Art Basel’s new flagship fair in the French capital released its list of exhibitors today, featuring a total of 156 participating galleries hailing from 30 countries. 

Paris+, the Swiss fair organizer’s first event in the city of lights, is set to take place from October 20-23 (with October 19 reserved for VIPs), in the Grand Palais Éphémère exhibition hall. Heavyweight international galleries such as Pace, Gagosian, Hauser & Wirth, Esther Schipper, Sadie Coles HQ, and Marian Goodman will take part, alongside a veritable who’s who of Parisian galleries, like Kamel Mennour, Perrotin, Galerie Chantal Crousel, Galerie Nathalie Obadia, and others. 

The list of galleries is likely to add salt to the wound for FIAC, the long-running French fair which was ousted from the Grand Palais earlier this year. The Réunion des Musées Nationaux-Grand Palais (RMN-GP), which runs the site, opened up bidding for the prestigious venue last year, and made the decision to lease it this October to MCH, Art Basel’s parent company, for seven years. FIAC’s owner RX, will take the spot in November again for the Paris Photo fair. 

In response to its displacement, RX called the move “sad” and “violent,” with many Paris-based galleries speaking up in support of FIAC. Founded in 1974, the fair had been a bellwether for the French contemporary art scene. Some dealers have worried that Art Basel would take a more global outlook, to the detriment of local galleries. 

In a press statement, RMN-GP stated its hopes that Art Basel will bring “robust investment” to Paris, deeming it “crucial for the development of this fair in an increasingly competitive market.” It also praised its brand and identity as “unique” to Paris and mentioned its locally based team.

About two-thirds of the galleries taking part in Paris+ (101 out of 156) exhibited at FIAC in 2021. Paris+ has also managed to quell some of the fears that Parisian galleries would be under-represented, with 61 local galleries making up more than one-third of the total. 

Marion Papillon, president of France’s Professional Committee of Art Galleries, nevertheless called the announcement by Paris+ today a “disappointment,” adding: “Turnover is more visible on foreign galleries [while] the selection of young galleries is really small.”

A total of 16 galleries were selected for the fair’s emerging program, including Galeria Dawid Radziszewski from Warsaw and Marfa from Beirut. 

Clément Delépine, Director of Paris+, reemphasized his commitment to local galleries and defended the fair. In a statement, he said that the composition of the gallery list “reflects our commitment to create a show that is both specific to its host city and has a strong global resonance.”

During the fair’s run, Paris+ will also include a project-based sector called Sites, in which different venues across the city will be activated by public art commissions. These include the Jardin des Tuileries, Place Vendôme, Musée national Eugène-Delacroix, and Chapelle des Petits-Augustins des Beaux-Arts de Paris, as well as a number of collaborations with the city’s cultural institutions. 

As is typical with other editions of Art Basel, there is a program of talks, called Conversations. However, there’s a special twist in Paris: The programming will take place on a docked boat opposite the Eiffel Tower. It is curated in Paris by Pierre-Alexandre Mateos and Charles Teyssou. 

According to Marc Spiegler, Global Director of Art Basel, “the galleries selected for our debut in Paris embody Art Basel’s long-standing tradition of juxtaposing high-quality historical with avant-garde material.” He also emphasized that “the galleries that make today’s Paris so dynamic are present in large numbers, across many market sectors, giving this show a singularly Parisian personality.”

