“Paris, the former European capital of art, is back on top”! It's not le Marais Mood who affirms it, it is the New York Times who writes it. In an article dated May 4, 2022, the American daily focuses on the Marais district to explain how the capital has been moving again in recent years and how it is regaining its power of attraction.
“It is largely due to a wave of gallery openings that Paris has regained its former energy,” we read. And the newspaper draws a parallel with the Roaring Twenties, in the 1920s. Then, cites “Paris is a party”, the book by Ernest Hemingway published in 1964.
“For decades, Paris gave the impression of being a city housing, on the one hand, excellent museums but also, on the other, galleries run by conservative gallerists reluctant to anything new,” says the New York Times. And adds: “But for three or four years, things have changed. » The author of the article mentions the galleries on avenue Matignon (8th) and the left bank but is first and foremost enthusiastic about the Marais.
The journalist cites the Marguo gallery, recently installed in the former Minimes barracks (3rd). “Paris is moving, exploding, it’s “the place to be”. Even the artists come back because they want to take advantage of this energy,” enthuses the “NYT” which cites a host of other galleries: Thaddaeus Roppac (7, rue Debelleyme), Pièce Unique, Perrotin and Fitzpatrick Gallery (respectively at 57, 76 and 123, rue de Turenne) and Galleria Continua (87, rue du Temple). At 58, rue du Vert-Bois, we are talking about the We Do Not Work Alone gallery. Finally, the journal mentions the two spaces of the Galerie Balice Hertling, at 84, rue des Gravilliers and 47, rue Montmorency.
The reasons for the new craze for the French capital? “The city has become much more international,” says gallerist Alexander Hertling quoted in the article. Paris has become an option for people who do not speak French. I'm not going to say that everything is perfect but, for the moment, in any case, things seem modern and people, especially the youngest, are attracted by the quality of the welcome, which has improved. »
Another reason: Berlin is no longer as affordable for artists as it was in the 1990s and 2000s due to the explosion of real estate prices in the German capital. And with Brexit, London, for its part, has fallen off the radar. So that leaves Paris. And, of course, the Marais!
Text: Axel G
13.05.22