loading...

Biennale des Antiquaires’ last edition: for Paris it is a new beginning

Stefano Pirovano

 

“Some wealthy people like mega yachts, some others prefer to build their own art museum” told yesterday to CFA fine art dealer Marco Voena, who these days is taking part with his business partner Edmondo di Robilant to the Biennale des Antiquaires in Paris (until September 18th). A few of them do have both, we may add, and generally these people don’t like to visit art fairs – but that would probably be another story. The point here is that the current and actually last edition of the Biennale des Antiquaires (from 2017 it will become a yearly event, like the Tefaf or Frieze Masters) is doing much better than expected.

 

Paris is so sunny and warm at the moment that you naturally don’t care too much about the many armed cops and group of soldiers looking after the city. They are now a main visual effect of the terroristic attacks, but the feeling of being in a dangerous place is not the same as it was before the summer. The sirens that made the soundtrack of Paris so similar to that of New York are no longer blowing, and that is a great news.

 

The other great news concerning the Biennale – its new name is yet to be decided – is that the works of art are not sharing the room with haute joaillerie anymore. “They are very different kind of luxury items” comments Voena and, what counts more, they aim at a very different kind of public. One thing is presenting a unique collection of table clocks by Cartier, as Parisian expert in antique jewelry Martin du Daffoy is doing this year. Another matter is exhibiting brand-new jewels  branded by fashion firms – that potentially would fit better in a main contemporary art fair. James Ellroy would call it “compartmentalisation”.

 

As a matter of fact, the general public likes to visit commercial fine art fairs, that are certainly more dynamic than museums and somehow much more lively. Art dealers and their assistants are always keen, at least when their precious clients are not around, to provide you with the piece of information that may turn a plain visit into a remarkable experience; and that marks a difference, especially when galleries are proposing curated exhibitions, which alone would deserve to pay the price of the ticket. It is the case, for instance, of the seven previously unseen paintings gathered together by De Jonckheere gallery under the title “Bosch, the close circle”. In the year that has seen two pivotal exhibitions celebrating the 500 anniversary of the artist’s death – at the Het Noordbrabants Museum in ‘s-Hertogenbosch and at the Prado – these paintings shed some light on painters such as Pieter Huys and Jan Mandijn, who were highly respected interpreters of the works produced by the master and his productive studio.

 

Another interesting exhibition has been organized by Mayoral gallery from Barcelona, and it is dedicated to the “Revolutionary artists” who, in 1937, took part to the Spanish Republic pavilion at the International Exhibition in Paris. Among these artists were Pablo Picasso, who presented Guernica, Joan Miró, Alexander Calder, Julio González. Josep Lluis Sert and Luis Lacasa were the architects who designed the pavilion, now partially reproduced in its original scale inside the gallery booth. Is this political statement ambitious enough for an ambitious art fair in Paris?

 

Among the new entries at the fair – which now can count on a brand new portable X-ray machine at disposal of its 80 members efficient vetting committee –  we would like to mention Bottegantica, a gallery currently based in Milan and committed to Italian painting from the XIX century. “We are extremely happy to be here, we are meeting many interesting collectors” comments Chiara Zanga, the gallery director. The quality of the painting by Federico Zandomeneghi they are exhibiting is impressive, but if you don’t have the 850.000 euros required to take it back to your living room you should have a look at the crispy small painting by Giovanni Boldini representing a statue in the park of Versailles. It is of course a less expensive piece than the Zandomeneghi’s, but it is probably even more representative of a period of the Italian art that is still undervalued by the marked. Unfortunately it’s quite rare to see this kind of pieces at the international art fairs –  as it is also difficult to see Italian paintings from the 1930s, which would be another extraordinary field to discover, especially in Paris, despite the political regime ruling Italy at that time. But those are the magic words for having a successful art fair and an effective selection committee (headed this year by former Louvre director Henry Loyrette): research and openness.

 

And elegance we should add. The idea of merging the many visual ingredients of the art fair instead of organizing them in sections is absolutely correct and coherent with the current taste. We have been extremely glad to finally see design pieces of outstanding quality – such as the unique console and bookcase by Jean Prouvé presented by Laffanour Gallerie DownTown or the two beautiful wall lamps by Palle Suenson at Dansk Møbel Kunst – sharing the room with old masters, modern painters and classic sculptures. This is how the art fairs of the future will look like.

September 13, 2016