Art Galleries in Paris

Also read my French Painters and Famous paintings in Paris sections

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Reveling in its historic reputation, the Paris art scene is still alive and well. After experiencing a rather low ebb with international attention firmly focused on NYC throughout the 1960s and the 1970s, Paris has reemerged as a contemporary art cross-roads.

The late 1980s saw an unprecedented boom in the art market worldwide, and Paris reaped the rewards with galleries monopolizing areas such as le Marais, their scale often directly proportional to the conceptual nature of the work shown. The Bastille too had its renaissance, and many younger gallery owners have turned to this booming quarter as an alternative to the high-flying rents now comon in the Marais.

Left Bank

But what about the traditional hotbed of art in St-Germain-des-prés? The rue de Seine, rue Mazarine and adjoining characteristic streets have put their avant-garde days behind them. Today this area has its own distinct flavor, nothing to do with what is going on across the Seine. Antiques, art deco furniture, prints, ethnographical wonders and 1950s abstract paintings are the mainstay of hundreds of small galleries lining a well-defined territory between rue Bonaparte, rue Guénégaud and the rue de Seine. High quality antiques shops are concentrated further West in what is known as the Carré Rive Gauche, a grid of streets running between the Quai Voltaire, the rue du Bac, the rue de l'Université and the rue des Saints-Pères, including the famous rue de Beaune.

Right Bank chic

For strictly high price brackets, head for another traditional gallery agglomeration over the right bank. Here, between the avenue de Matignon, the Faubourg St-Honoré and (further North) the boulevard Haussmann, you can track down works by artists, dead or alive, who have hit the heights.

The youthful Bastille

For unknown talent, the Bastille is perhaps the best bet. Although the area between the rue de Charonne, rue de Lappe and rue Keller has experienced a gallery invasion lately, quality is not always the common denominator, so don't be fooled. An exception is the impressive Galerie Durand-Dessert at 28 rue de Lappe, which occupies 4 floors of former factory space and exhibits highly regarded international work.