The Journal of Antique Dealers and Galleries No. 2

The art market is constantly evolving, and while the major fairs of the first quarter may already seem like a distant memory, the excitement continues in June with Asian Art Week.

This event allows me to highlight the crucial role of antique dealers and merchants who are members of the SNA (French National Antiques Association) and other professional associations, in their commitment to provenance research. Beyond the regulations imposed by the authorities, which are sometimes difficult to fully implement, ethical and professional codes of conduct require art market participants to exercise the utmost vigilance regarding provenance.

While one might spontaneously assume that certain specialties would be more sensitive to this subject than others, in reality, every professional conducts thorough research by consulting collection inventories, exhibition and auction catalogs, press articles, and correspondence. 

Even though an object's provenance can, independently of its intrinsic qualities, be a determining factor in its value, the ethical and historical aspects are far more often emphasized by our members, driven above all by the desire to know and to share knowledge. More than just a sometimes prestigious list of collectors' names, provenance research allows us to trace an object's social journey and often strengthens the emotional connection it creates for the buyer.

The galleries belonging to the SNA are welcoming spaces, steeped in history, and dedicated to knowledge sharing. They are always meeting places for people and objects, places where reason doesn't always prevail, much to our delight. I encourage you to visit them.

Mathias Ary Jan, president of the SNA