At MILLON we know that every seller has specific expectations, but that everyone wants to sell at the highest price. This is why we have created different auction configurations to suit each seller's needs.
- MILLON's recurring specialised sales
The auction market calendar is punctuated by two major seasons: April-June and October-December. While these two seasons account for most of the lots sold on the international art market, the MILLON group offers indoor auctions throughout the year to enable each seller to realise the value of their works at a tailor-made pace.
MILLON has 35 art specialities, known as "departments", which organise themed sales according to a calendar eagerly awaited by collectors. In this way, the works and pieces offered for sale are directed towards the speciality sales in which they will be most noticed by collectors or connoisseurs
Our buyer clients subscribe to themed newsletters, which enable them to be quickly alerted to the date of the auction at which the item that will complete their collection will be offered.
- Current sales.
Catalogued or not, they are auctioned by one of the 15 MILLON auctioneers at the Hôtel Drouot, in the Salle VV in the Drouot district, at the Trocadéro - Paris 16th, in Brussels at MILLON Belgium or in Nice at MILLON Riviera
Like all MILLON Masters, Online or So Unique sales, current sales are relayed on the Drouot online and Interenchères platforms, the No. 1 auction site in France, as well as Barneby's
- The bargains of 116
In the MILLON auction room in Neuilly-sur-Marne, between 200 and 400 lots are auctioned each week, giving them a chance to find a new lease of life.
When an estate is being inventoried or a house is being moved, some items are appraised at a low value, but may appeal to buyers looking for a bargain or an atypical, authentic object that will embellish their home.
MILLON is the only auction house in France to organise these auctions on a weekly basis. They take place only in the auction rooms and allow the sale of objects, art furniture or paintings that would not be presented in a regular auction.
- So Unique" auctions
In 2020, MILLON invented the So Unique concept, which dedicates a sale to a single work of art. These tailor-made auctions dedicated to exceptional objects offer them maximum visibility and regularly break auction records.
To cite the most recent successes, a painting by Domenico Gnoli fetched €6,600,000, making it the highest-selling contemporary art item in Europe in 2021. In 2022, the world record for artist Sheila Hicks was broken.
MILLON's experts and teams know how to mobilise a file of buyers who are looking for exceptional objects, from a rare Russian Art decoration to an Olympic torch from 1968.
All the communication tools disseminated around the sale are devoted exclusively to the work, to maximise the success of each So Unique.
- Masters auctions
These sales are the Prestige version of the live auctions organised in the auction rooms, with bidders present in person or by telephone and others participating online. They are usually timed to coincide with the international art market, to capture the attention of collectors in each Fine Art category
Masters sales feature a catalogue of no more than 100 lots, carefully selected by our experts and department heads, either because they form an attractive thematic whole in one of the 29 Fine Art areas of expertise, or because they come from a private collection or estate.
Here are just a few examples:
the sale of the François Lepage Photography Collection, organised during the Paris-Photo 2022 international photography fair;
the André Dubreuil estate, a "white glove" sale, during which 100% of the most personal works by the artist nicknamed "the poet of iron" were sold in February 2023
the Masters of Modern Art sale in March 2023, which showcased the leading names of the early 20th century, including Othon Friesz, Henry Moret, Pablo Picasso and Pierre Auguste Renoir
The catalogue for each of these auctions is sent to a file of buyers who have expressed an interest in the domain concerned, both by post and by e-mail.
Whether furniture, objets d'art, antique, modern or contemporary paintings, historical souvenirs, tableware, jewellery, Asian art or art from the Middle East and India, each of the areas appraised by the MILLON Group offers at least two Prestige sales per year.
- Online only sales
Online-only auctions are dematerialised auctions. They can only be accessed via an internet platform that receives the purchase orders for a given period and awards them automatically.
These sales are not published in a physical catalogue. Each MILLON department organises several sales per year in parallel with the live auctions.
Like other MILLON sales, they are promoted by an intensive presence on social networks: Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and by thematic newsletters sent to an international client base
The advantage for sales staff is twofold. Firstly, they can offer their items for sale in a very short space of time, because there is no time taken to design and send catalogues. Secondly, online-only sales enable them to reach the same MILLON file of international buyers of works of art as catalogued auctions, which means they can hope to achieve high bids for Photographs, Silverware, Contemporary Paintings, Jewellery, Watches, Chinese Ceramics and Paintings, etc
- Private sales by private treaty
An alternative to public auctions that allows you to benefit from the network of our experts and department managers.
You want to sell your work at the best price, without exposing it to the greatest number of people. MILLION's experts and department managers are aware of market prices and know how to sell where the market demands.
By opting for a private sale, you benefit from the quality of the interpersonal relationships that the members of MILLION have built up over the years with the most demanding collectors. We will act as your confidential intermediaries, protecting your anonymity so that you can put potential buyers in competition for your work, without having to go through the public auction process.
Sellers, we will always have a sale in preparation for you.
Buyers, there are always new discoveries to be made in our auctions, so sign up for our Newsletter to make sure you don't miss out on that coveted object ...