grand palais

Bulgari Opens Jeweled Retrospective In Paris

Filed under: Events

On December 9, Nicola Bulgari, Chairman of the Bulgari Group, and Francesco Trapani, CEO of Bulgari, hosted a private cocktail celebration at the Grand Palais in Paris to celebrate the opening of its jewelry retrospective. It's the first exhibition in the 110-year-old hall that is entirely dedicated to jewelry. This is Bulgari's second retrospective exhibition ever and it runs through January 12, 2011.

Tags: bulgari, bvlgari, grand palais, jewelry, paris

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Luxist Guest Post: Summer Thornton at the Biennale Des Antiquaires

by Unknown (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Decor

We couldn't be at the 25th Biennale Des Antiquaires in Paris during September but luckily we had a friend on the scene to tell us all about it. Summer Thornton is the founder of Summer Thornton Design, a Chicago based interior design firm. Under her creative leadership, the firm has created work which has been featured in numerous design publications and websites. Primarily focused on residential and boutique design, clients seek her out for her innate ability to combine elements of contrast - new and old, rough and polished, high and low into a look that feels unpretentious fun and fresh.

Guest Post by Interior Designer Summer Thornton

Put diamonds, antiques, and french architecture in the same building and I'll be there. Actually I was there, in September at the 25th Biennale Des Antiquaires. Talk about an interior designer dying and going to heaven! Set under the beautiful architecture of the Grand Palais in Paris, eighty of the world's top antique galleries and seven of the world's top jewelers showcased their best collections.

With so many gorgeous showrooms, the thing that really stood out was the way in which many pieces were displayed. It seemed to be all about presentation, which varied so much by gallery that entering each gallery was like entering a different little world. The jewelers did an amazing job merchandising. Paris-based Van Cleef and Arpels pulled out all the stops on their showroom to include a fabulous 20,000 leagues under the sea themed room and display cases complete with submarine and a hot air observation balloon.

Tags: Biennale des Antiquaires, decorations, design, designers, grand palais, paris, summer thornton

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Paris Follows London with Art Fair

by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Art

The big money's in Paris this season. Last night, a $24 million painting by Pablo Picasso of his mistress, Marie-Therese Walter, was put on reserve at the VIP preview of the Foire Internationale d'Art Contemporain. The FIAC is France's largest art fair, and it follows the Frieze Art Fair in London. The French fair hopes to capitalize on Frieze's momentum, where dealers indicated that sales were up from 2008.

Picasso isn't the only major artist whose work is up for sale at a major price. L+M Arts, from New York, has put Francis Bacon's "Portrait of George Dyer Takling," which is being priced at approximately $40 million, and Fernand Leger's "Le Grand Dejeurner" is being shown by Daniel Malingue for $20 million to $25 million. The fair is already well attended, with Bernard Arnault, chairman of LVMH, and his ilk already in attendance.

FIAC ends on October 25, 2009 and has more than 200 modern and contemporary art dealers showcasing the work they represent. Most of the exhibits are in the Grand Palais, with another 80 by younger living artists displayed in a temporary structure in the Cour Carree of the Louvre. The art market slump has led to smaller numbers this year, with 40 galleries that participated last year not returning to Paris this year.

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Tags: art, art market, ArtMarket, artwork, bernard arnault, BernardArnault, fiac, francis bacon, FrancisBacon, grand palais, GrandPalais, louvre, pablo picasso, PabloPicasso, picasso

The French Resistance: Paris Art Market Defies the World

by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Auctions, Art

In New York and London, art auction houses for ever dollar they can bring in, but the French have been able to fight back. The number of sales and lots brought to auction has remained stable year over year. And, in the first three months of the year, Paris put up better results than London or New York, thanks to the Pierre Bergé-Yves Saint-Laurent sale at the Grand Palais back in February. Historically, Paris has lagged these two cities, but its resilience this year has changed the game a bit.

For the first quarter, art prices in France came down only 5 percent, a level that's been maintained through the rest of the year, so far. Christie's bears much of the responsibility for this success, with some solid auctions this year, though Sotheby's has helped, as well, with a Contemporary Art auction that moved 95.2 percent of the lots offered. Also, Parisian auctions aren't as up-market as those in London and New York, which has muted the effects of the global financial crisis.

In addition to the Yves Saint Laurent sale, which brought in €373.5 million (€255 million for works of art), the late May auctions at Christie's and Sotheby's did perform well relative to past years. The summer is likely to be quiet, with smaller auctions in Paris, but Christie's is bringing a private collection to market with pieces by Henri Laurens, Hans Harp and Henri Michaux, among others. The numbers won't be eye-popping, but expect the momentum to continue.

Vive la resistance!

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Tags: art, art auction, art auctions, art market, ArtAuction, ArtAuctions, ArtMarket, artwork, auction, auction-house, auctionhouse, auctions, france, grand palais, GrandPalais, paris, parisfrance, pierre berge, PierreBerge, yves saint laurent, yves st laurent, YvesSaintLaurent, YvesStLaurent