What happens when you spend enough time with a painting to imagine living with it? In this episode of The Art Bystander, our host Roland-Philippe Kretzschmar speak with David Rothschild, Sotheby’s Head of Contemporary Art Private Sales in the UK and Global Lead for Private Sales Exhibitions, and Valerio Polimeno, founder of _POLIMENO, about Chez Sotheby’s.
Taking place from 19–24 October during Art Basel Paris, the project brings nearly $150 million of art into an apartment on Rue de Rivoli overlooking the Jardin des Tuileries. Works by Picasso, Matisse, Warhol, Richter, Bacon and others inhabit rooms conceived for dining, conversation and the pleasure of looking. The curation is just perfect.
Our conversation follows the collaboration from its beginnings in Gstaad and London to the personal experiences that shaped Valerio’s approach to hospitality. He recounts how a dismissive remark about the pasta served at an earlier exhibition helped inspire this project, and why creating a welcoming space begins with the intentions of its hosts.
David discusses sourcing works from private collections and the connections that emerge when different periods share a room. Among them is a pairing both guests would happily take home: Degas’s ballerinas and a painting by Cecily Brown, whose encounters with Degas helped inspire her work.
We also discuss the business behind the invitation. Everything is available for private sale, and the setting allows collectors to consider art within the rhythms of everyday life. Drawing on Paris’s history of salons, homes and restaurants, Chez Sotheby’s asks how the company we keep, the rooms we inhabit and the time we give a work might influence what we see.
Chez Sotheby’s | Paris | 19–24 October 2026
Viewing enquiries: chezsothebys@sothebys.com
Address supplied on request.
Exhibition details and catalogue:
https://www.sothebys.com/en/digital-catalogues/chez-sothebys
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