Traveling Collector: The Insider’s Paris

By: Matthew Rose

November 2007

Well before Manet hung "Le Déjeuner sur L’herbe" in the Salon des Refusés in 1863 and launched the scandal that is modern art, Paris was at the center of everything modern. It’s been an ongoing revolution: The City of Light has been attracting ideas and talent and influencing global culture ever since the island in the cradle of the Seine was conquered by the Romans.

Our working knowledge of Paris tends to date from Napoleon onwards, particularly from the mid-19th century, when the culture of modernism took root and gave flower to nearly every intellectual from polymath Henri Poincaré (who turned the Eiffel Tower into a radio beam to synchronize clocks throughout the city and the world) to van Gogh, Cézanne, Picasso, Gertrude Stein and the Lost Generation of the 1920s, André Breton’s Surrealists and Yves Klein and the Nouveaux Realistes. Over the last three centuries, Paris has become nothing less than the world’s most glittering cultural jewel, with more than 70 museums, from the largest, the Louvre, to the most bizarre, Deyrolle, a 170-year-old taxidermy shop masquerading as a museum on the rue du Bac.

Paris, however, is not mired in past glories and aging beauty. Contemporary art has emerged along three main axes: the rue de Seine on the left bank, rue Louise Weiss next to the ultra-modern Bibliothèque François Mitterrand and the most well-trodden, the area in and around the rue Vieille du Temple. It is here, in the heart of the Marais with its narrow, winding cobblestone streets, that more than 50 commercial galleries and art spaces have taken root along an artery dotted with boutiques, restaurants, hip bars and chic hotels.

One of the most visible galleries just off this ribbon of art and commerce is Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, a sleek space at 7 rue Debelleyme that shows a range of international Pop and conceptual art. This summer, the gallerist exhibited contemporary Chinese artist Wang Guangyi’s massive, iconic paintings. Ropac discovered Wang, known for his Maoist soldiers marching along to corporate global brands like Coca-Cola, Pepsi and Chanel, while in Beijing and requested more than a dozen works for the show; nearly everything sold at prices from $300,000 to $1 million. An Austrian by birth who speaks impeccable English, Ropac recently opened a 2,150-square-foot space above his ground-floor gallery. The "drawing room," dedicated to works on paper, was inaugurated with a roomful of Alex Katz’s graphite-on-paper "Cartoons," offered at prices from $30,000 to $50,000. This November British artist Richard Deacon’s bold, abstract steel and gangly bent wood sculptures will be on view in the main gallery, with drawings by Georg Baselitz upstairs.

"Paris has always been an important city for artists, and to exhibit art here is to be situated in the glow of the greatest museums in the world and, therefore, close to the heart of the world’s most passionate collectors," says Ropac, who puts his visiting artists up nearby in the four-star Hôtel du Petit Moulin, a 17th-century national landmark and former bakery with its interior recast as a mix-and-match dollhouse by noted fashion designer Christian Lacroix. Wallpaper that is covered with blown-up Lacroix sketches and furniture ranging from baroque to pop plastic make this a one-of-a-kind couture gem.

Next door at Karsten Greve’s sumptuous space, Pop sculptor John Chamberlain is celebrating more than 30 years at the gallery, which also has a location in Cologne. In a recent exhibition, Chamberlain’s latest work (sculpture that was created with colorful shards of automobile debris) sold briskly for $200,000 to $350,000. "John loves Paris, and these recent works coincided with the ‘Correspondance’ exhibition at the Musée d’Orsay," says Greve. Through the end of this month, a show of Sally Mann’s photographs runs roughly in parallel with the expansive FIAC art fair at the Grand Palais and the Cour Carrée du Louvre.

Nearby at 15 rue Debelleyme, American dealer Jeff Gleich’s g-module gallery began in 2001 with New York artists in the French capital, with works like Peggy Preheim’s meticulous drawings in miniature of children, flags and couples on old franc notes, which astonished Parisians with their tiny detail and by reworking the beloved bills into nostalgic works of art. Contemporary American artist Vargas-Suarez Universal will show a single large painting, integrated into the space during the November-December period.

"If you’re going to live and work in the art game in any city in the world, Paris is probably the best," says Gleich. "It’s provincial, charming and challenging, in a good way."Not far from Debelleyeme, Emmanuel Perrotin’s space at 76 rue de Turenne exhibits a stable of international conceptual artists such as Wim Delvoye, Eric Duyckaerts, Elmgreen and Dragset, Aya Takano and Venice Biennale invitee Sophie Calle. Perrotin added a new space behind his principal gallery off the rue Saint-Claude and in 2005 opened an immense Miami showcase in the Wynwood Design Art District to promote his French stars, such as Bernard Frieze (who will have an exhibition in Paris in late autumn) as well as other artists like Swedish sculptor Klara Kristalova, known for her cast of ceramic fairy tale–like characters. Perrotin chronicles the exploits of the gallery and his artists in BING, his semi-annual glossy magazine.

