Sotheby’s has appointed Mario Tavella as Président Directeur Général of Sotheby’s France.Tavella, who is Italian, is currently Deputy Chairman of Sotheby’s Europe and European Head of Single-Owner Collections. He has been based in London since 1991 when he joined the company. He will assume his duties at the helm of the Paris office on January 4, 2016.The appointment was announced as Sotheby’s held a news conference in Paris which gave its French sales total as €210.4 million (about $228 million) for the year, one of its best ever.Sotheby’s said Tavella is a champion for the Decorative Arts and a distinguished international specialist for almost 25 years. He has developed strong relationships with many of the greatest collectors in Europe. He was the architect behind “Treasures,” which he conceived in 2010. These sales now take place every summer at Sotheby’s London.Maarten Ten Holder, Managing Director of Sotheby’s Europe, said Tavella has been the driving force behind 50 sales of single-owner collections in London, Paris, Milan ad New York. In London these include the collections of Barbara Piasecka Johnson, Alberto Bruni Tedeschi, Dimitri Mavrommatis and the contents of Gianni Versace’s Lake Como residence; in New York, the collections of Lily & Edmond J. Safra and Ariane Dandois; and in Paris, the collections of Monsieur Léon Levy and, most recently, the private collection of the Dillée family.Tavella said he had worked with the Paris team “since we held our very first sales in France, right through from the sale of the collection of Luigi Laura in 2001 to the auction devoted to the Dillée dynasty last March.”He started as a specialist in the furniture department in 1991. In 1998 he became both Head of Division and a member of the European board. Two years later, he was appointed European Head of Furniture and Decorative Arts, and in 2003, he was promoted to the position of Deputy Chairman of Sotheby’s Europe. In 2003, he also became Chairman of Sotheby’s Italy.Tavella is the co-author of the book “L’Ambassade d’Italie a Paris, L’Hotel de la Rochefoucauld-Doudeauvile” published in 2009.The Paris total sales for the year was Sotheby’s second highest total by a small margin. The highest was in 2014 (€213 million), but that included the Marcilhac collection (€25 million) and Modigliani’s portrait of Paul Alexandre (€13.5 million).
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