Art
How a New Generation of Paris Gallerists Has Changed the City’s Art Scene
Exterior view of Bonne Espérance Gallery. Courtesy of Bonne Espérance Gallery.
Portrait of Anna Nevicka and Olivier Maréchal outside OA Fine Art. Courtesy of OA Fine Art.
Paris is a city steeped in art history. Today, the French capital has a huge density of galleries, as well as a rich well of longstanding institutions and private museums such as the Pinault Collection and the Fondation Louis Vuitton. People no longer visit Paris just to go to the Louvre, but to see exceptional contemporary art exhibitions, too. While the local grisaille et grève—gray skies and strikes—may persist, there is a sunny outlook on the Paris scene.
There are three main centers of art world activity in the city: the old-world 6th arrondissement (Saint-Germain-des-Prés), the wealthy 8th arrondissement (Avenue Matignon), and the creative epicenter of the Marais, which encompasses the 3rd and 4th arrondissements.
Several wider developments have taken place in recent years. Since the U.K. left the European Union in 2020, a crop of international galleries opened, such as White Cube in 2020, Mariane Ibrahim in 2021, and Hauser & Wirth in 2023. Art Basel also launched the fair Paris+ in 2022, raising the city’s global art world profile further.
Interior view of Paris+ par Art Basel, 2023. Courtesy of Paris+ par Art Basel.
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There has also been a new wave of young galleries, many of which are using an international lens to curate their programming. Christophe Person opened his namesake gallery specializing in African art in December 2022, prior to which he’d been working for French auction house Piasa, inaugurating its department for contemporary African art. Today, the market for African art is “really within the mainstream,” he said, citing interest from collectors, institutions, and private foundations.
“The relationship between France and Africa is very strong, but it’s very charged,” Person said. “But especially for the artists from the Francophone countries, they’ve got this link to France and Paris, I think they are happy to have the opportunity to be shown here.”
193 Gallery, with two spaces on Rue Béranger in the Haut Marais, was founded in 2018 by César Levy to explore non-Western identities from the Caribbean, Latin America, Asia, and Africa. He noted that, in addition to the behemoth Paris+, there’s a spectrum of fairs catering to different regions and tastes. “There’s a fair dedicated to African art [AKAA], to Asian art [ASIA NOW], and there’s a new fair coming in September dedicated to Latin American art [MIRA Art Fair],” he said. “There’s this desire to discover different art scenes of the world.” In a more generalist display, next week will see the opening of Art Paris (April 4th–7th) at the Grand Palais Éphémère, bringing together 136 modern and contemporary art galleries from 25 countries for its 26th edition.
Scott Billy, who is American-born but lived in South Africa for 25 years, owned a company selling condoms and a nonprofit providing free HIV services before opening Bonne Espérance Gallery in the 2nd arrondissement, neighboring the Marais, in 2019. “Paris has got a great African art scene, but it’s almost entirely focused on Western Africa, and it’s a big continent,” he told Artsy. “The South African art scene is quite different.” He noted that “the three best advocates for African arts are New York, London, Paris. New York and London already have [a] South African presence. Paris has no South African presence. That’s the business reason. The real reason was just because I love Paris.”
Portrait of Scott Billy outside Bonne Espérance Gallery. Courtesy of Bonne Espérance Gallery.
Bim Bam Gallery, opened by Baimba Kamara (also on rue Béranger), started as a pop-up four years ago on rue Saint Claude in the 3rd arrondissement and found its permanent space further north a year ago. “I was able to limit my risk,” Kamara explained of the move. “It allows people with less income at the beginning to be able to start, and then you have the chance to grow; I could still be on the market and find my audience.” Kamara, who is French-born, used to live in California and loved the Oakland artists he encountered, realizing that, while they had burgeoning careers in the U.S., they had no visibility in Europe. He is especially keen to show LGBTQ+ artists and is open about discussing representation in general, being one of the very few Black gallery directors in Paris. “I feel like there are more galleries showing artists who talk about what’s happening now in our society.”
Also on rue Béranger is DS Galerie, which settled into a permanent address in March 2023. “Paris is an important place for contemporary art. It’s having a moment where the scene has captured the interest of the public,” said the gallery’s founder Thomas Havet. From 2016 to 2022, Havet helmed a nomadic curatorial project, Double Séjour, which first started in his apartment and ended up in POUSH—an industrial campus on the outskirts of Paris housing some 250 artist studios—in 2021. He sees a kind of “positivity” emerging from a more skeptically leaning French culture, rising from “the conjunction of emerging artists and interested international collectors.”
