Jean-Marc BUSTAMANTE

“La Force de l’Art” opens to the public from 9 May to 25 June, bringing together fifteen exhibitions for the first of a new triennial series of shows intended to restore France to the forefront of the international art scene.

From 6 to 10 October, Paris will celebrate the 32nd edition of the FIAC (Foire Internationale d’Art Contemporain). The giant Porte de Versailles exhibition complex will house 227 gallery stands, 99 of which are due to be French. In addition, a number of Parisian auctions houses have organised sales of excellent selections of contemporary art to coincide with the event. The day after the Fiac’s opening celebrations, Sotheby’s will be offering part of a collection belonging to the Durand-Dessert gallery. On 8 October, the auction house Cornette de Saint-Cyr will be selling 179 works, including an important selection from the Fondation Veranneman Collection.

Since it reformed its auctioneers, France has increased its share of the auction market from 7% of worldwide turnover in 2001, to 8.6% in 2002. Yet growth in the wider sector has done little for the contemporary art market. France only generated 4.5% of the proceeds from contemporary artworks in 2002.