Vive la France

The Fine Arts Paris fair should help re-establish the French capital as the international centre of the art world

- Huon Mallalieu

FINE ARTS PARIS, established as an Old Master paintings fair five years ago, is gently expanding into other disciplines to fill the gap left by the long-running Biennale des Antiquaires, which has essentially given up the ghost. The new fair (November 6–11) will bring together 50-plus exhibitors in the Carrousel du Louvre, including a number from outside Paris and abroad. Antiquities, Oriental and non-Western works of art will be represented, as well as Old Masters, 19th-century and some 20th-century paintings and drawings. There will also be three carefully selected jewellers— care being needed, as jewellers were not always collegiate participants at the Biennales, one even trying to keep their clients from visiting other stands.

The underground Carrousel du Louvre incorporates walls of the 14th-century fortress that preceded the palace and this year’s fair entrance has been designed to echo them.

Fine Arts Paris is run by the organisers of the enjoyable and successful annual Salon du Dessin drawings fairs and the Paris art trade is confident that the cantankerous infighting that marred the last Biennales will not resurface. In place of the attitude that it was more important to be a national showcase than a forum for sales—which did little to encourage overseas participants—Paris, boosted by Brexit, is showing a determination to resume its place as the major art-world capital, attracting international buyers and sellers.