Portrait Thomas Havet by Noel Manalili. Courtesy of DS Galerie.
Alison Flora, installation view of “États d’âme” at DS Galerie, 2023. Photo by Romain Darnaud. Courtesy of DS Galerie.
The fact that three of the newest Paris galleries are neighbors speaks to the way the Marais is a touchstone of the scene. “Paris is super geographical for galleries, and people are super strict about it,” Kamara noted. “Technically, I’m at République but I would never say that in a gallery context—it’s Haut Marais. You have to be in the Marais, it’s where things are happening.”
The ambitious scope of the Paris scene is clear, he added: “Every year you can do a list of other shows that you missed. Great shows I wanted to go, I meant to go, and I did not. The list is huge every year. The spectrum is just too much. If you’re trying to do your homework with galleries, you’re missing the museums. If you do the museums, you’re missing the galleries.”
Exterior view of Bim Bam Gallery, 2024. Photo by Nicolas Brasseur. Courtesy of Bim Bam Ballery.
Further afield in the city, Anna Nevicka, who moved to Paris from Latvia 10 years ago, partnered with Olivier Maréchal from a previous professional experience, opening OA Fine Art two years ago. “Paris is still a very prestigious address,” Nevicka said. “New York or London, they’re much bigger hubs—Paris has always had this luxury, and very secretive ambiance with it.” She noted that most of the galleries in the 8th arrondissement, where their space is located, feature “modern masters, beginning of 20th century, even older—17th, and so on.”
Nevicka added that there has been a “generational” change in the culture of the city: “I do find that over the last decade, French culture and cultural organizations have been much more open to new things.”
Back in the Marais, Maât Gallery, opened by Paris-born Franco-Egyptian gallerist Paul William, offers exhibitions as well as one-month residencies. William first opened NIL Gallery in the Marais with a childhood friend, where they focused on West African artists principally from Ghana and the Ivory Coast; a little over a year ago, he decided to start his own project. “Since African art had become a big trend—and I’m glad it’s emerging—I wanted to open up the scope and focus on Latin American artists because they’re not well known here,” he said.
Geoffroy Pithon, installation view of “Paysage des choses” at Maât Gallery, 2024. Photo by Studio Vanssay. Courtesy of Maât Gallery.
William noted that “people have more of an entrepreneurial sense in Paris these last few years,” which works in tandem with what he describes as a French “predisposition” to art: “We’re very sensitive to the museums that surround us,” he said. The city has been injected with fresh energy from a new and more international crowd; William cites the opening of David Zwirner in 2019 and Mendes Wood DM last year as hallmarks of change. “It’s an ‘inevitable’ destination when people come to Europe,” he said. “Paris is a kind of brand.”
And it’s this brand—exacting standards, relentless cultural appetite, local pride offset by inquisitiveness about other art scenes—that is keeping Paris’s reputation so inviolable.
Sarah Moroz
Art
Calvin Lucyshyn: Vancouver Island Art Dealer Faces Fraud Charges After Police Seize Millions in Artwork
In a case that has sent shockwaves through the Vancouver Island art community, a local art dealer has been charged with one count of fraud over $5,000. Calvin Lucyshyn, the former operator of the now-closed Winchester Galleries in Oak Bay, faces the charge after police seized hundreds of artworks, valued in the tens of millions of dollars, from various storage sites in the Greater Victoria area.
Alleged Fraud Scheme
Police allege that Lucyshyn had been taking valuable art from members of the public under the guise of appraising or consigning the pieces for sale, only to cut off all communication with the owners. This investigation began in April 2022, when police received a complaint from an individual who had provided four paintings to Lucyshyn, including three works by renowned British Columbia artist Emily Carr, and had not received any updates on their sale.
Further investigation by the Saanich Police Department revealed that this was not an isolated incident. Detectives found other alleged victims who had similar experiences with Winchester Galleries, leading police to execute search warrants at three separate storage locations across Greater Victoria.
Massive Seizure of Artworks
In what has become one of the largest art fraud investigations in recent Canadian history, authorities seized approximately 1,100 pieces of art, including more than 600 pieces from a storage site in Saanich, over 300 in Langford, and more than 100 in Oak Bay. Some of the more valuable pieces, according to police, were estimated to be worth $85,000 each.
