The 39 exhibitors from France and overseas welcomed the usual mix of French and international collectors and art professionals to the Palais Brongniart in the Bourse district.
The private view for this relatively small but connoisseurial fair is always packed and during the evening peak it took time to progress down the aisles or access the stands because of the volume of visitors.
But the audience here is knowledgeable, interested and keen to look, discuss and also buy. Most of the stands sported at least one or two red dots on opening evening and some had enjoyed several sales.
One of the earliest came on Vincent Lecuyer's stand. The Paris dealer sold an imposingly large portrait by Lucien Jonas from 1908 titled Mon Ami Jean within minutes of the fair opening.
Among the many other first night sales, London dealer Jean-Luc Baroni sold a drawing by Edgar Degas of a standing youth which was a preparatory study for the central figure in the artist's Young Spartans Exercising in the National Gallery, London and Artur Ramon from Barcelona sold a Rodin drawing of a recumbent female nude, Pysche, from c.1901.
First night sales at Paris dealership Talabardon & Gautier included a double portrait by Jean-Marc Nattier in red and black chalk of Madamemoiselle Baronet and her mother.
It was one of the key pieces in a display of works by 18th century artists that were not typical of their creators that the dealership had put together in order to generate an element of interest and surprise, explained Bertrand Gautier. "Its a very good vernissage, it proves that the market exists", he said.
