BOISGIRARD-ANTONINI - A century of Olympic Games from the L'Équipe photo collection

On October 29, the Boisgirard-Antonini auction house will offer a second sale of photographs from the newspaper L'Équipe photo collection. With the 2024 Paris Olympic Games exactly 1,000 days ahead, this sale will be devoted to the theme of the Olympic Games, with 200 selected photographs covering a century of sport. The sale will be preceded by two days of public exhibitions on 27 and 28 October, and enthusiasts will be able to bid on 29 October at Hôtel Drouot or online on drouot.com.

This second edition, "A century of Olympic Games by the L'Équipe photo collection", will include 190 photos and 10 contact sheets, in single edition signed and stamped by L'Équipe in several printed formats. The photographers of L'Équipe have captured the most significant moments in the history of sport with the swimmer Johnny Weissmuller at the Paris Games in 1924, the high jump of Fosbury in Mexico City 1968, the perfect score of Nadia Comaneci in Montreal 1976, the records of Carl Lewis and Usain Bolt and the exploits of the collective sportsmen tricolore in Tokyo in 2021.

This selection is from the photo collection of L'Équipe, which contains over a century of images, making it one of the largest in the world with 12 million photos. Through these pictures, there is a real testimony of the history of sport and sometimes of the history of the World.

	a
Lot 10 Londres 2012. Cérémonie d'ouverture  Pascal Rondeau/L’Équipe 27 juillet 2012. 53 x 80 cm Estimation : 800 – 1 200 €		Lot 51 London 1948. 5000m © Collections L’Équipe 1st August 1948. 40 X 40 cm Estimate : €600 - 800
Lot 87 Barcelona 1992. Carl Lewis, 4x100m © Jean-Claude Pichon/L’Équipe 8 August 1992. 53 X 80 cm Estimate : €800 – 1,200 €		Lot 130 Pékin 2008. Michael Phelps, swimming © Richard Martin/L’Équipe 18 August 2008. 80 X 120 cm Estimate: €1,200 – 1,500
Lot 180 Barcelona 1992. Charles Barkley, Magic Johnson, basket-ball © Nicolas Lutthiau/L’Équipe 8 August 1992. 42 x 59,5 cm Estimate: €800 – 1,200		Lot 182 Atlanta 1996. Shaquille O’Neal, basket-ball © Michel Deschamps/ L’Équipe 28 July 1996. 53 x 80 cm Estimate: €800 – 1,200
Lot 27 Beijing 2008. Roger Federer, tennis © Jérôme Prévost/L’Équipe 11 August 2008. 80 X 120 cm Estimation: €1,200 – 1,500		Lot 96 Athens 2004. Hicham el Guerrouj, 5000m © Brunot Fablet/L’Équipe 28 August 2004. 40 x 60 cm Estimation: €600 - 800
Lot 102 Pékin 2008. Decathlon © Pascal Rondeau/L’Équipe 21 août 2008. 53 X 80 cm Estimate : €800 – 1,200		Lot 93 Atlanta 1996. Marie-José Pérec, 4x100m © Didier Fèvre/L’Équipe 3 August 1996. 53 X 80 cm Estimate: €800 – 1,200

Maître Pierre-Dominique Antonini, Auctioneer of the sale, declared: "Last year's auction placed sports photojournalism among the artistic disciplines by taking its place in the photography market. I am delighted that we are organizing this second edition, which launches, in our own way, the countdown to the Paris Olympic Games in 2024. I am particularly touched by this theme because offering at auction these exploits taken on the spot and immortalized through photography, of an event that brings together so many nations and emotions, will be, I am sure, a strong moment".  

François Gille, Editor in chief, photo edition L'Équipe Group: "With this auction curated around a century of Olympic Games, presents itself a new opportunity to acquire unique treasures from the extraordinary photo collection of L'Équipe. From the photo of the French delegation wearing the Gallic rooster for the first time in Antwerp, during the opening ceremony of the 1920 Games, to the image of a stadium in Tokyo lit in blue-white-red, last August, at the time of passing the baton to Paris 2024, it is a souvenir album that will be exhibited and then offered at auction. From Robert Legros and André Lecoq, pioneers of photography at L'Équipe, to our current special envoys, this sale will allow us to discover the work of our exceptional yesterday and today photographers, capable of documenting the history of sport and the world, while giving it an aesthetic and even artistic dimension. This work is magnified thanks to unique art prints, small treasures of emotion and history made by Aurélie Guillou and Yonnel Leblanc, experts in the field of Initial Labo.

Public Auction - Hôtel Drouot - Saleroom 9
Friday 29 October - 2pm

Public exhibition - Hôtel Drouot - Saleroom 9
Wednesday 27 October - 11am / 6pm
Thursday 28 October - 11am / 8pm
Friday 29 October - 11 am / 12pm