Les cinq jours de l'objet extraordinaire
Until 2 June, Carré rive gauche, Paris, France. Tel: +33 1 42 60 70 10, fax: + 33 1 42 60 70 07, www.carrerivegauche.com
Some 120 Parisian art and antiques galleries in the Carré rive gauche, between the Musée d’Orsay and the Louvre, host open house for five days. This year is the 25th anniversary of this summer event, so the Carré rive gauche is celebrating by fêting the story of the quartier that has been its home for the last quarter of a century.
For five days, the streets of the Carré rive gauche will be hung with portraits of figures from the fields of painting, literature, music, cinema, dance and medicine who have all lived in the Carré at some stage: a total of over 80 personalities, including Nureyev, Jacques Lacan, Voltaire and Edmonde Charles-Roux.
Participating dealers will exhibit their best pieces ranging from archaeological artefacts from Mesopotamia to creations from designer André Dubreuil, via 18th century furniture and Asian art.
A temple foundation astragal in banded agate (1844-1822 BC) will be on sale at the recently established Galerie Gilgamesh (9, rue de Verneuil). The Galerie Milano Bacstreet (1, rue du Bac) will be presenting Han dynasty earthenware pieces (206 -220 AD) from the Szechwan region of China. Gabrielle Laroche (12, rue de Beaune) has a 16th-century polychromatic German bas-relief wooden sculpture depicting the legend of Saint George, as well as a marriage cabinet crafted in the Languedoc around 1580.
A late 16th/early 17th-century Bruges tapestry entitled “La Vieillesse de Gombault” (Gombault's Old Age), is on view at Galerie Robert Four (8, rue des Saints-Pères).
Sculpture, Objects and Functional Art (SOFA), New York
until 3 June, Seventh Regiment Armory, Park Avenue and 67th Street, NYC, Tel: +1 312 654 0870, fax+1 312 654 0872, www.sofaexpo.com
The fifth annual SOFA, the international contemporary decorative arts and design fair boasts 51 dealers. New York dealer Barry Friedman will present a 35-year retrospective of Czech glass artist Frantisek Vizner that will include drawings, while New York Heller Gallery will host a solo exhibition devoted to William Morris. The glass artist's "Warrior with spear" is priced at $300,000. At SOFA Chicago, his figurative glass sculptures sold for $350,000 a piece. Also certain to capture attention will be textile arts at the Connecticut browngrotta arts, which will feature at its 15th anniversary exhibition Chris Drury's kayaks of woven bark and cloth maps. The Philadelphia Moderne Gallery will show vintage furniture by Wendell Castle, George Nakashima and Wharton Esherick. The opening night benefit for the American Craft Museum is again chaired by artist/designer Jack Lenor Larsen, one of only two Americans honoured with an exhibition in the Louvre.
The fair coincides with New York’s Contemporary Decorative Arts Week 2002: Bringing Art to Life in New York City, (until 5 June), a citywide celebration of New York City’s contemporary decorative arts and design scene.
57th Street Art Fair
1-2 June, 57th Street and Kimbark Avenue, Chicago, Illinois, Tel: +1 773 493 3247, www.57thstreetartfair.org
This annual outdoor art fair has been going for 48 years along 57th Street in Chicago’s historic Hyde Park area. It is the Midwest’s oldest juried art fair and a showcase for local artists. The fair is a non-for-profit event where artists sell their own work and must compete to win the right to a stand, to which they can then return the following year. This year over 500 competed for the 40 or so spaces vacant. They join 260 artists who exhibited last year. Entrance free.
