Flood damages La Belle Epoque’s poster inventory; July sale still on

Interior of La Belle Epoque Vintage Posters, a gallery affiliated with La Belle Epoque Auction. Much of the poster inventory was irreparably damaged in an early May flooding incident. Image courtesy of La Belle Epoque Auction

NEW YORK – Boutique auction house La Belle Epoque announces it is staying open after suffering extreme water damage in early May. The water damage was caused by a small fire in the space above La Belle Epoque, which set off sprinkler systems for an extended period of time, causing major flooding in the space below, with portions of the ceiling literally caving in.

The 5,000-square-foot commercial space that partners Elie Saporta and Linda Tarasuk renovated before opening La Belle Epoque Auction in late 2021 was home to a successful debut auction in February of this year, which featured art, decorative items, mid-century Modern, antique furniture and collectibles. Their next auction will be online only and is planned for late July.

Tarasuk and Saporta recently formed La Belle Epoque Auction house, which came as a natural progression from their highly regarded vintage poster business, which has flourished since it opened in the mid-1980s. La Belle Epoque Auction is also home to Tarasuk and Saporta’s separate business, the La Belle Epoque Vintage Posters gallery. Many in the art world already knew the La Belle Epoque name from being the New York area’s top vintage poster dealer and shop, specializing in authentic Art Nouveau, Art Deco and Mid-Century posters from the Belle Epoque era to modern times.

Tragically, the early May incident affected La Belle Epoque Vintage Posters gallery’s world-class inventory of original vintage posters. Literally hundreds of irreplaceable posters, which took Tarasuk and Saporta decades to curate and collect, were destroyed.

Authentic vintage posters have long been a passion for Tarasuk and Saporta, who are extremely distraught by the loss. But, in the spirit of being resilient New Yorkers, they felt they had no choice but to spring into action and control the damage.

Renovations on the space are set to begin immediately, with La Belle Epoque temporarily operating from the space next door while also renting a much larger temporary space for storage in the building as the house prepares for its late July auction.

A grand reopening will be scheduled once it is possible to move back in to the original space. The poster gallery will remain a separate business. La Belle Epoque Auction’s already-planned late July Multi-Estates summer auction will continue, with one difference: it will be online only, through LiveAuctioneers.

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