The event is organised by the same group of Paris dealers responsible for the long-running Salon du Dessin drawings fair held each spring at the Palais Brongniart. It takes place at a point in the November schedule that was occupied from 2011-15 by Paris Tableau, a dedicated Old Master paintings fair held in the same location.
The palais was also the choice for the inaugural staging of Fine Arts Paris but, as it is limited in capacity, the organisers have opted to move to the Carrousel du Louvre for the five-day run from November 7-11.
Important date
The philosophy for this new event remains the same: to mix paintings and drawings with sculpture across a wide date range. However, as Louis de Bayser, the fair’s president, explains: “We have chosen the Carrousel du Louvre as the venue because we want the fair to be a major event for both the fine arts and Paris and an important date on every collector’s calendar.
“We will have more space than we had at the Palais Brongniart and we are also developing a new cultural programme in collaboration with Paris museums.”
From the 34 exhibitors who stood at this event last year, the list has grown to 43, with around a quarter of the participants from outside France.
Diverse work
The range of work is diverse, from oil paintings and works on paper to sculpture in bronze, plaster, terracotta and marble. Date-wise it goes back to ancient Greece, with a black figure attic pottery hydria brought by Paris dealer Antoine Tarantino, and up to the 21st century with a sculpture in Cararra marble of 2003 by Rablo Atchigarry offered by Rosenberg and Co from New York.
The cultural focus this year will be on sculpture. As well as a loan exhibition on Henry de Triqueti from two museums – Beaux-Arts Crane in Orlèans and the Girodet in Montargis – the cultural programme mentioned by de Bayser is an off-site development.
One of the exhibits taken by Galerie de Bayser to Fine Arts Paris is this bronze ewer by Henry de Triqueti, priced at €50,000. Image copyright: de Bayser
Fine Arts Paris is collaborating with major Parisian museums to create Sculpture Week in 18 locations across the city. This mirrors the Salon du Dessin’s promotion of the Mois du Dessin which is staged across various Paris institutions during its spring run.
Participants in Sculpture Week include the Louvre, the atelier Brancusi at the Pompidou Centre, the Musée Rodin and the Petit Palais.
As well as the opportunity to look behind the scenes at reserve collections and a series of private tours, visitors can attend a one-day sculpture symposium on November 7. This takes place at the Petit Palais, which is also inaugurating its new sculpture gallery on the same day.
Exhibitor: F Baulme Fine Arts
Franck Baulme has an eponymous Left Bank gallery on the quai Voltaire opposite the Louvre.
A specialist dealer in European paintings and drawings from the 16th-19th centuries, his selection for Fine Arts Paris will focus primarily on 17th and 18th century French and Italian masters to be accompanied by a new catalogue.
A number of works on offer feature mythological subjects, such as an oil on canvas of Pallas and the Arts of c.1680-83 by Louis de Boullogne.
The lunette-shaped painting was conceived as a decorative panel for the door of writer Charles Perrault’s cabinet des beaux arts in his Paris home, part of a commission from the best artists of the day to decorate the house.
After the building was razed to the ground in 1683 to make way for the Place des Victoires, the whereabouts of the paintings were lost, but a preparatory study in the graphic arts collection at the Louvre has made it possible to identify this work. The (93cm x 1.88m) oil on canvas, signed Boulogne fecit, is priced at €100,000.
Exhibitor: Galerie de Bayser
Appropriately, given the focus of the loan exhibition this year, one of the exhibits taken by Galerie de Bayser to Fine Arts Paris is a 15in (39cm) high bronze ewer by Henry de Triqueti (1803-Paris 1874).
Featuring decoration on a biblical theme of The Mothers of Israel, it is priced at €50,000.
Exhibitor: Univers du Bronze
As its name suggests, Univers du Bronze is a Paris gallery specialising in bronze sculpture.
This portrait bust of Victor Hugo by Auguste Rodin is priced in the region of €200,000 by Univers du Bronze. Image: Univers du Bronze.
Among the works that it is showing at Fine Arts Paris will be this portrait bust of Victor Hugo by Auguste Rodin (1840-1917).
The 15in (38cm) high work on an integral pedestal is a lifetime cast of November 1916 from the Rudier foundry.
Signed A Rodin and Alexis Rudier Fondeur Paris and one of seven known lifetime casts of this model, it is priced in the region of €200,000.
Exhibitor: Galerie Orsay
A group of gouache designs for fabrics by the artist and designer Sonia Delaunay (1885-1979) will be a focus on the stand of the Galerie Orsay at Fine Arts Paris.
This fabric design by Sonia Delaunay is priced in the region of €3500-6000 from Galerie Orsay at Fine Arts Paris. Image copyright: GOP.
They date from c.1925-30 and come from the collection of Robert Perrier Delaunay’s fabric producer.
The 3 x 4in (8 x 10cm) design pictured here is priced in the region of €3500-6000.
Exhibitor: Galerie Paolo Antonacci
Among the dealers from outside France returning to the Fine Arts Paris second staging is Paolo Antonacci from Rome dealing in 18th and 19th century paintings.
Paolo Antonacci from Rome is offering this signed oil on canvas by the 19th century Italian artist Francesco Podesti at Fine Arts Paris priced at €80,000. Image copyright: Galerie Paolo Antonacci.
He will be showing this signed oil on canvas by the 19th century Italian artist Francesco Podesti (1800-95). The 2ft 7in x 3ft 11in (86cm x 1.2m) work depicts a well-known mythological subject – The Abduction of Europa – and is priced at €80,000.
Exhibitor: Galerie Berès
Galerie Berès from Paris will be showing this 14 x 14in (36 x 36cm) Edgar Degas (1834-1917) bronze from 1919 of a horse and rider at Fine Arts Paris, where it is priced at €320,000.
This Edgar Degas bronze from 1919 of a horse and rider is priced at €320,000 by Galerie Berès at Fine Arts Paris. Image copyright: Galerie Berès.
Exhibitor: Van der Meij Fine Arts
Amsterdam dealer Van der Meij Fine Arts will be taking a selection of 19th century paintings to Fine Arts Paris with an emphasis on works by German, Dutch and Scandinavian artists.
The Waterfall by Norwegian artist Peder Balke is priced at €80,000 by Van der Meij Fine Arts at Fine Arts Paris. Image copyright: Van der Meij Fine Arts, Amsterdam.
This painting titled The Waterfall is by Peder Balke (1804-87), a Norwegian artist influenced by the work of Turner. The small 4¾ x 4in (12 x 10cm) oil on panel, signed lower right, is priced at €80,000.
