Our friends at Art Media Agency filed this report from Art Paris:
The 3rd edition of Art Paris Art Fair fair gathered 140 international galleries from 20 different countries, presenting China as Guest of Honour in celebration of 50 years of Franco-Chinese relations. […] Given the fair’s increasingly international perspective (50% of galleries were foreign, in comparison with 43% last year), visitors came from far and wide; nevertheless, the overall results showed that the vast majority of buyers were European, predominantly French. Sunday 30 March, the final day of the fair, was deemed to be the most successful day in terms of sales.
The fair saw an increase in attendance of 10%, welcoming 58,387 visitors — despite being a day shorter than last year’s edition. The vernissage saw 17,115 visitors pass through the fair’s aisles — a rise of 24%
China’s Guest-of-Honour status perhaps placed the greatest pressure on the “China Platform” to produce results. Generally, gallerists were very pleased:
- IFA Gallery (Brussels/Shanghai) spoke of encouraging sales from the first day: all 3 works by artist Jiang Shanqing were sold, priced between €10, 000 and 25, 000 each. Overall, the gallery had much better results than last year.
- M97 Gallery had some further interesting figures: all 5 artists represented by the gallery had at least one sale. Of these, Luo Dan was most popular — all 20 of his works at the stand were sold, ranging between €1,000 and 8, 000 each. As the gallery’s first exhibition in France, it proved to be a definite success.
- Blindspot Gallery (Hong Kong) was equally happy, whilst Gallery Xin Dong Cheng (Beijing) reported that it received a predominantly western audience.
After the launch of the “Promises” section in 2013, it lived up to its name in its 2nd edition:
- Muriel Guépin Gallery (New York) sold 3 pieces by Keun Young Park and was particularly pleased to feature on the VIP tour.
- Feizi Gallery (Brussels, Shanghai) had most success with lower-priced works by Ye Linghan.
- ON/Gallery (Beijing) and Galerie E.G.P. (Paris/London) were equally satisfied with results.
- Outside of sales figures, the general consensus amongst gallerists of the “Promises” section was that they gained a tremendous amount of exposure and, as a result, made several invaluable contacts. Galerie Charlot (Paris), Red Zone Galerie d’Arts Contemporains (Geneva), Jiali Gallery (Beijing) and Feizi Gallery (Brussels/Shanghai) all expressed a particular desire to return for next year’s edition of the fair.
The newly rethought “ArtDesign” platform thoroughly picked up in comparison with previous years, proving that design definitely has a place in the world of contemporary art:
- Sèvres – Cité de la Céramique (Paris) recorded excellent sales figures, confirming that it plans to attend next year’s edition of the fair. Pieces sold ranged between €2,600 and 20,000.
- Galerie Armel Soyer (Paris) also emphasised its desire to participate in Art Paris Art Fair 2015, due to its success this year. Of notable importance was the sale of Miroir Froissé #2 (2008), by Mathias Kiss, which sold for €30,000.
- Acabas (Paris) sold three quarters of its stand and also received several orders.
Overall results from galleries who had previously participated in the fair are as follows:
- A2Z Art Gallery (Ivry-sur-Seine) recorded the fair as its best ever participation.
- Galerie Claude Lemand (Paris) also had great success: almost all works exhibited — ranging from €10,000 to 300,000 — were sold, with in the region of 5 sales at more than €50,000. Shafic Abboud was notably popular.
- Galerie Oniris•Florent Paumelle (Rennes) achieved the best sales figures from a fair in 9 years. It sold 5 works by François Morellet, at €50,000 each. Moreover, the gallery noticed truly exceptional interest on the part of collectors.
- Galerie Vieille du Temple (Paris) recorded the highest sales figures in 7 years, 70% of which were new clients. It sold 40 pieces, each between €1,000 and €25,000.
- Galerie Zürcher (Paris/New York) revealed its sale of two works by Marc Desgrandchamps, priced between €30,000 and 40,000 each. The gallery also highlighted the important establishment of new contacts during the fair.
- J. P. Ritsch-Fisch Galerie (Strasburg) confirmed several new clients, among which were 3 new important collectors. Works sold ranged between €1,500 and 75,000. Michel Nedjar (whose works were sold at under €5,000 each) had particular success.
- Galerie Christian Berst (Paris) recorded the sale of a rare piece by Eugene von Bruenchenhein —sold for €26,000 — among others.
- Among notable sales for Galerie Daniel Templon (Paris/Brussels) was Anthony Caro’s sculpture entitled Roll Up (2010).
- 313 Art Project (Seoul) confirmed it was happy overall but disappointed with results of South-Korean artist Atta Kim. Although the artist sparked a lot of interest, sales were not high, potentially due to the lack of previous exposure in Europe.
- La Galerie Particulière / Galerie Foucher-Biousse (Paris) sold a Kate Mccgwire sculpture for €60,000.
- Louise Alexander Gallery (Puerto Cervo) was satisfied with sales, with works sold ranging between €9,000 and 30,000.
- Helene Bailly Gallery (Paris) sold a Zhang Ding work for €12,000 and also highlighted the introduction of new contacts.
- Priska Pasquer (Cologne) spoke of the success the gallery had with sales of limited edition, affordable prints by Rudolf Bonvie (over 50 sold).
- All of the works presented on at galleries Paris-Beijing and Claude Bernard were sold.
Newcomers to the fair obtained the following figures:
- Un-Spaced (Paris) was very pleased with 30.5% of buyers being new clients. It had an overall turnover of €40,000.
- Galerie Loft (Paris) was also satisfied, selling works between €2,000 and 80,000 euros. Among its highest-selling works was Qiu Zhijie’s Tattoo 2 (1994), said to have sold somewhere between €20 – 30,000.
- Galerie Françoise Besson (Lyon) sold 16 pieces, on top of receiving several orders.
- Galerie Françoise Livinec (Paris, Huelgoat) sold 31 works overall, ranging between €400 and 25, 000. 80% were new clients.
- Adler Subhashok Gallery (Bangkok) sold, among other works, 9 versions of Manit Sriwanichpoom’s Pink Man.
- In Camera Galerie (Paris) noted that the work of Russian photographer, Evgenia Arbugaeva, had the most success. The gallery is looking forward to potential sales in the coming weeks.
Sales Report: Art Paris Art Fair 2014 (Art Media Agency)