Paris, France — Every year in March the rarely seen world of drawings unfolds when the French capital becomes the Drawing Capital of the World.  For they are fragile things, drawings, and therefore are rarely exhibited to the public at large. Drawings successfully swept through Paris last month at the Drawing Now Art Fair and Salon du Dessin drawing fairs with the Salon du Dessin, being held for the 32nd time, bringing in 15,000 visitors. Museums, collectors and art enthusiasts were back in style to the Palais Brongniart, the beautiful venue where the fair is held as well as to the Carreau du Temple which hosts the Drawing Now show. Curators from some of the world’s most renowned museums were in attendance at the Salon du Dessin notably from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Getty in Los Angeles and the British Museum to name a few, to enjoy and purchase works on show from 39 exhibitors. 

Exhibitions at the Salon du Dessin included a tribute to Jean Dubuffet, the finalists for the Contemporary Drawing Prize awarded for the 17th time by the Daniel & Florence Guerlain Foundation, and drawings by children from all over the world for the Children’s Drawing Competition initiated by the Le Petit Léonard magazine in partnership with the Salon du Dessin which made for a touching show whose theme was Draw a Real or Imaginary Journey underscoring the general theme of the fair’s annual International Meetings which was Travel Drawings. Among the most exuberant works sold were by Jean-Honoré Fragonard by respectively the London gallery of Stephen Ongpin Fine Art and the Parisian gallery Didier Aaron & Cie. Meanwhile la Galerie de La Présidence paid tribute to Jean Hélion, a retrospective of his works is on display at the Modern Art Museum of the City of Paris, with a large format drawing in black and white, Sitting Man, being purchased by an amateur collector.  

At the same time The Drawing Now Art Fair was held in the Carreau du Temple venue in the Marais and is dedicated to contemporary drawings. Seventy-three confirmed and emerging galleries from France and throughout the world participated this year with 18,000 visitors in attendance. The coveted Drawing Now Award has an endowment of 15,000 euros with 5,000 for the artist and 10,000 euros to finance an exhibition in the Drawing Lab venue in Paris. This year’s recipient was the Polish artist Tatiana Wolska who is represented by the Irène Laub Gallery. Save the Date for next year when Drawing Art Fair Now will be held from March 27th until March 30th and the Salon du Dessin from March 25th until March 31st. ©Trish Valicenti for The Gourmet Gazette