Running alongside Paris Photo, the new fair Fine Arts Paris (8-12 November) enhances the traditionally photography-focused Parisian scene this week with sculpture, painting and drawing, from Renaissance works to the contemporary. Launched by the organisers of the Salon du Dessin, the drawings fair, and some participants from Paris Tableau, the Old Master fair that now takes place in Brussels, the fair has 34 exhibitors and is held at the Palais Brongniart, the former stock exchange.
“Our aim is to be the best fine arts fair by being selective and not too large,” says Bertrand Gautier of Talabardon & Gautier in Paris, one of the dealers behind Fine Arts Paris. Asked if the goal is to reproduce Paris Tableau with a wider range of works, Gautier says, “Paris Tableau was created because the clients of Old Master paintings were disappearing, whereas our goal here is to help collectors develop a taste for older art and present works that are perfect in their genre.”
Didier Aaron & Cie
However, Bruno Desmarest, a director at Didier Aaron & Cie in Paris – also behind the fair, says: “If this year is a success, we hope to have more participants from Paris Tableau with us next year.”
Besides established exhibitors like De Jonckheere (Geneva), Arnoldi-Livie (Munich), Antonacci-Lapiccirella Fine Art (Rome) and Jill Newhouse Gallery (New York) are young galleries, including Édouard Ambroselli (Paris), Xavier Eeckhout (Paris) and Éric Gillis Fine Art (Brussels). “I want to transmit my taste and communicate the stories behind the works to as many visitors as possible,” says Ambroselli, who is presenting works by André Derain, Gauguin and Delacroix.
Brame & Lorenceau, Paris
Around half the galleries are foreign, including Rosenberg & Co. from New York, which is exhibiting in Paris for the first time. “This fair was recommended to us and we know that the reputation of Salon du Dessin is high quality, elegant but not dull,” Marianne Rosenberg says.
The link between eras is highlighted at Art Cuéllar Nathan (Zurich), who will exhibit Gazing Ball (Demeter), AP, 2014, by Jeff Koons, priced at €1.56m, alongside older works. “Koons connects antiquity and modernity in his sculpture and the ball reflects the works by Gustave Courbet, Van Gogh and Maurice Estève on our stand,” gallery director Salomon Cuellar says.
The 2018 edition of Fine Arts Paris will be held under I. M. Pei's pyramid at the Carrousel du Louvre.