Many visitors gathered in the Palais Brongniart for the opening of the 5th edition of Paris Tableau.However, as professionals and collectors met in the allées, there were those who asked questions about the future of the fair amid reorganization, and concern about the international impact of the event.The limited number of dealers, just 25, and the relatively small size of the booths, which prevents the hanging of very large scale paintings, demonstrates how difficult it is to attract clients worldwide, with many inclined to go to Tefaf for Old Masters.In that context, the arrival of new galleries specialized in 19th-century paintings was refreshing and welcome.Here are some of the top picks this year:Art Cuéllar-NathanOne new arrival was this Zurich gallery, which presented one of the most beautiful paintings of the fair, a landscape by Paul Cézanne. Painted in 1885, this minimalist winter composition was the latest work exhibited in Palais Brongniard.Tagged at €3 million, it was also the highest price of the fair. Cuéllar also featured an impressive “Vague” by Courbet, executed in 1872-1873 and priced at €900,000.Talabardon et GautierAlso specialized in the 19th century, the Parisian gallery, a cornerstone of the fair, did well on the first evening.It immediately found a buyer for a poetic nocturne picture by the symbolist painter Alphonse Osbert, “Rêverie en la nuit,” executed in 1895.From 1888, the color of blue filled Osbert’s art, as in this landscape which shows a meditative figure in the night.The Parisian duo also sold two small charming paintings by André Devambez, “Au theatre Montmartre” and “Le photographe.”Michel DescoursThe gallerist from Lyons had other interesting offerings.A rare and stunning 17th-century Caravaggesque picture was attracting attention on the back wall of his booth. This large canvas by the Lucca Pietro Paolini depicting a portrait of the actor Tiberio Fiorilli in the role of Scaramouche was priced at €1.2 million.Also worth noticing was also a chiaroscuro canvas by a Swedish painter of the 18th century, Pehr Hilleström, representing a “Femme saisissant une puce à la lueur de la bougie,” a theme brilliantly interpreted a century before by Georges de La Tour.Didier Aaron & CieSpecialized in the 18th century, the gallery, with French and New York ties, selected many neoclassical pictures. A large scale painting by Hilaire Ledru, “Indigence et Honneur,” exhibited in the Salon of 1804, occupied the center part of the booth.Another heroic subject by Raymond Quinsac Montvoisin, “Achille donnant à Nestor le prix de la sagesse,” hung nearby and was priced at €250,000.A study for the famous Philoctete kept in the museum of Chartres by Jean Germain Drouais is much smaller in size but of high quality. This work, which had remained unseen since 1832, was painted by the gifted artist who died prematurely at the age of 25AgnewsGallery Agnews favored paintings priced at less than €100,000. Its director Anthony Chrichton-Stuart deliberately chose to disclose prices on the caption cards.If some of the pictures on his booth had already been seen in the fair the previous year (such as Alfred Stevens or Alphonse Osbert), he set out a fantastic “Study for the head of young man, possibly Narcissus” by the Pre-Raphaelite artist John William Waterhouse, executed in a most expressive and spontaneous manner.Paris Tableau is at Palais Brongniart through November 15. Information: http://www.paristableau.com/en
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