A global benchmark in the world of fine art and luxury, Sotheby’s is widely recognised for its significant impact and prestige since 1744, continuing its pursuit of excellence through extensive auctions and exhibition platforms all over the world. Setting price benchmarks, attracting top collectors and acting as a medium for cultural discourse, the auction house remains a leader in the high-end art market.
Wrapping up what has been a remarkable year for record-breaking sales, Sotheby’s concludes 2025 on a high note by partnering with Galerie Sismann for a selling exhibition of Gabriela Sismann’s unique jewellery creations. The intimate setting of Le Salon Sotheby's in Paris – 83 rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré – plays host to the event, which is open to public and continues through to 23 December. A leader in the international market for antique sculpture, Galerie Sismann is recognised as one of Europe’s best references in old master works.
For the exhibition, Gabriela Sismann has lined up a finely curated collection of historical objects and antique art pieces, wonderfully reimagined into wearable works of art. Set into jewellery, each creation carries the imprint of its provenance and reflects the artist’s passion for history. The presentation is an invitation for collectors to acquire objects imbued with heritage and artistic innovation, surprisingly modern and unquestionably unique.
The Artist: “History and Art are everywhere. Why not wear them ?”
Gabriela Sismann is one of the most influential figures in her field and an authority in European sculpture, having devoted her entire career to ancient art. Her exceptional eye for detail,
proportion and beauty acquired through decades of close study enabled her to transition into jewellery and transform historic fragments into singular contemporary works.
A true lover of Dostoevsky’s quote " Beauty will save the world”, Gabriela Sismann lives by this belief, trusting that in a world consumed by speed and distraction, more people will turn to art for relief. This is how she started creating jewellery – “Portable Art Works” – from antique goldsmith treasures that she converted into modern adornments.
Long before her work took on a wearable form, Gabriela’s passion for art was rooted in a lifetime of collecting antique objects. Drawn to historic brooches, devotional fragments, silver plates and sculptural details in gold, vermeil and patinated metal, she started to regard these as new possibilities waiting to be released into contemporary life as jewellery. Through creating “Portable Art Works”, the artist gives historic objects a second existence, reimagining them with a deeply personal eye as a tactile extension of her dialogue with the past, resulting in authentic jewellery expressions.
A Deliberate Crossing of Cultural Boundaries
Sismann’s audience has always witnessed various worlds depicted in her work model, through the intellectual and artistic programme she has been elaborating for over 25 years. Defined by a deliberate crossing of boundaries, her technique traverses various influences – from sacred and pagan, medieval and classical, to Italian, French and Northern European – all converging in quiet dialogue as part of her creative expression. Objects displayed at her gallery pertain to different geographies and belief systems, united not only by history or symbolism but by a shared intensity of presence.
Sismann was profoundly influenced by her diverse upbringing. Born to an Argentinian father and Austrian mother and raised between the United States, Canada and Argentina, she settled in France in the early 1990s to study at the École du Louvre and La Sorbonne, following her ardent passion for Egyptology. She then turned her focus to Renaissance art and became an art historian specialising in Italian Renaissance sculpture.
With her husband, she later founded Galerie Sismann, whose discoveries now reside in leading international museum collections, including the Louvre Museum in Paris and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
The Gallery
The Sismann Gallery has a rare ability to source overlooked masterpieces of early European sculpture and bring them back into the light. All their acquisitions are driven by a quest to trace neglected works, recontextualise them, discover their initial creators, and restore the original meaning of these creations. The gallery’s mission is guided by extensive knowledge and precision, turning Gabriela and Mathieu Sismann into recognised authorities on French and German Gothic sculpture and trusted advisors for clients and art enthusiasts dedicated to this niche field. From their early days at the Louvre des Antiquaires to their current address on the Quai Voltaire, the couple have built an international reputation in the field as a ‘go-to destination’ entirely devoted to European sculpture. The artworks on display at the gallery span the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, the Classical and Baroque periods, through to mid mid-18th century.
Jewellery as Living History
The pieces on display at Sotheby’s Salon reaffirm jewellery’s enduring place within the history of art and sculpture. Their rarity rests in the survival of the artworks they carry within, each representing a portion of history that morphed into a wearable piece of jewellery.
One of the exceptional items leading the sale is a French medieval miniature of the Virgin and Child, Paris, circa 1420. Rendered in painted and gilded stucco, it is mounted today within a gilt silver torque. With a combined weight of 93.3 grams, this intimate devotional jewel is priced at USD 34,886.
Equally rare is a German Renaissance necklace adorned with a silver belt clasp from the early 17th century, decorated with sculptural hemispheres. The clasp has been reimagined as a necklace through a modern mount, retaining its powerful presence and sculptural identity. It is offered at USD 22,677.
Last but not least, a unique Italian pendant necklace centred on a painted depiction of The Last Judgment, executed on oval agate in the early 17th century, is priced at USD 26,165. A striking fusion of art and jewellery, this piece is remarkable for its depth of colour and the fact that it is set within a later gilt silver mount, suspended from a matching chain.
Final Note
Sotheby’s exhibition-sale event in Paris perfectly embodies the artistic spirit of Gabriela Sismann and Sismann Gallery. Presenting singular pieces, the event celebrates the dialogue between historic keepsakes and jewellery creations from the contemporary world.