Thanks to relatively cheap rents, the half block that is rue Saint-Claude has been steadily attracting art galleries. Anne Barrault, Frank Elbaz and the small, smart space Eva Hober have assembled there, along with the newly arrived Galerie Baumet Sultana, with its largely French roster of artists. Guillaume Sultana, who has yet to work the art fair circuit, is a "graduate" of one of the best-known gallerists in Paris, Yvon Lambert. Two others from Lambert’s gallery, the fashion- and art-forward spaces GB agency (on rue Louise Weiss in the 13th) and Martine Aboucaya (on rue Sainte Anastase), have gone on to stake a claim in the Parisian art world. In Galerie Almine Rech on the same street, you can see the ethereal genius of James Turrell’s lightworks in gorgeous surroundings.

Yvon Lambert’s operations in the Marais are key to the contemporary Parisian art world. The gallery was founded in 1966 and the dealer has long championed many of contemporary art’s heavyweights: Sol LeWitt, Anselm Kiefer, Lawrence Weiner and Miquel Barceló, as well as irreverent favorites like Andres Serrano, David Shrigley, Christian Marclay and French star Bertrand Lavier.

In 1999 venerable New York dealer Marian Goodman set up a 3,200 square-foot space on rue du Temple in 1999. The gallery’s artists include Christian Boltanski, one of France’s brightest stars, as well as international names such as Gerhard Richter, William Kentridge Thomas Struth and Francesca Woodman. Conceptual American artist John Baldessari’s show of new work runs through November 24th.

A cluster of yet more galleries (Nathalie Obadia, Patricia Dorfman and Galerie de France) can be found huddled off the rue de la Verrerie.

Another gallery well worth a visit is Lara Vincy, on the rue de Seine, with its program of mostly Fluxus and Fluxus-inspired talents such as Joël Hubaut and Charles Dreyfus. The recent show, "Dans le sens du non-sens" ("In the direction/sense of no direction/nonsense") was typical; it brought together more than a dozen leading artists toiling away assiduously at absurd word games in sculpture, objects and paintings. Always interesting and humorous, Lara’s daughter Liliane and grandson, Youri, now run the gallery, which sits on the corner and is much like a large Fluxus glass box.

Across the street is another "box," the inventive space Galerie Piece Unique, which shows a single artwork each month in a large glass vitrine, like Mihael Milunovic’s car-sized ode to oil consumption, "Simple Pyramid" (2007). The space is illuminated well into the night for those out taking a reflective stroll through the neighborhood.

On 8 rue Bonaparte, next to the École de Beaux Arts, is Marcel Fleiss’ Galerie 1900–2000. Fleiss, often wielding a Cuban cigar, now works with his son, David, who specializes in modern photography. Since 1972 he has put together more than 150 exhibitions, among them stellar group surveys and one-person shows of Surrealism, Dada, collage and assemblage. Here, the collector can always find something by Hans Bellmer, Daniel Spoerri or Picasso’s ex, Dora Maar, as well as other 20th-century luminaries.

Like most large cities, Paris teems with thousands of artists working in near-obscurity. One locale on the fringe of the 13th arrondissement called "Les Frigos" (an old refrigerator storage facility) is perhaps the oldest and best known artist atelier and residence, with four floors of studios, a handful of design studios and an independent gallery. Here, you can wander the graffiti-splattered hallways and knock at the doors of the busy studios of the more than 80 artists who work here during daylight hours.Les Frigos’ portes ouvertes (open house exhibitions) are famous for their grand sweep of the Paris art scene. The artists tidy up the dust, hide the furniture and turn the building into a showcase for an enormous river of contemporary art (paintings, sculptures and medium-tech trash reclaimed from the Parisian streets). Consult the Web site lesfrigos.com for the regularly scheduled shows.

If you want to saturate yourself in art history, Paris offers a museum for every aesthetic sensibility: Impressionism (Musée d’Orsay), non-Western art (Le Musée du Quai Branly, designed by Jean Nouvel), the latest contemporary works (Le Palais de Tokyo, under the new direction of Marc-Olivier Wahler) and Modernism and contemporary (Centre Pompidou).

