meets Antoine Béal, an ancient art enthusiast who is not afraid of thieves

A truly unusual proposal came in July. An art collector suggested that we visit his apartment before the sale of some sixty paintings that would be loaned to the Musée des Beaux-Arts d’Orléans for an exhibition running until March 29, 2026. On the big day, a handful of journalists went there out of curiosity.

Antoine Béal lives in the center of Paris, in the Arts et Métiers district, a stone’s throw from the Louvre Museum. The staircase of his Haussmann building, with its dilapidated walls, needed a bit of updating. The apartment, built on two levels, is also “its own thing” in the colloquial expression.

Antoine Béal greeted us in a shirt, smiling and relaxed. The entrance walls were literally covered with paintings of various sizes, about twenty in total, right up to the ceiling. A small wooden staircase then descends to the living room, also completely covered in a more or less impressive canvas. It also houses art objects: ceramics, clocks, sculptures, furniture. The original Ali Baba Cave where he shared his initials. When asked if he was not afraid of 40 thieves, Antoine Béal dismissed the danger with the formula: “It cannot be sold, it cannot be transported.”

Olivia Voisin, director of the Orléans museum, who was present on the visit, agrees. “All these paintings he purchased from dealers or at public sales known and registeredhe explained. Currently, what is stolen is mostly gold and jewelry“. The spectacular robbery at the Louvre museum would prove him right. Antoine Béal admitted that he had an alarm, but that”the building was not particularly protected“. His insurance company must be rubbing its hands. The collector’s greatest interest was in 17th-century paintings, although he sometimes “pushed” up to the 19th century.”Impressionism is my limit“, he joked.”I’d say I have about sixty paintings.”

Retired since 2020, this 71-year-old man from Pas-de-Calais was once an administrative judge at the State Council and a law professor. He remained an honorary judge at the Paris court and worked for two legal encyclopedias. He visited museums with his parents from a very young age and was still a student when he bought his first picture, which was later sold. He got a lot of supplies from Drouot that he thinks we can”get great deals on things no one has ever seen“. He also went to Artcurial and Sotheby’s. This friendly man insisted on showing us his kitchen, very vintage, like the rest of the apartment of about one hundred square meters where he has lived since 1999.

In this amazing room, the walls are once again covered in paintings, right down to the most impossible corners. Views of Italy Romain-Étienne-Gabriel Prieur, Graveyard Roadit was so big (see photo) that it had to be lifted through a window from the building’s inner courtyard. “All paintings enter and exit via stairs. It’s the frame that causes the problem, he said. The canvas is unframed to avoid the danger of being stepped on and torn. And we used a lift to get the frame through the balcony door.” When people were concerned about the preservation of the paintings in this room, he joked: “I rarely cook. I don’t make fries, but mostly make tea and pasta. While I was having breakfast here, I saw his paintings and it was very pleasing“.

These jurists, public law experts, practice results-based donations. “The principle is very simplehe explained. I no longer have the ownership rights to the paintings that I handed over to certain museums, I can no longer sell them, but I still use them. That means, the painting is at home, I can lend it. Only when I die will the paintings I donated go to the museum.” He added : “I can also waive the right to use the proceeds. It happened with a painting I gave to the Louvre. It is now displayed in a 19th century room.”

The collector, single without children, added that this process had “tax consequences, especially a reduction in harvest reserves of 50%, 60% after a certain age, whereas 100% if the painting is given directly to the museum“He assured that if he had not done so for this reason, he appreciated this process allowing him to deduct a significant amount of his income taxes.”I gave six paintings to the Louvre, three to the Orléans Museum, two to Rennes, one to Montargis, one to Montpellier, one to Amiens, one to Lyon, one to Strasbourg, about one sixth of my collection. he counted.

The director of the Orléans museum, Olivia Voisin, explains that Antoine Béal introduced this way of giving. “Giving up a painting you like is always difficult, confided in the curator, then the reward subject to the results is a good formula. This allows you to establish a close relationship with the museum and become part of the history of the place.“.