Art dealer Emmanuel Perrotin and Paris-based dealers Tom-David Bastok and Dylan Lessel announced that they have agreed to end the secondary-market collaboration they launched in late 2020.
According to a statement, Perrotin sold his shares to Bastok and Lessel, who will now run the five-story gallery they shared at 8 Avenue Matignon in Paris, as well as a gallery in Dubai, under their own names.
“The aims of Perrotin remain unchanged and will continue to develop in line with the gallery’s ongoing expansion,” according to the statement.
(L to R) Tom-David Bastok, Emmanuel Perrotin, Dylan Lessel. © Photo Claire Dorn
Perrotin, which was founded in 1990, represents dozens of art stars, including Daniel Arsham, Maurizio Cattelan, Sophie Calle, and Takashi Murakami, and has spaces in New York, Seoul, Hong Kong, Tokyo, and Shanghai. It is set to open a new space in Los Angeles at the end of the month.
At the time that the Bastok-Lessel venture was announced, it was focused on both buying and consigning artworks in a manner “consistent with the standards of the secondary market,” Bastok told Artnet at the time. It also provided advisory services to collectors, with Lessel saying: “We want to cover the full spectrum: source, evaluate, purchase and sell.”
Lessel began his career in 2010 at Paris’s Kamel Mennour gallery, where he served as director until 2018. Bastok founded My Art Invest, one of the first platforms to offer co-ownership of art options, in 2010. He also privately represented the estate of artist Georges Mathieu before placing it jointly to Perrotin and Nahmad Contemporary.
Last summer, Colony Investment Management confirmed that it was in discussions to buy a 60 percent stake in Perrotin. The news of an investment firm buying part of a blue-chip gallery surprised many in the art industry, where investors and private backers are generally kept quiet.
Representatives for Perrotin did not respond when asked whether the Colony investment impacted the partnership with Bastok and Lessel.
When the Colony deal was announced last summer, Perrotin said that he was giving up more than half of his business but not ceding any control. The dealer said that he wanted access to funding in order to expand.