The Biennale des Antiquaires, the prestigious jewellery, art and antiques fair held at the Grand Palais in Paris, has been renamed La Biennale Paris. The fair re-launched in September as an annual event but will retain the biennial label. This is because “the name is part of our DNA”, says Mathias Ary Jan, the new head of the Syndicat National des Antiquaires (SNA, the French association of antiques dealers), which organises the fair.
Ary Jan, a Paris-based dealer specialising in 19th-century European painting, replaces Dominique Chevalier who was ousted last week after SNA members voted to terminate his tenure. Chevalier overhauled the 54-year-old Biennale des Antiquaires by introducing the annual slot and reducing the number of jewellery companies—traditionally the mainstay of the fair—which were cut to four at the 28th edition in September, down from 15 in 2014.
The issue of jewellery companies participating at the fair will be discussed at a meeting of the SNA board scheduled for 8 December, says Ary Jan in our sister paper, Le Journal des Arts.
He says in a statement: “Every year, in September, Paris will be the site of a spectacular get-together for collectors from around the globe, all of them seeking the world's rarest and most show-stopping works. To support this effort, we hope to mobilise institutional and public partnerships across the capital, to dramatically increase the number of international collectors, and notably American collectors.”
The president of the Biennale, Henri Loyrette, also steps aside after only one year. The former director of the Louvre has been replaced by the publishing magnate Christopher Forbes.