Art Paris: a satisfying start

Thursday, April 7, at noon, the Grand Palais Éphémère fills up little by little. The atmosphere is good for this first day of opening of Art Paris, visitors and exhibitors seem happy. ” Wow ! exclaims a woman at the sight of an immense sculpture of garbage cans and concrete by Anita Molinero. Produced by the artist in 2021, the work is already reserved. ” It’s not bad, we are quite satisfied with the beginning of the fair », indicates the gallerist Christophe Gaillard. On its stand (whose prices fluctuate between 10,000 and 30,000 euros), a tapestry by Hélène Delprat faces several paintings by Pierre Tal Coat, three of which were already sold Thursday noon. A little further on, the Nathalie Obadia gallery stand is quite busy. There are pieces by Laure Prouvost, Benoît Maire and Guillaume Bresson (between 10,000 and 100,000 euros). ” We are very happy, says the gallery owner. We sold around ten works and met new French and European collectors “. And to add: “There are a lot of institutional players this year “. The Belgian Félix Frachon also observed it. ” We had people from national museums, foundations or private museums », Enthuses the gallery owner who had already sold a large format by Arnaud Rochard (8000 euros) and several editions of Nyaba Leon Ouedraogo (5000 euros each). Besides, Fabienne Levy has chosen, for her first participation in the fair, to present a solo show by the young German artist Alina Frieske. ” Five rooms are reserved, explains the gallery owner from Lausanne. I made contact with collectors in London and Austria, and a few institutions. ” Present in the selection committee of the fair, Pauline Pavec, who has participated for three years, had already sold a lot on the day of the opening. Half of Jacques Prévert’s drawings were gone, as well as Pink dense clouds by Jacqueline Lamba, for 30,000 euros. Opposite, Marguerite Milin, who shows works by Lucy and Jorge Orta, Sarah Trouche, Raphaël-Bachir Osman and Johanna Reich (between 1,200 and 38,000 euros), observes fewer sales than last year. At gb agency, we are delighted with the “ good understanding of [ses] choice “. The gallery, in which this is the first participation, has already sold several works (between 2,200 and 30,000 euros) from its very beautiful stand, made up of the series The Annunciation by Elina Brotherus, and plays by Pia Rönicke or Paul Heintz. Overall, the young artists are doing well: the Mitterrand gallery was forced to rethink part of its display following all the works by Marie Hazard were sold on the day of the opening, and the small-format paintings by My-Lan Hoang -Thuy particularly attract attention. Finally, the proposal from the Carole Kvasnevski gallery has met with great success: Zanele Muholi’s solo show is always full, and the gallery owner had already sold a sculpture (70,000 euros) and a canvas (65,000 euros) on Thursday noon. ” It’s our first participation in Art Paris, but it’s not the first time I’ve shown Zanele Muholi in a salonexplains the gallery owner. I did well to bring him here. From the first minutes of opening, there was a big surge on our stand! »