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It attracted la crème de la crème among collectors including tycoon Francis Bouygues, head of the biggest building co in France and of the TF1 TV channel and actor Alain Delon who both bought Modigliani's "La Belle Epiciere" for 63 million francs ($ 11 million). The cunning Guy Loudmer eventually managed to convince the Bourdons to set up a fund under his auspices. He thus managed it until 1993 and hired a personal friend to buy paintings for a Bourdon Modern Art Fund set up in 1991 to carry out mecenate operations.

For this Loudmer perceived commissions regarding the purchases of about 15 works amounting to US $1,1 million and for which the Bourdon association had given no agreement. Out of the Bourdon sale, Loudmer received some 13 million francs (US $ 2,24 million) in excess of his normal commissions whereas all the costs of the March 25 1990 sale were paid by the Bourdons whose collection accounted for 85% of the lots sold that day.

Some serious allegations have been made against Loudmer for not having asked the Bourdons about the provenance of their works. Investigators came to learn that the masterpieces were stacked under a bed in an unoccupied maid's room. The room was without protection and the works had never been insured. Such fact led investigators to ask whether the Bourdons had not been involved in some dirty trading during the war when Jewish-owned works of art were stolen and sold by some unscrupulous collaborationists. Loudmer told investigators he never asked about the provenance of the works and that he never thought the works might have been stolen during the war.

The daily Le Monde noted that the Bourdons preferred to pay the special 4% tax imposed by fiscal authorities on works acquired over a period of less than thirty years. Such attitude puzzled investigators since the works were reputedly in the possession of the Bourdons for over 40 years. Thus, without arguing, they paid the tax which amounted to 20 million FF
(US $ 3,44 million). The tax payment was in the care of the Loudmer grouping which never paid it back to fiscal authorities.

During questioning, Loudmer reckoned that the paintings might have had a dubious provenance but he had no proof of this despite a series of anonymous letters he received after the sale.
The Bourdon sale was the last to occur when the market was its height. Shortly afterwards, prices slumped as a result of the Gulf War and French auctioneers had to resort to certain illegal practices to keep their business going. As an example many top auctioneers have made cash advances to buyers whereas such practice is strickly forbidden. They also have privately sold works of art that remained unsold in their sales.

Well-informed sources said that the results of over 10% of sales carried out in France are known to be fictitious stressing that such method is aimed at keeping the market steady.

All the more fakes appear in numbers in many sales but the disciplinary committee of The Chambre des Commissaires Priseurs no longer shows its former strictness. Such lapses in fact epitomize the attitude of a profession which has not been able to remain united for the past 10 years.

The first cracks appeared when the auctioneers took possession of their new Drouot salesrooms which were so badly designed. The rivalry between the big groupings could not serve the interests of the profession which suffered because of the large number of its members (over 101). There is room for 10 groupings only and this fact was not taken into account when Sotheby's and Christie's started to press for their installation in Paris.

Now the profession is split and only a few auctioneers will be able to meet the anglo-saxon challenge in about seven or eight months.