Pad Paris returns this year on April 5-10 taking place in its usual venue, a marquee in the Tuileries Gardens (pictured here is a view of the 2019 staging). There are 69 exhibitors standing at this latest edition including 18 new names.
Image copyright: Francis Amiand
This selection of diary dates features a taste of some of the events scheduled for the forthcoming months.
One fair that is returning to its traditional calendar slot this year is PAD Paris which will be staged from April 5-10 in its usual venue – a large marquee extending along one edge of the Jardins des Tuileries.
This specialist fair for Modern and Contemporary design will feature a roster of 69 international dealers. Most come from France but international participants will include galleries from the UK, Italy, Belgium and the Netherlands.
The 20th century design specialist François Laffanour Galerie Downtown from Paris will be shining the spotlight on the work of the Korean artist Choï Byung Hoon for the latest edition of PAD Paris. Pictured here is his Afterimage 012, an 8ft 2in (2.49m) wide oval top tinted wood and white stone table from 2012.
Drawings Week
One of the Paris art world traditions is the Semaine du Dessin or Drawing Week when the city puts on a springtime celebration of works on paper.
For years this has taken place in late March-early April built around the long-standing specialist fair the Salon du Dessin, now marking its 30th edition, and its younger relation for contemporary works on paper, Drawing Now Art Fair. A number of dedicated drawings auctions (or sales with sections devoted to works on paper) are also timed to coincide with these two events.
Last year, however, following successive postponements, the Salon du Dessin was pushed into the beginning of July. This year it continues with a later time slot but the 30th edition will move to May 18-23 while the 15th edition of Drawing Now will take place from May 19-22.
“After a somewhat trying winter, we are seeing that drawings enthusiasts and collectors are eager to revisit the Salon du Dessin as well as all the surrounding events which make Paris shine for a week”, says Louis de Bayser, the Salon du Dessin’s president.
The long-standing fair for drawings and works on paper, the Salon du Dessin, stages its 30th edition this year. It runs from May 18-23 with 39 exhibitors. Pictured here is a view of last year’s show.
Image copyright: Cyril Marcilhacy
Both fairs are taking place in their usual venues of the Palais Brongniart and the Carreau du Temple and a partnership between the two events allows for an entry to both at a reduced price. There will be 39 dealers at the Salon du Dessin, 19 from outside France and five new exhibitors this year. Drawing Now will feature around 70 dealers.
These two events will be joined by the Paris Print Fair which will be staged at the refectory of the Couvent des Cordeliers from May 19-22. This fair, devoted to the art of printmaking from the 15th century to the present, is organised by the CSEDT (Chambre Syndicale de l’Estampe, du Dessin and du Tableau) and will feature 19 dealers.
Tribal art
At the same time tribal art enthusiasts can make the trip to rural Southern Burgundy for the staging of the Bourgogne Tribal Show held in Besanceuil, near Cluny, from May 19-22.
Although dealers in ethnographic art are still a mainstay of this event, galleries and dealers in other disciplines such as antiquities, Asian and Contemporary art now swell the roster of participants, which numbers around 24 for this 6th edition.
There are also changes on the fairs scene later in the year after the summer break.
Parcours des Mondes, the long-established gallery-based tribal art event set in the streets of the Saint-Germain-des-Prés quarter, is scheduled for its usual calendar slot in early September (6-11).
However, La Biennale – the art and antiques fair that was so long a feature of the September art scene in Paris – will no longer be staged at this time of the year. Instead, it has merged with Fine Arts Paris which has been running in a November time slot since its creation five years ago.
The fair will be staged under the new name of Fine Arts Paris & La Biennale and will be organised by the Agence d’Événements Culturels, which currently manages the Salon du Dessin and Fine Arts Paris, created in 1991 and 2017 respectively.
The SNA (Syndicat National des Antiquaires), which organised La Biennale at the Grand Palais from 1962, will bring its expertise to various fields hitherto little developed at Fine Arts Paris, such as jewellery, furniture, primitive arts and antiquities.
Fine Arts Paris & La Biennale will be staged at the Carrousel du Louvre on November 9-13 moving next year to the Grand Palais Ephémère before returning to the renovated Grand Palais in November 2024.
November is also the month when Paris holds its dedicated photographs fair - Paris Photo - which is scheduled to take place this year from November 10-13 at the Grand Palais Ephémère.
Art Basel and its parent company MCH group has announced that it will launch a new Contemporary and Modern art fair in Paris in October 2022 at the Grand Palais Ephémère, a calendar slot previously occupied by the Contemporary art fair FIAC.
There will be a more detailed preview of some of these events in future issues.