The full list of participating galleries is below. Those that exhibited at FIAC in 2021 are marked with an asterisk (*):

303 Gallery*

A Gentil Carioca

Miguel Abreu Gallery 

Acquavella Galleries

Air de Paris*

Galerie Allen* 

Andréhn-Schiptjenko* 

Applicat-Prazan*

Art : Concept*

Alfonso Artiaco*

Balice Hertling*

Galerie Isabella Bortolozzi 

Ellen de Bruijne Projects* 

Galerie Buchholz*

Campoli Presti*

Capitain Petzel*

Cardi Gallery*

Ceysson & Bénétière*

christian berst art brut* 

Clearing*

Sadie Coles HQ

Galleria Continua*

Paula Cooper Gallery* 

Pilar Corrias

Galleria Raffaella Cortese* 

Galerie Chantal Crousel* 

Massimo De Carlo dépendance*

mfc-michèle didier*

Dvir Gallery*

Andrew Edlin Gallery*

galerie frank elbaz*

Essex Street/Maxwell Graham 

Galerie Cécile Fakhoury*

 Selma Feriani Gallery

Konrad Fischer*

Fitzpatrick Gallery*

Foksal Gallery Foundation 

Fortes D’Aloia & Gabriel

Peter Freeman, Inc. 

Gagosian*

Galerie Christophe Gaillard* 

Galerie 1900-2000*

gb agency*

François Ghebaly* 

Gladstone Gallery*

Marian Goodman Gallery* 

Galerie Bärbel Grässlin* 

Greene Naftali

Galerie Karsten Greve*

Hauser & Wirth*

Galerie Max Hetzler*

High Art*

Hannah Hoffman

Xavier Hufkens*

Mariane Ibrahim*

Taka Ishii Gallery

Galerie Jousse Entreprise* 

Annely Juda Fine Art* 

Karma*

Karma International*

kaufmann repetto

Anton Kern* 

Gallery Galerie 

Peter Kilchmann 

David Kordansky 

Gallery Andrew 

Kreps Gallery 

Galerie Krinzinger*

Kukje Gallery 

LambdaLambdaLambda* 

Layr*

Galerie Le Minotaure*

In Situ – fabienne leclerc*

Simon Lee* 

Gallery Galerie Lelong & Co.* 

LGDR

Lisson Gallery

Loevenbruck*

Luhring Augustine 

Magnin-A*

Mai 36 Galerie*

Marcelle Alix*

Matthew Marks 

Gallery Mendes* 

Wood DM 

kamel mennour*

Meyer Riegger* 

Francesca Minini 

Galleria Massimo Minini* 

Victoria Miro*

mor charpentier

Galerie nächst St. Stephan Rosemarie Schwarzwälder*

Nahmad Contemporary* 

Galerie Neu

Neue Alte Brücke neugerriemschneider 

Galleria Franco Noero Galeria 

Nathalie Obadia*

Pace Gallery*

Galerie Papillon* 

Peres Projects

Perrotin*

Galerie Francesca Pia 

Galeria Plan B*

Galerie Jérôme Poggi* 

Galerie Eva Presenhuber 

ProjecteSD

Almine Rech*

Regen Projects

Michel Rein* 

Rodeo 

Thaddaeus Ropac* 

Salle Principale* 

Esther Schipper*

Semiose*

Jessica Silverman* 

Skarstedt*

Société

Galerie Pietro Spartà*

Sprüth Magers

Galeria Luisa Strina 

Simone Subal 

Gallery Sultana*

Take Ninagawa 

Templon*

Tornabuoni Art*

Galerie Georges-Philippe & Nathalie Vallois*

Van de Weghe*

Tim van Laere* 

Gallery Vedovi Gallery* 

Vielmetter 

We Do Not Work Alone* 

Galerie Barbara Weiss*

Michael Werner Gallery

White Cube* 

Barbara Wien

Galerie Jocelyn Wolff* 

Xippas

Barbara Wien 

Zeno X* 

Gallery Galerie Zlotowski* 

David Zwirner*

GALERIES ÉMERGENTES 

Gallery Name

Antenna Space

Galerie Anne Barrault*

Carlos/Ishikawa

Efremidis*

Heidi

Instituto de visión

LC Queisser

Marfa*

Edouard Montassut*

Nicoletti

Parliament

Galeria Dawid Radziszewski*

sans titre *

seventeen

Chris Sharp Gallery*