Parisian galleries group together in the 8th arrondissement

Events abound in the art market these days, whether gallery weekends or shared exhibitions. The latest alliance comprises 31 galleries based in just one area of Paris — its 8th arrondissement — in a grouping known as the Association Matignon Saint-Honoré, after the crossroads at its centre. The zone stretches from gallery Esther Schipper by Place Vendôme to Artcurial at the Champs-Élysées — one of the four auction houses which are official partners of the collective. The group convenes in a night of show openings and related events, with the promise of food, drink and music, on October 14. 

The association came about through a WhatsApp group, explains its president, the gallerist Hélène Bailly. “We started out sharing neighbourhood tips and just trying to coincide our preview evenings,” she says. “Then we talked about making a special event. Basically, together we are stronger.”

The arrondissement has a long art-market history. Between the wars, it boasted galleries such as Wildenstein, Paul Rosenberg and Galerie Kahnweiler (their star artist Pablo Picasso also lived there). By the turn of this century though, its star had faded and galleries were more likely to open in the trendier Marais area. More recently though, the Matignon Saint-Honoré zone of the 8th arrondissement has been revived as a gallery district. Bailly, whose gallery has been on Faubourg Saint-Honoré since 2015, says the area “is more fashionable than it has ever been”. Overseas entrants since 2020 include White Cube, Mariane Ibrahim and Schipper, while this week France’s homegrown Galerie Mitterrand opens its second Paris space there, to coincide with the association’s event. 

Gallery members, who have paid €3,000 per year to join, including the shared cost of the launch event, are varied. Most specialise in Modern or contemporary art, including Mennour, which this week opens a show of work by the Algeria-born Dhewadi Hadjab. Mega galleries on the roster include Gagosian and Almine Rech — which open shows by Harold Ancart and James Turrell respectively in the 8th. There is also an 18th-century furniture specialist (Aveline), an Old Masters dealer (Galerie Florence De Voldère) and a couple of design specialists (Gokelaere & Robinson and Stéphanie Coutas).

Bailly and fellow gallerists Raphaël Durazzo and Alexis Lartigue, who are among the association’s board of directors, say it isn’t a case of competing with Paris’s existing gallery weekend in May, in which they all participate, or indeed with Art Basel, where many of the galleries also have a booth. “We really want to kick off the first day of a whole week of art in Paris,” Bailly says.

@matignonsainthonore