Out & About

PARIS — A Pierre Bonnard painting of a woman praying, a violin-shaped cabinet by Jean-François Oeben, a silver urn, an illuminated manuscript: Every object had found its place yesterday before the opening night gala of the Biennale des Antiquaires, the 10-day fair that draws the world’s top collectors, designers, and dealers to Paris.A workman put on a final coat of gray paint at the Phoenix Ancient Art booth. Another was on his hands and knees scrubbing a wood floor installed at Galerie Du Monteil. Christian Deydier, the president of Le Syndicat National des Antiquaires (which oversees the fair), was touring the booths when he found a small orange on the floor. It had fallen from one of the trees lining the “Parisian streets” that separate the booths, designed by François-Joseph Graf — the trees, though, were right out of Versailles. Mr. Deydier studied the orange in the palm of his hand, then placed it back in the planter. His work was complete: to bring together the best dealers to show their best work in the historic setting of the Grand Palais.“The fair is made so special by the rarity of the objects, and the excellence of the galleries,” Mr. Deydier said. “The Biennale reflects both French good taste and universal human creation.”About half of the galleries are Parisian. “The fair is very important for the image of the Paris market,” an art director, Hervé Aaron — whose gallery, Didier Aaron, has outposts in London, New York, and Paris — said. “For me, I have always considered it my duty to promote the French market.”Americans have opportunities on their own soil to shop the French galleries. Philippe Cazeau and Jacques de la Béraudière exhibit at fairs in New York and Palm Beach, but the Biennale stands alone. “This fair is an incredible art rendezvous,” Mr. de la Béraudière said. “The objects are exquisite.” His booth was arranged to showcase a 1915 painting by Giorgio de Chirico, “Oreste E Pilade,” which the gallery has priced at $8.5 million. There was also a small de Kooning for $2.2 million and a David Smith sculpture for $2.2 million.Museums, palaces, churches, gallery, show houses: They are all visible as one makes the rounds here, and that is what makes this fair so different from any other. A fine example of a period room is at the booth of London antiques dealer Pelham, which has put up late 18th-century wallpaper panels and moldings to showcase its furniture.The straightforward gallery design is prevalent for paintings and drawings. The Bonnard as well as a Soutine and a Bracques are at the booth of Galerie Schmidt of Paris. The booth of Galerie Patric Trigano has works by Picasso, Magritte, Miro, and Matisse. The deep lavender-colored walls of the booth of Galerie Canesso, of Paris, are the backdrops for 17th-century Flemish artist Michael Sweerts’ “Portrait of a Young Man Playing a Hunting Horn.”Many galleries are packed to the gills: “We are always fighting the tendency to display too many things,” Mr. Aaron said. Two exhibitors who keep their spaces spare are Beauvais Carpets of New York, which displays an Art Moderne carpet by André Arbus and an Art Deco carpet by Ivan Da Silva Bruhns, and Brimo De Laroussilhe of Paris, which has installed a set of four 12th-century columns, appropriate for the display of religious icons and sculptures (the columns are for sale too).Eclecticism is a strong theme for galleries that specialize in many different areas. At Moretti Gallery of London and Firenze, a 1961 Lucio Fontana is sandwiched between a 15th-century Italian Madonna and child and an 18th-century painting of the Grand Canal.There is whimsy, too. Sabine Bourgey, a numismatic dealer based in Paris, is showing coins in a booth designed to look and feel like a pirate ship, complete with a treasure chest and a map of the imagined course of North and South America. At the booth of German dealer Galerie Neuse, tall green-silk curtains festooned with butterflies and peacocks are the backdrop for silver and gold objects.The prize for best booth embellishment goes to Galerie Philippe Delpierre, which replaced the standard white rope at its booth’s entrance with a silky green one.

Out & About

Out & About

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