Last Updated on 13 March 2026 by frenchflicks
Six years after Spellbound, writer-director Pascal Bonitzer returns with AUCTION (Le tableau volé), a sharp and elegant dive into the Parisian art world. Centered on the discovery of a Nazi-looted Egon Schiele painting, the film turns questions of ownership, morality, and money into a briskly intelligent human drama—anchored by César winners Alex Lutz and Léa Drucker.
What is Auction (Le tableau volé) about?
Set in the rarified world of high art and hidden history, Auction follows André Masson (Alex Lutz), a Parisian auctioneer who receives word that a long-lost Egon Schiele painting may be hiding in the home of a working-class French family. Initially skeptical, André travels to Mulhouse to assess whether the piece is authentic—and whether its wartime provenance casts a shadow over its future.
Once confirmed, the revelation sets off a tangled game of ambition, morality, and power. André’s involvement pulls in a cast of conflicted players: his ex-wife and fellow appraiser Bertina (Léa Drucker), an unpredictable intern Aurore (Louise Chevillotte), and Martin (Arcadi Radeff), the modest factory worker whose life is upended by the storm swirling around him. As the canvas circulates among heirs, clients, and institutions, Bonitzer draws subtle lines between money, memory, and value.
Bonitzer—a former Cahiers du Cinéma critic and veteran screenwriter—leans into irony and skepticism as he peels back the gloss of the art world. In an interview he describes the film as “a tale of lies and deception, of misdirection and bad faith.” The screenplay draws inspiration from a real event: the rediscovery of a Schiele work, long thought destroyed or lost, which challenged the tangled legacies of restitution, ownership, and aesthetic authority.
The film’s tone is not that of a heist thriller, but rather a character-driven drama with moral stakes. As one critic puts it:
“A profound exploration of the complex mechanisms of the so-called ‘art world,’ its established hierarchies, and the grander apparatuses of post-consumerist cosmopolitanism, replete with occasional tongue-in-cheek sardonicism.” — Ayeen Forootan, In Review Online
Watch the trailer for Auction (Le tableau volé)
What the press thought of Auction
Critics have generally responded positively to AUCTION, praising its intelligence, measured performances, and the moral tension its subject matter evokes.
- In Variety, Ben Kroll describes the film as “a ripped-from-the-headlines ensemble drama set in the crosshairs of high art and high finance. A dexterous screenwriter, Bonitzer draws parallels between the cosmopolitan wheeler-dealer André and his shell-shocked client, all while building out a lively cast of characters…” Variety
- According to BMA Mag, the film “takes us on an intriguing journey as it illustrates the many difficulties of dealing properly with stolen art … with emotional balance — including a little humour — made believable by the nicely muted performances of Lutz, Drucker, and Rand.” BMA Mag
- Laurence Houot for France Info Culture mentioned a “well-crafted script on an unexpected subject, tasty dialogue, classic but efficient directing, and a fantastic cast.”
- In Rough Cut Film in an interview with Bonitzer, the director emphasizes that questions of falsification and value swirl under the surface, but that his interest lies more in “the tensions and ambiguities” of the art world than in forensic exposition. Rough Cut
On Rotten Tomatoes the film currently holds an 87% Tomatometer score, with critics praising its thoughtful approach to heavy themes.
More information on Menemsha Films
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