The third Paris Print Fair

With twenty international exhibitors gathered in the intimate setting of the refectory of the Cordeliers convent at the time of the Salon du Dessin, and with old, modern and contemporary prints represented in equal numbers, the Paris Print Fair - which runs until Sunday 24 March - continues for its third edition the formula that made the previous two such successes (see the articles). This success is far from over, as can be seen from the crowds of enthusiasts, collectors and curators who flocked to the inauguration, where many of the sheets on display were promptly marked with red dots. Of particular note for this 2024 edition is the arrival of two new exhibitors, London-based Agnews and Il Bulino Antiche Stampe from Milan, as well as the creation of the Henri Béraldi Prize - named after the eminent print collector and print historian recently honoured at the Petit Palais with the Tresors in Black and White exhibition (see article) - which will be awarded each year to an original work on printmaking. The first prize-winner was Yvon Le Bras, whose thesis La Gravure visionnaire, autour de Michel Random et la galerie Michèle Broutta, des années 1970 aux années 2010, defended in 2023 at the Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne under the direction of Emmanuel Pernoud, was awarded at the beginning of March.

1. Rembrandt (1606-1669)
Portrait of a Young Boy, c. 1641
Etching - 9.3 x 6.7 cm
Galerie Jurjens Fine Art

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2. Albrech Dürer (1471-1528)
Knight, Death and the Devil, 1513
Burin - 24.4 x 18.8 cm
Galerie C.G. Boerner

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At a time when more and more museums in France, like the Petit Palais (see les articles), and abroad are tending to give pride of place to the art of printmaking, which is still largely relatively unknown, the Salon de l’estampe offers a further opportunity for this medium to be recognised as a work of art in its own right. The plethora of sheets on display on the successive stands, as well as in their many cartons, both original prints and interpretations, in all techniques and at all prices, makes any exhaustive review impossible. Let’s start by mentioning the works of renowned artists, great masters of printmaking, whose names are repeated in aisle after aisle, gallery after gallery. At the head of the list is the indispensable Rembrandt (ill. 1), abundantly represented from the inaugural stand of Galerie Xavier Seydoux to Galerie Martinez D., which concludes the exhibition with a presentation of ninety of his etchings listed in a catalogue published for the occasion and available online.

3. Claude Gellée (vers 1600-1682)
The Cowherd, 1636
Etching and drypoint - 13 x 20 cm
Galerie Sarah Sauvin

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4. Jacques-Louis David (1748-1825)
Study for the Figure of Mirabeau Standing Nude with Arms Raised
Lithograph - 25.2 x 17.1 cm
Galerie Sarah Sauvin

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Other…