About
Founded by two art historians, Caron Associés advises demanding collectors and private foundations in the creation, management and promotion of their collections. Its area of expertise embraces furniture, works of art and tapestry from 17th to 19th century, as well as 19th-century painting. The academic value and experience developed by Caron Associés make it a valued partner for projects with high historical, curatorial or financial potential.
Our missions
A collection is about investment: financial certainly, but also a projection of personal values and interests that should make sense together. Our experts will accompany you at every single step to this achievement.
Transactions:
On acquisition and resale, we appraise and guarantee the authenticity of the selected works by acting as a trust-worthy intermediary.
Thanks to a solid and secure network, we offer our clients off-market sales, ensuring transactions with the greatest discretion.
Collection management and promotion:
We advise you in terms of conservation-restoration, relying on best professionals working for museums.
Documentation, cataloguing , loan proposals for exhibitions, donations to institutions, we are involved in all aspects of the promotion of your collection.
We do realize inventories, appraisals, and condition reports on demand for insurance or private valuation.
Artworks' sourcing:
Wether our clients wish to start or enrich an art collection, or need artworks to fit an interior design project, we find the sought-after objects.
Our values
Any work of art has a value that the market alone cannot define. If a significant financial investment is needed to build a serious collection, its value absolutely exceeds it. Complying with this idea, Caron Associés strives to explore and promote all the values brought together by its clients' collections: historical value, aesthetic value, technical value, philosophical value, educational value...
Caron Associés is located in Lausanne, on the shores of Lake Geneva, and accompanies its clients in Switzerland, France, Monaco and beyond. A family-run business, it seeks to enhance the passion for arts by sharing remarkable discoveries with a wide network of amateurs.
Our knowledge and commitment are our strengths ; our clients are our ambassadors. The clients' relationship is at the heart of our professional practice and our best reference.
Every single collection is a world of its own; every single collector is unique. We propose therefore entirely adapted and bespoke services.
Partners
Zané Purmale
Co-founder
Ph.D. in art history from Sorbonne University, Mathieu Caron is a specialist of French royal and imperial collections in the 18th and 19th centuries.
In addition to numerous specialized articles and conferences on furniture, art collections and historic interiors, he published Du Palais au Musée. Le Garde-Meuble et l'invention du mobilier historique au XIXe siècle, Dijon, Faton, 2021.
A renowned expert, he is sought after by numerous international auction houses, private foundations of public utility, and informed collectors. Mathieu Caron is a member of the French Union of Experts in Objects of Art (UFE) and the European Confederation of Art Experts (CEDEA).
Mathieu Caron
Founder
Ph.D. in art history from Bordeaux-Montaigne University, Zané Purmale is recognized as one of the great specialists in the art of tapestry. Her doctoral thesis (to be published) contributed to the rediscovery of the Gobelins manufactory's production between 1870 and 1925, and the painters who provided the models.
Apart from her scientific publications, Zané Purmale distinguished herself by holding the chair of art history and history of tapestry and carpet at the Ecole des arts textiles at Mobilier national in Paris.
The expertise developed by Zané Purmale in the field of 19th-century painting and textile art allows her to advise clients with varied profiles.