FIA 2002
Feria Iberoamericana de Arte
4-9 June, Caracas Hilton, Plaza Morelos, Caracas, Tel: + 58 212 993 0127, fax: +58 212 9917 224, www.fia-caracas.com
Despite the uncertainties of the Venezuelan economy and the efforts of president Hugo Chávez to control the country’s burgeoning contemporary art scene with his anti-American “cultural revolution”, the contemporary art fair FIA, continues to go from strength to strength, where other Latin American fairs have fallen by the wayside. At FIA this year, 12 of the 40 galleries exhibiting are from outside Venezuela, most from other Latin American countries such as Brazil, Costa Rica, The Dominican Republic and Colombia. From Europe there will be galleries from Germany and Spain. A loan exhibition of work by Venezuelan artist Edgar Sánchez and his Peruvian colleague Fernando de Szyslo will be on show, and there will be special sections devoted to photography and young artists.
Olympia Fine Art and Antiques Fair (summer)
6-16 June, Olympia Grand Hall,, Hammersmith Road,m London W14, Tel: +44 (0)20 7370 8188, fax+44 (0)20 7370 8221, www.olympia-antiques.co.uk
The Olympia Fine Art and Antiques Fair offers something for everyone, from great decorative objects to smart furniture or pretty porcelain. The summer fair is the largest and longest established of the Olympia events, attracting around 40,000 overseas visitors each year and some 400 dealers. By far the largest category at Olympia is furniture (40% of the dealers), followed by paintings (23%). This year, for the first time, there will be a small number of Modern and contemporary dealers showing. Flowers East are bringing two of Peter Howson’s headline-grabbing paintings of the popstar Madonna, priced at £120,000 and £100,000. Kunsthandel Frans Jacobs gallery from Amsterdam will be showing Chagall’s “Le nu et l’âne jaune”, priced £435,000. Connaught Brown, from London, will bring a display of post-Impressionists and Modern works. Other new exhibitors this year are Grusenmeyer, from Antwerp, who will be selling antiquities; and Peter Szuhay & Peter Cameron, from London, with early silver.
Hali Antique Carpet
and Textile Art Fair
6-9 June, National Hall, Olympia, Hammersmith Road, London W14. Tel: +44 (0)20 7970 4600, fax: +44 (0)20 7578 7221, www.halifair.com
Inaugurated by the magazine Hali four years ago, this is the UK’s only specialist textile fair. It is situated directly above the Summer Fine Art & Antiques Fair and shares the entry ticket. There will be over 60 leading international dealers showing European tapestries, classical and tribal Oriental carpets, exotic silks, costumes and embroideries. Dealers attending include Michael Franses from The Textile Gallery; John Eskenazi from London; Peter Bausback, from Mannheim; Moshe Tabibnia, from Milan; and Peter Willborg, from Stockholm.
This year’s selling exhibition is “Caucasian carpets and textiles before 1850” to which many of the main dealers have contributed. Exhibits include 17th/18th-century dragon carpets from The Textile Gallery who also have a sickle-leaf and palmette carpet, (17th century), an Azerbaijan silk embroidery (17th/18th century) and a Kaitag “horse and riders” embroidery (18th century). Adil Besim of Vienna is bringing a 17th-century dragon carpet, while Moshe Tabibnia is bringing an early (17th/18th century) Azerbaijan cloudband design carpet. A 17th-century “shield” design carpet, thought to have been woven in Safavid-controlled workshops in the Caucasus, is being exhibited by John Eskenazi. There will also be Azerbaijani and Daghestani silks from Maison du Tapis d’Orient, of Istanbul and Ziya Bozoglu, of Perugia.
New for 2002 is a Design Pavilion, introduced to reflect the growing interest in contemporary textile manufacture. Haynes Robinson from Atlanta will exhibit a new collection of contemporary gabbeh art from Persia.
XXe siècle
6-9 June, Le Carrousel du Louvre, 75001 Paris, Tel: +33 1 42 77 58 94, fax: +33 1 42 77 74 27, www.corporart.com
This new fair is a European version of the hugely successful SOFA (Sculpture, Objects and Functional Art) fairs in the US, of which the New York version takes place this month (see above). Organised by Rik Gadella, who originated the Paris Photo fair, it taps into the growing interest in 20th-century design and the increasing number of specialised galleries in the field.
