteran Rachida Dati appointed as France's new culture minister

Macron's appointment has taken the culture sector by surprise

Demolition of Marie Curie's Paris laboratory suspended at 11th hour

The move has been welcomed by heritage bodies, but scientists—including Curie's great-grandson—support the construction of a new research centre on the site

Jack Lang is re-elected chair of the Institut du Monde Arabe, securing his fourth term

The 84-year-old—the only candidate in the running— has extended a Palestinian culture season

France simplifies law on restitution of human remains

The prime minister can now approve the return of remains of up to 500 years old, without having to pass a special law

Louis-Antoine Prat, chair of the Friends of the Louvre, accused of slandering Paris dealer in new book

French art historian is “horrified by the accusation of antisemitism” following the publication of his collection of short stories

Controversy swirls around Centre Pompidou ahead of 2025 closure

Talks between trade unions and the French culture ministry stall as workers fear for their future during the Paris museum’s five-year shutdown

Dmitry Rybolovlev and Yves Bouvier settle nine-year legal feud

The Russian oligarch had accused the Swiss businessman of swindling him out of €1.1bn by overcharging him on art

Dealer and furniture expert to go on trial as part of longstanding investigation into forged French furniture

The trial is expected to offer unprecedented insights into the inner workings of the antique furniture market that once took pride of place at Paris's Biennale des Antiquaires

Antiquities trafficking charges upheld against former Louvre director Jean-Luc Martinez

French high court rejects Martinez's appeal but drops charges against curator Jean-François Charnier in Egyptian antiquities investigation

Alleged head of Egyptian antiquities trafficking ring arrested in Paris

Serop Simonian was arrested in his hometown of Hamburg and transferred to France

Dmitry Rybolovlev’s former attorney, France's justice minister Eric Dupont-Moretti, faces trial next month

The former defence attorney is accused of using his position to settle scores, including against a judge who investigated the Russian oligarch in Monaco.

French billionaire collector Bernard Arnault under investigation for money laundering in connection to Russian oligarch

The probe concerns a convoluted financial transaction around properties in the French luxury ski resort Courchevel

France suspends cultural cooperation with three West African countries

France's culture minister said the country “never boycotts artists”, but artists and performers from Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso will no longer be granted visas

French general in charge of Notre Dame rebuild dies in a hiking accident

The death of Jean-Louis Georgelin might hamper efforts to reopen the cathedral by the end of 2024

Trial of Parisian antiques dealer accused of forging French furniture delayed due to ill health

93-year-old Jean Lupu, who allegedly faked 17th- and 18th-century royal furniture, and his wife say they are unable to stand trial due to illness and stress

Italian painter arrested as investigations continue in Old Master forgery scandal

Lino Frongia is suspected of producing the fakes that sold for millions of euros

Claude Lévêque charged with rape and sexual assault of minors

The French neon artist was previously under investigation for allegations dating back to the 1980s

France's long-awaited restitution policy is finally here

Guidelines for returning objects looted from former colonies and during the Nazi period are laid out in a report commissioned by Emmanuel Macron and written by former Louvre director Jean-Luc Martinez

Notre Dame to reopen in December 2024

Though the Parisian cathedral's nave is expected to reopen to the public by the end of 2024, work to restore the entire site could last until 2028

Leonardo’s Salvator Mundi heads to court in case against Sotheby's

New York judge rules the auction house must face trial as part of Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev’s art fraud lawsuit

Dealer who has given 1,677 works to create new French museum does ‘not expect a dime from the donation’

Conditions outlined for gift from Claude and France Lemand for new museum at the Arab World Institute in Paris

Musée D'Orsay ordered by Paris court to return four masterpieces by Renoir, Cézanne and Gauguin stolen during Second World War

The works were owned by influential French dealer Ambroise Vollard and will be returned to his heirs

Appeals court upholds antiquities trafficking charges against former Louvre director Jean-Luc Martinez and curator Jean-François Charnier

The appellate court judges’ decision came as a surprise, as the general prosecutor had asked for the charges—which relate to the acquisition of Egyptian antiquities by the Louvre Abu Dhabi—to be dropped

'A long overdue recognition': Paris's Arab World Institute to turn part of its building into an art museum

The new space, spanning all seven levels of the Institute's Jean Nouvel-designed building, was made possible in part thanks to a major donation of 1,677 works