Sculptor Yonel Lebrovici (1937-98) was the subject of a one-man show at Marie & Cyril Grizot. The fair – which attracted 43,000 visitors – was dominated by 20th century art and design, ranging from Scandinavian Design 1920-70 at Dansk Mobelkunst to Italian Design at HP Antiquités and Galerie Italienne, via 1940s French furniture at Yves Gastou and Jacques Lacoste.
Citing the Pavillon’s “resolutely modern orientation”, Left Bank dealer Flore de Brantes, who shows 18th century French furniture and objets d’art at Maastricht and the Biennale, startled her traditional clients with a radically modern stand (pictured right) showcasing ormolu wall lights amidst pyschedelic Pop Art furniture.
“It would have been a bit daft to show many 18th century pieces,” explained De Brantes, who finds design “a lot of fun” and showed scant remorse when her new-look stand “gave some of my clients a heart attack”. She set “attractive prices” from €1000 upwards, in a successful attempt to woo new buyers, and sold a green polyurethane Pony Chair by Eero Arnio, made by Stendig of New York (c.1970), for around €18,000 (£12,000).
Although she fared better than many exhibitors, De Brantes acknowledged that business at the Pavillon was “not exactly euphoric”. The search for new clients will take her, and 24 other (mainly French) dealers, to the inaugural Moscow World Fine Art Fair at the start of June, where gilded opulence will prevail at the stand Flore de Brantes is sharing with Alain de Machy. “Given the phenomenal amount of activity in Paris at the moment, it’s best to show abroad as much as possible!” jokes Flore.
Thoroughly modern but patchy…
BUSINESS was patchy at the 8th Pavillon des Antiquaires et des Beaux Arts that ran from March 27-April 4 in the Jardin des Tuileries, featuring 80 galleries, all but seven from France. New York’s Barry Friedman, participating for the first time, headed the small foreign contingent along with Michel Soskine Inc., showing drawings by the German-born Horst Janssen (1927-95).
