A new art fair is due to launch in Paris late next year at the Palais Brongniart focusing on decorative art dating from the 16th century to today. The fair, called Fine Arts Paris, is co-founded by the Paris-based dealer Louis de Bayser. It will include around 35 French and international dealers, and is scheduled to run from 7-12 November according to our sister paper Le Journal des Arts.
But the move has prompted criticism from Dominique Chevalier, the president of the Syndicat National des Antiquaires (SNA, the French association of antiques dealers), which organises the Biennale des Antiquaires, the prestigious jewellery, art and antiques fair held at the Grand Palais in Paris.
Chevalier has overhauled the Biennale des Antiquaires, which re-launched in September as an annual fair. Last autumn, the Old Masters fair Paris Tableau, also held at the Palais Brongniart, was folded into the Biennale des Antiquaires as part of the shake-up. Sixteen dealers from the defunct fair graduated to the Biennale.
Chevalier told Le Journal des Arts: “Anything that energises the Paris art scene should be welcomed but this new event must not undermine the Biennale. I’m disappointed. There is an abundance of fairs, and I’d rather we came together than dispersed. I asked the founders [of Fine Arts Paris] to join us but wasn’t successful.”
De Bayser says that “the two fairs will not show the same sort of works”, adding that his gallery will also participate in the 29th Biennale des Antiquaires next year.