Droit de suite

Thus the droit de suite became law on 20 May 1920 enabling artists to receive a fixed 3% return on the price at which any of their works was resold. They are entitled to this until the day of their death, as well as any assignees for a period of seventy years following the painter's death.

This law originally only applied to sales made at auction, until a law on 11 March 1957, which was not applicable elsewhere, was introduced extending the scope to traders.

The transposition of the new European directive provides that as of 2006:

traders and sellers of any work of visual artists must pay:

- the droit de suite (from which they were exempt until that time),

- the contribution owed to the Maison des Artistes,

and then auction houses which are now fully assimilated to art traders, must pay:

- the contribution to the M.D.A from which they had been exempt,

- the droit de suite which has been applied to them since 1920.

Scholarly assessments lead us to believe that the total overall charge in millions of euros will rise from:

      * 4 to 7.5 or 10 for Gallery owners,

      * 2.25 to 4 for Auction Houses.

It will eventually lead to the significant increase of a financial constraint which art market professionals will have to meet.

These surcharges will inevitably be passed on to the sale and could force the buyer to tax havens abroad or to alternative markets with a less aggressive profile.

In the basic principles of distributor contributions, it must be noted that taxation on all original artwork is imposed, including that of deceased artists which is why antique dealers are outraged; we have taken every opportunity to transmit this feeling of outrage during our meetings with the M.D.A.

All parties, and in particular gallery owners are hopeful that:

- all first resales of artwork directly purchased from the artist by a Gallery owner are exempt from the droit de suite,

- the resale of artwork which is currently part of the stock of gallery owners is exempt from droit de suite and in particular that on behalf of European Harmony (sacred precept our our political elite), the transposition of this directive is not applicable before 2012 (deadline granted to the British while they account for 47% of the European market).

And if the taxation obligation as of 2006 proves to be final, that the surprisingly low rate of 1.7% applicable in Germany will be the base used for the French art market.

A meeting will soon be held in Paris with the German representative in the framework of the Joint Liaison Committee.

Rest assured, dear colleagues, that the SNCAO-GA will represent you and take full advantage of this opportunity to make its voice heard; a voice which is also representative of you.

 

Michel GOMEZ