The fair, to be known as Paris Beaux-Arts, will run from April 1-5 at the Carrousel du Louvre (where the Biennale was staged until it moved to the Grand Palais in 2006). It will have a new four-man organising committee: Olivier Delvaille as president, plus Mathias Ary Jan, Fabien Mathivet and Matthieu de Bayser.
The SNA's aim is to hold a high-quality, wide-ranging, multi-discipline vetted fair with plenty of traditional art and antiques as well as contemporary and modern art. They are hoping to fill a gap in the Paris calendar.
Own Identity
Talking to ATG, Olivier Delvaille said that while Paris has specialist fairs for contemporary art, drawings and Old Masters, "there is no annual, multi-discipline fair of quality" along the lines of Masterpiece and Frieze Masters in London or BRAFA in Brussels. And by staging it in the spring rather than the September slot used by the Biennale, he hopes to create "a fair with its own identity".
Paris Beaux-Arts aims to have around 80 exhibitors, of which around 10% are expected to be foreign. Some 50 dealers are already seriously interested and have been sent contracts, around 40 of them SNA members.
The stand allocation will be decided by drawing lots. Stand sizes will be single or double modules of 20 square metres, although there will be the option for triple modules if two or more exhibitors want a group stand.
