ART PARIS ART FAIR 2014 brought together 140 galleries from 20 countries. The fair closed on Sunday 31st March showing a record 58 387 visitors, a 10% increase on last year’s 53 257 despite being a day shorter and the closing off of the Champs Elysées area because of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s state visit to France on 26th and 27th March.

The 2014 edition of ART PARIS ART FAIR confirmed its identity as an accessible European fair that looks to the East and favours the discovery of new talents and art scenes.The success of this new direction adopted in 2012 was evident from the first day. The trade and private preview attracted a record 17 115 professional visitors (up 24% from 13 847 en 2013). Celebrities flocked to the fair including Eric Cantona, Marion Cotillard, François Cluzet, Catherine Frot, Valérie Bonneton, Agnès Varda, Mathieu Demy, Jack Lang, Bernard Kouchner, Lise and Jacques Toubon, Dominique de Villepin, Vikash Dhorasoo, Stany and Dolores Chaplin, François Vincentelli, Gérard Darmon, Mickaël Cohen, Anthony Delon, Florence Foresti, along with leading collectors like Monique Pozzo di Borgio, Diana Widmaier Picasso, Edouard Carmignac, Uli Sigg and Gilles Fuchs… On their way out they all stopped to admire Miguel Chevalier’s psychedelic digital work, represented by Louise Alexander Gallery, that was projected across the entire façade of the Grand Palais.

This was the first time that China has been invited as Guest of Honour in an art fair in France. It brought a very special energy to the 16th edition of the fair. Highlights included the seven tonne “Iron Fist” by Liu Bolin that stood at the entrance of the fair, the monumental sculpture installation by Zhang Ding presented by Helene Bailly Gallery and ShanghArt, and of course Li Wei’s unforgettable performance during which he rose up in the air under the immense glass roof of the Grand Palais dressed as a cosmonaut on a space flight. The fair offered an exceptional panorama with more than 90 Chinese artists, including leading moderns like Zao Wou ki and Wang Keping, and many stars of the contemporary scene like Yu Minjun, Liu Wei, Feng Zhengjie and Rong Rong. Also on show were new rising talents such as Wang Ningde, Li Fang, Luo Dan, Dai Guangyu and Quin Ga. In addition, a couple of French collectors presented key pieces of their exceptional collection of Chinese art providing an added dimension to this rich tribute to Chinese art that coincided with the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between France and China.

Visitors expressed their appreciation of the carefully presented and coherent exhibitions by the galleries who offered many new works at affordable prices. This includes abstract works by Geneviève Claisse at Bertrand Grimont, others by Regina Bogat at Zürcher gallery, monochromes by Bernard Aubertin at Jean Brolly, gouaches by Matthieu Schmitt at Catherine Issert, Alvar Gullichsen’s architectural paintings at Heino gallery from Helsinki and anatomic drawings by Lubos Plny by Christian Berst. Also on show were works by young Ukranian artist Nicolas Tolmachev at Blue Square and others by young Turkish artists Bengü Karaduman and Yagiz Ozgen at Priska Pasquer. Two outstanding works based on the Chinese flag by Gérard Fromanger and Jean-Pierre Raynaud were presented under the title “China Red” at Caroline Smulders gallery. Another major work on offer was a kinetic installation by Venezuela’s Manuel Merida at Meyer Zafra gallery.

The thematic sections in the fair drew praise from visitors who appreciated the variety of the design pieces in the ArtDesign section, emerging artists in the “Promises” section, the “China Platform” of course, as well as the particularly successful Art Books Librairie Flammarion bookshop where people were able to meet authors and have their books signed. The elegant art book binding space also attracted a great deal of attention.

This year saw the introduction of an educational component to the fair: visitors to the website were able to sort works by price and geographic origin as well as take a virtual tour of the entire fair (a functionality developed by SISSO). In addition, each gallery had its own flyer describing the works on offer and some 100 guided tours were conducted by members of a contemporary art think tank for collectors or the clients of partner companies. Also new this year was the creation of a collectors’ group called “We are all Collectors.”