Under this completely original idea, the aims of the association were the following: create a collection of young, even very young artists with little fame, and this exclusively over a period of ten years; then make all the members benefit from the acquired works according to the conditions defined and finally sell this collection at public auction at the end of the set period.
André Level, at the origin of the project, became its manager. He was the one who knew the artists and he was in charge of the selection and acquisition of the works with the agreement of a restricted committee made up of himself and two renewable members, elected for two years. The committee could, with a majority, disagree with the manager’s selections for the acquisitions but it could not make him buy a work against his will. Level acted as artistic director, he was the one who knew modern art but above all the one who really appreciated it. By persuading his close relations to take part in this adventure, he thus created the first investment fund of modern art.
For some of the members, the enterprise was purely speculative, and they did not even want to display the acquired works in their homes. For the others, young amateurs, a meeting took place twice a year, to carry out a draw after a registration order in order to enjoy the works which were separated into various lots. By collecting modern art, as early as 1904, all the partners made a real bet on the future, with determination but without pretension. The name of the association, a wink to a fable by fable by La Fontaine, was there to remind this to them. Because this is what it was about: each member enjoyed the works without knowing their future profits or losses!
The financial statutes of the association exposed the following for the liquidation: if the result of the net sale was inferior to the total contributions over 10 years, the division would be proportional to each member's contribution. If the net result was superior, each member would recuperate the shares they had paid and then in the best of cases, they would receive a 3,5% interest of the paid sum. Should some profits remain, then 20% would go to the manager as remuneration for his services and 20% would go to the artists. The majority found it fairer to share their eventual success with those who had made it possible: the artists.
2 / 13
Summary