For the first edition, some 40 galleries, bookshops and antique dealers from Europe and the US will gather in the roomy, but gloomy, Carrousel du Louvre. The fair has been laid out chronologically and thematically, so that, for example, galleries showing early Dutch design are grouped together. In this section, the Gethman Gallery from Berlin will be exhibiting Dutch Art Nouveau ceramics. In the Scandinavian design section, Eric Philippe from Paris is presenting Swedish bronze, silver and copper works, including a pair of silver-plated and blackened wood lamps known as “Light and day” and made in 1928 by the architect, sculptor and designer Elis Bergh. In the contemporary design section, the A/D Gallery from New York will bring pieces designed by American artists, including chairs, stools and desks by Donald Judd and jewellery by Alexander Calder.
There will also be an exhibition dedicated to 25 masters of international design from 25 different countries, selected by the ambassadors to France of their respective nations. The British have chosen Charles Rennie Mackintosh and the Danish have selected Arne Jacobsen.
Cheshire County Antiques Fair
7-9 June, Arley Hall, Nr Knutsford, Cheshire, Tel: +44 (0)1249 661111
Some 40 dealers exhibit good quality antiques in Arley Hall and its 16th-century barn. Bob Gardner from Yorkshire will bring a 17th-century clock by John Drew of London for £16,000; Church Street Antiques from Altrincham are bringing a William IV cellaret in sarcophagus form with lion paw feet by Gordon Watson priced at £5,400; Garrett & Hazlehurst will be travelling up from London with 19th-century sculpture.
Ceramics in the city
8-9 June, Geffrye Museum, Kingsland Road, Shoreditch, London, Tel: +44 (0)20 7739 9893, fax+44 (0)20 7739 8543, www.geffrye-museum.org.uk
The Geffrye Museum in East London was the original venue for the successful Chelsea Crafts Fairs. Now it is hosting a fair of contemporary ceramics “Ceramics in the City”. Surprisingly, this will be London’s first contemporary ceramics fair; they tend to be held in rural areas where potters often have their studios, (witness the big ceramics festival in St Ives this month, (see What’s On, p. 18). For the fair, a selection panel has chosen 50 ceramicists from over 300 entrants to exhibit. Prices range from just £15, for a mug by Sue Binns, to several thousands of pounds for one of Ian Gregory’s lifesize ceramic dogs. Jola Spytkowska will be bringing some of her elaborate animal sculptures made using built-up clay and Emily Myers will be exhibiting her trademark calm, clean functional works. There will be demonstrations by artists such as Takeshi Yasuda, Joanna Howells and Svend Bayer.
The Grosvenor House Art
and Antiques Fair
12-18 June, Le Méridien, Grosvenor House, Park Lane, London, Tel: +44 (0)20 7399 8100, fax +44 (0)20 7495 8747
www.grosvenor-antiquesfair.co.uk
London’s most prestigious fine art and antiques fair, and the only one to have royal patronage; the opening gala always attracts a glamorous crowd. Some 90 top-notch art and antique dealers will attend, with a very broad range of artworks at £100 to £5 million, antiquities to 20th-century. Mallett will show English and Continental antique furniture, paintings, glass and objets d’art. The Sladmore Gallery are bringing 19th- and 20th-century bronze sculpture. Johnny Van Haeften will bring 16th- and 17th-century Dutch and Flemish Old Masters, including a recently discovered Jan Brueghel the Elder “Aeneas and the Sibyl in the underworld” dated to 1598. New exhibitor Browse and Darby will be bringing a 9 inch-high bronze of a horse by Edgar Degas. Sims Reed will show “Moonwalk” an original colour screenprint by Andy Warhol, dated 1987 and numbered 55/160.
To celebrate The Queen’s Jubilee, there will be a loan exhibition of pieces relating to Queens Elizabeth I and II, ranging from a drawing of Queen Elizabeth I attributed to Isaac Oliver (lent by HM The Queen) to four prints by Andy Warhol depicting Queen Elizabeth II (lent by Coskun Fine Art).
