PARIS.- Building on the success of its first edition in 2011, Paris Tableau 2012 will again open its doors at the Palais de la Bourse from 7 to 12 November 2012. Paris Tableau attracted over 6,000 serious collectors and sold sixty major paintings within just five days in November last year and the ten dealer/organisers look forward again to sharing their passion for Old Master Paintings with international connoisseurs and enthusiasts in 2012. The work on display at Paris Tableau ranges from the Middle Ages to the Second Empire.

The ten dealers responsible for the Fair the creation of the Fair - Maurizio Canesso, Hervé Aaron, Eric Coatalem, Bertrand Gautier, Bob Haboldt, Jean-François Heim, Georges de Jonckheere, Jacques Leegenhoek, Giovanni Sarti and Claude Vittet share a common desire to communicate their passion for and knowledge of Old Master Painting. In view of the great number of general fairs, exhibitions and auctions all over the world, it became very clear to the ten internationally renowned French dealers that a fair dedicated to the specialism of Old Master Paintings was not only necessary, but greatly desired by collectors, museum curators and enthusiasts.

Loan Exhibition
Last year’s loan exhibition from the National Institute of Art History (INHA) ‘The Other Side of the Painting (L’Envers du Tableau’) was very well received. In 2012 Paris Tableau will welcome Le Mobilier National, which will show ‘Hidden Treasures of the Gobelins’. Curated by Arnauld Brejon de Lavergnée, former Director of Collections at Le Mobilier National, the Gobelins exhibition will illustrate the unique process which starts with the painted cartoon and ends with the woven textile intended for interior use, using paintings and painted cartoons unearthed from the museum’s reserve collection.

Being an Old Masters dealer has, at the heart of each business, three vital aspects: discovering the work, understanding the work (and often, giving it its identity), and advising; drawing a private collector’s attention to a particular painting, sharing discoveries, and building up private or museum collections. It is for all these reasons, and the wish to share this knowledge and connoisseurship that Paris Tableau came into being.

In total, this year Paris Tableau will have twenty-one exhibitors and two frame dealers: Galerie Montanari (Paris) and Enrico Ceci (Formigine).