“The measures can only help us develop our business in France,” says François Curiel, the head of Christie’s Europe, “and could breathe new life into the Art Deco market and make the city a major center for jewelry sales.”

Christie’s and Sotheby’s are set to increase their Paris staffs. But the Sotheby’s Paris boss, Guillaume Cerutti, regrets that Albanel did not act on Bethenod’s call for a spokesman to promote the proposals during France’s upcoming EU Council presidency, which begins in July. He also frets that no timetable has been set for implementing the changes. Albanel has merely stated that she wants them “adopted rapidly.” Just what that means in a country whose auction laws were barely tinkered with between 1556 and 2001 remains to be seen.

"Market Uplift" originally appeared in the June 2008 issue of Art+Auction. For a complete list of articles from this issue available on ARTINFO, see Art+Auction's June 2008 Table of Contents.