PARIS.- Drawing Now Paris has again proven to be a major gold-standard event in the world of contemporary drawing. The show was a great commercial success, despite the economic climate and an enticingly sunny Sunday.
• 85 galleries -‐ including 30% international exhibitors -‐ and 430 artists
• 13 countries represented
• a very international “ÉMERGENCE” platform: 50% foreign galleries
• a “RÉFÉRENCE” platform of more than 45% return exhibitors
Attendance remained stable with around 19,000 visitors, including more French and international institution representatives than in previous years.
All exhibitors have stressed the overall visitor quality, including institution representatives, collectors, international buyers and buying commissions. From this standpoint, this show was the best ever.
The Switzerland focus motivated collectors and institution representatives around contemporary Swiss drawing; Belgian collectors made the trip to DRAWING NOW PARIS. Similarly, most directors of German drawing firms came to the event.
Sales
Sales activity was exceptionally brisk, with more than 50% of galleries reporting very good sales.
Twenty percent of exhibitors saw very good sales turnover for their first time at the event; the show’s regular exhibitors saw their best sales ever:
A.L.F.A., ALB Anouklebourdiec, Galerie Françoise Besson, Gourvennec Ogor, Gowen Contemporary, Patrick Heide Contemporary Art, Martin Kudlek, La Galerie Particulière, Galerie Lelong, Galerie Lucie Weill & Seligmann, Galerie Metropolis, Galerie Oniris, Galerie Claudine Papillon, Galerie Petits Papiers, Galerie Vidal-‐Saint Phalle, Galerie Römerapotheke, Semiose Galerie, XPO Gallery…
Every style, from the most daring to the most traditional, won over collectors at this event. Here are a few examples:
• At Christian Berst, several PLNY were sold at €14,500
• The A.L.F.A. gallery sold a Davor Vrankic triptych for €80,000
• Gourvennec Ogor sold a Martine Feipel & Jean Bechameil at €3,800
• At Eric Mircher, a work by Xue Sun sold for €4,000
• Gowen Contemporary sold a monumental Yifat Bezalel work for €15,500
• Eva Hober sold a Jérôme Zonder for €12,000
A number of works were selected for future commissions in institutions. This is the case for a David Coste ensemble (represented by Galerie Françoise Besson), purchased by the FRAC Midi-‐Pyrenées on Monday, 15 April.
Exhibitors
Gallery owners hailed this well-‐managed event, one of even higher quality than before in both the offer and the collectors in apendance:
“This is my second DRAWING NOW PARIS, and it lived up to my expectations. It’s an energetic show where the team, the participants and the public have enthusiasm written all over their smiling faces. You spend quality time with quality people, there are new collectors buying what they like…everything came together to encourage my budding gallery.” --Anouk Le Bourdiec, Galerie ALB
“DRAWING NOW PARIS has matured and you can sense that in the way it’s organised, in the partnerships, the show’s programmes, but it’s also reflected in the attitude of the collectors coming to the show. We noticed that attendance was more international than in years past, “fairgoers” who are accustomed to major European shows but who now include DRAWING NOW PARIS and the Salon du Dessin de la Bourse on their show calendar. From a sales standpoint, this was the best DRAWING NOW PARIS we’ve had since we started showing here.” --François Dournes, Galerie Lelong
Cultural events
In an added dimension dovetailing perfectly with the Salon, Philippe Piguet invited Jean de Loisy to present his Imaginary Museum of Contemporary Drawing with the Palais de Tokyo, which was a big hit with the public. The works of Davide Balula, Hicham Berrada, Marc Couturier, Sai Hua Kuan, Runo Lagomarsino, Rainier Lericolais, Patrick Neu, and Karine Sander gave visitors the chance to explore a contemporary vision of “outside the box” drawing.