There are more intimate art spaces to visit as well: exhibitions of collectors’ collections at the Maison Rouge, the Musée Rodin and the Musée Maillol, created by the sculptor’s favorite model, Dina Vierny, should be on your itinerary. This month, don’t miss Paris Photo (Nov. 15–18) in the Carrousel du Louvre, featuring 83 international galleries offering a premiere showcase of contemporary photography.

To see most of everything, pick up a three- or five-day museum pass, but do not forget to consult Time Out (in English) or similar guides to discover the other 60-plus museums in Paris. You can also spend your days outdoors, traversing the rue Lepic in the historic Montmartre quarter and following in the footsteps of van Gogh just below the Sacré Coeur. Or stroll through the Montparnasse Cemetery to visit the final resting places of Man Ray and Tristan Tzara (a square meter of white marble) and Niki de Saint-Phalle’s mirror bird and creature sculptures on the tombstones.

If you arrive during the winter holidays, try strapping on some skates and hitting the ice rink in front of the Hôtel de Ville; a few turns under the Parisian sky is certain to take your breath away. Or just stare at the architecture, which is a fantastic combination of 17th-century and contemporary marvels—all connected by Baron Haussmann-designed boulevards and veering off into picture-postcard cobblestone streets. The city itself is a grand work of art, an incomparable chef d’oeuvre. Bienvenue.

The Artful Diner in Paris
You’re likely to encounter younger artists at La Perle enjoying a red wine, a cold Stella draft and rolled cigarettes while traffic bobs and weaves at the intersection of rue de la Perle and Vieille du Temple. Another 10 minutes and you’re in the heart of the Marais’ bar and restaurant district, and around the corner from the heart of the Jewish quarter on rue du Rosier. If you need some bistro fare before you head to the Centre Pompidou, you can choose from a half-dozen cozy eateries owned and operated by Xavier Denamur, a restaurateur whose collection of Frenchman David Saltiel’s architecturally inspired industrial "interventions"—burnished recuperated clocks and iron objects—as well as the steel wall piece in the bathrooms with peek-a-boo spy holes showing photos of cows (in the Chaise au Plafond), adorn his establishments. Le Petit Fer à Cheval (The Little Horseshoe) is a favorite for expats, and across the road La Belle Hortense with its zinc bar is a bookshop and wine bar par excellence. A little gallery in a comfortable back lounge shows local artists like the Paris graffiti star Miss Tic ("mystic"), whose stencils can be seen in every arrondissement in Paris. "Every wall is an opportunity for art," Denamur explains. Try a Côte Rôti with an assorted plate of cheese at La Chaise au Plafond or opt for a full dinner at Les Philosophes. A block farther south, you’ll find a slightly edgier crowd hanging out at Le Pick-Clops on the corner of Vieille du Temple and Le Roi de Sicile.

When you’ve had your fill of the art movements, take a break and relax at the clebrated, lovingly battered bistro, La Palette. The café remains substantially untouched since Cézanne and Braque tipped glasses there, and is filled with landscapes, portraits of waiters, used painting palettes and an extremely amiable crew of serveurs.

Correspondent Matthew Rose is an artist and writer living and working in Paris since 1992. Filmmaker Jennifer Giovani is currently making a documentary about his works tentatively titled "Collage by Matthew Rose."Deyrolle
011.33.1.42.22.30.07 deyrolle.fr

g-module gallery
011.33.1.42.71.14.75 g-module.com

Galerie 1900–2000
011.33.1.43.25.84.20 galerie1900-2000.com

Galerie Almine Rech
011.33.1.45.83.71.90 galeriealminerech.com

Galerie Anne Barrault
011.33.1.44.78.91.67 galerieannebarrault.com

Galerie Baumet Sultana
011.33.1.44.54.08.90 galeriebaumetsultana.com

Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin
011.33.1.42.16.79.79 galerieperrotin.com

Galerie Eva Hober
011.33.1.48.04.78.68 evahober.com

Galerie Frank Elbaz
011.33.1.48.87.50.04 galeriefrankelbaz.com

Galerie Karsten Greve
011.33.1.42.77.19.37

Galerie Piece Unique
011.33.1.43.26.85.93 galeriepieceunique.com

Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac
011.33.1.42.72.99.00 ropac.net

GB Agency
011.33.1.53.79.07.13 gbagency.fr

Marian Goodman Gallery
011.33.1.48.04.70.52 mariangoodman.com

Yvon Lambert Paris
011.33.1.42.71.09.33 yvon-lambert.com