Art Fairs
The Top 10 Booths at the Biennale des Antiquaires
See what Paris's answer to TEFAF has to offer.
For the 27th edition of the Biennale des Antiquaires et de la Haute Joaillerie, Versailles has come to Paris. Interior designer to the stars Jacques Grange has turned the Grand Palais into a luxurious garden à la française—complete with fragrant fountain—in a breathtaking homage to Louis XIV’s head gardener André Le Nôtre.
Opening to the public on September 11, this sumptuous display acts as a jewelry box for the wares of 89 exhibitors, representing fields as varied as fine and tribal art, antique furniture, rare books, and high jewelry.
Le Monde once described the biennial as encapsulating “a certain idea of France,” one synonymous with luxury, excellence, and timeless elegance. It’s a place for scholarship too: all of the over 8,000 artworks and objets d’art exhibited here have been approved by a stringent vetting committee.
Over 90,000 visitors are expected to attend what remains France’s premier rendezvous for art amateurs. Organized since 1962 by the Syndicat des Antiquaires, the bienniale combines tradition and innovation in a unique spectacle, which some say rivals the mighty TEFAF in Maastricht.
The biennale originally featured a healthy number of fine jewelry exhibitors. After a slump in those numbers—and a period in which “Haute Joaillerie” was dropped from its title altogether—the biennale is now returning to this approach. It welcomes 14 fine jewelers in 2014, up from a low of only six in 2008. This year Cartier, Bulgari, Chaumet, and Van Cleef & Arpels jostle with great art dealers including Marlborough Fine Art, Dominique Lévy, Richard Green, and Moretti Fine Art.
artnet News took at stroll in the garden and cherry-picked the biennale’s best booths.
Follow Artnet News on Facebook:
Want to stay ahead of the art world? Subscribe to our newsletter to get the breaking news, eye-opening interviews, and incisive critical takes that drive the conversation forward.