Art 33 Basle
12-17 June, Messe Basle, Messeplatz, Basle, 4021, Tel: +41 58 200 2020, fax: +41 58 206 2686, www.art.ch
Art Basle, inaugurated in 1969, is the most influential contemporary art fair in the calendar. It is timed to coincide with the big summer art events: this year it is Documenta (last year it was the Venice Biennale).
The fair covers the years from the beginning of the 20th century to today, from classic Modernism to the youngest artists, so the selection committee chooses a bit of everything when they make their pick of galleries privileged to be allowed to exhibit.
Because Art Basle is an independent event, organised by its own company Messe Basle, it can afford greater freedom of who to choose. Even if a gallery has been taking part for 20 years the statutes state that it must reapply every year, and 99% percent do.
This year there were some 900 hopefuls from whom 260 where chosen. About 10% of the participating galleries are new to the fair.
Last year nearly 300 galleries took part, representing more than 1,000 artists, and 50,000 visitors attended: numbers that might make even a biennale green with envy. This year 27 galleries are new. They include 303 and Zabriskie from New York; SCAI The Bathhouse Shiraishi Contemporary Art, from Tokyo; Campaña, from Cologne and Zabriskie from Paris. Regular exhibitors include Victoria Miró, Waddingtons and Stephen Friedman from London; Villepoix and Air de Paris from Paris; Werner from New York.
Liste 02
12-17 June, Burgweg 15, former brewery Warteck, Basel, Tel: +41 61 692 20 21, fax: +41 61 692 20 21, www.liste.ch
Designed to coincide with Art Basle, this is a sort of fringe fair for the less prestigious younger galleries, 43 in all from 15 countries. They include Mezzanin from Vienna; Stella Lohaus from Antwerp; Romain Larivière from Paris; Nylon, Vilma Gold and Asprey Jacques from London; and Doggerfisher from Edinburgh. Sies + Höke from Düsseldorf, will be at LISTE for the first time, and are to present a solo exhibit by 24-year-old Federico Herrero from Costa Rica, who, with his mural of oil paints, spray paint and signal paints, won the prize for best new artist at last year’s Venice Biennale. He will be designing a mural live at the fair.
Affordable art fair West
13-16 June, The Old Passenger Shed, Temple Meads, Bristol, Tel: +44 (0)20 7371 8787, fax: +44 (0)20 737 0044, www.affordableartfair.com
Some 45 dealers show contemporary art priced under £2,500 in Bristol’s Old Passenger Shed.
International Ceramics Fair
and Seminar
14-17 June, Park Lane Hotel, Piccadilly, London, Tel: +44 (0)20 7734 5491, fax: +44 (0)20 7494 4604, www.haughton.com
This was the first of the Haughton International Fairs, originally organised 21 years ago when ceramics dealer Brian Haughton realised there was a niche for such a fair in London. It has built a strong reputation and now, as well as antique ceramics and glass, there is modern and contemporary work on offer.
Adrian Sassoon is bringing both: contemporary British studio ceramics as well as French Porcelain, one of his finest pieces is a Vincennes porcelain milk jug, French, 1754. Brian Haughton still exhibits here. He will be bringing a Kloster-Veilsdorf figure of a harlequin, dated to 1765, modelled by Wenzel Neu. The Mallett stand is bringing approximately 40 pieces of Art Nouveau and Art Deco glass from the factory museum of Val Sain Lambert, many signed and dated. This year’s loan exhibition is of ceramics from the Winterthur Museum in Wilmington, Delaware, whose collection was bequeathed by the Du Ponts and boasts some 19,500 ceramics and glassworks dating from 1640-1860 of which the best will be on show. A distinguished lecture series by museum experts accompanies the fair.
The Wirral Antiques
and Fine Art Fair
14-16 June, Hulme Hall, Port Sunlight, Near Liverpool, Tel: +44 (0)1277 214677, fax: +44 (0)1277 214550, www.robertbaileyfairs.co.uk
Forty art and antique dealers. Prices from £20-£5,000.