Lucyshyn was arrested on April 21, 2022, but was later released from custody. In May 2024, a fraud charge was formally laid against him.
Artwork Returned, but Some Remain Unclaimed
In a statement released on Monday, the Saanich Police Department confirmed that 1,050 of the seized artworks have been returned to their rightful owners. However, several pieces remain unclaimed, and police continue their efforts to track down the owners of these works.
Court Proceedings Ongoing
The criminal charge against Lucyshyn has not yet been tested in court, and he has publicly stated his intention to defend himself against any pending allegations. His next court appearance is scheduled for September 10, 2024.
Impact on the Local Art Community
The news of Lucyshyn’s alleged fraud has deeply affected Vancouver Island’s art community, particularly collectors, galleries, and artists who may have been impacted by the gallery’s operations. With high-value pieces from artists like Emily Carr involved, the case underscores the vulnerabilities that can exist in art transactions.
For many art collectors, the investigation has raised concerns about the potential for fraud in the art world, particularly when it comes to dealing with private galleries and dealers. The seizure of such a vast collection of artworks has also led to questions about the management and oversight of valuable art pieces, as well as the importance of transparency and trust in the industry.
As the case continues to unfold in court, it will likely serve as a cautionary tale for collectors and galleries alike, highlighting the need for due diligence in the sale and appraisal of high-value artworks.
While much of the seized artwork has been returned, the full scale of the alleged fraud is still being unraveled. Lucyshyn’s upcoming court appearances will be closely watched, not only by the legal community but also by the wider art world, as it navigates the fallout from one of Canada’s most significant art fraud cases in recent memory.
Art collectors and individuals who believe they may have been affected by this case are encouraged to contact the Saanich Police Department to inquire about any unclaimed pieces. Additionally, the case serves as a reminder for anyone involved in high-value art transactions to work with reputable dealers and to keep thorough documentation of all transactions.
As with any investment, whether in art or other ventures, it is crucial to be cautious and informed. Art fraud can devastate personal collections and finances, but by taking steps to verify authenticity, provenance, and the reputation of dealers, collectors can help safeguard their valuable pieces.
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Ukrainian sells art in Essex while stuck in a warzone BBC.com
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The Courtauld Gallery at Somerset House has reopened its doors to the public after a fire swept through the historic building in central London. While the gallery has resumed operations, the rest of the iconic site remains closed “until further notice.”
On Saturday, approximately 125 firefighters were called to the scene to battle the blaze, which sent smoke billowing across the city. Fortunately, the fire occurred in a part of the building not housing valuable artworks, and no injuries were reported. Authorities are still investigating the cause of the fire.
Despite the disruption, art lovers queued outside the gallery before it reopened at 10:00 BST on Sunday. One visitor expressed his relief, saying, “I was sad to see the fire, but I’m relieved the art is safe.”
The Clark family, visiting London from Washington state, USA, had a unique perspective on the incident. While sightseeing on the London Eye, they watched as firefighters tackled the flames. Paul Clark, accompanied by his wife Jiorgia and their four children, shared their concern for the safety of the artwork inside Somerset House. “It was sad to see,” Mr. Clark told the BBC. As a fan of Vincent Van Gogh, he was particularly relieved to learn that the painter’s famous Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear had not been affected by the fire.
Blaze in the West Wing
The fire broke out around midday on Saturday in the west wing of Somerset House, a section of the building primarily used for offices and storage. Jonathan Reekie, director of Somerset House Trust, assured the public that “no valuable artefacts or artworks” were located in that part of the building. By Sunday, fire engines were still stationed outside as investigations into the fire’s origin continued.
About Somerset House
Located on the Strand in central London, Somerset House is a prominent arts venue with a rich history dating back to the Georgian era. Built on the site of a former Tudor palace, the complex is known for its iconic courtyard and is home to the Courtauld Gallery. The gallery houses a prestigious collection from the Samuel Courtauld Trust, showcasing masterpieces from the Middle Ages to the 20th century. Among the notable works are pieces by impressionist legends such as Edouard Manet, Claude Monet, Paul Cézanne, and Vincent Van Gogh.
Somerset House regularly hosts cultural exhibitions and public events, including its popular winter ice skating sessions in the courtyard. However, for now, the venue remains partially closed as authorities ensure the safety of the site following the fire.
Art lovers and the Somerset House community can take solace in knowing that the invaluable collection remains unharmed, and the Courtauld Gallery continues to welcome visitors, offering a reprieve amid the disruption.
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