© ADAGP

Antoni Tàpies, "Cap i bandes" (2008). Mixed-media.

Sprüth Magers, Berlin and London

Richard Artschwager, "Exclamation Point (Chartreuse)" (2008). Painted plastic bristles and mahogany.

October 2009 Datebook

In Retrospect: Ed Ruscha

In Museums

Narrative Threads

East London Looks East

Lean and Mean

Neville Wakefield

From Good Stock

Family of Mann

Design Digest

Own the Dream

Sliced and Diced

Highly Polished

Movers & Shakers

Treasure Hunting

Heather Lemonedes

Digging In

A Match Made in Midtown

Star Ambitions

Also This Month

Rachel Whiteread Alexander Calder Francis Picabia Jean Tinguely SFMOMA Considers Unusual Expansion Plan A Showdown for Doig at Christie’s Pompidou Plans a Roving Museum FIAC’s Cour Carrée “So Good It’s Scary”

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What: Foire Internationale d’Art Contemporain (FIAC), France’s most anticipated art fair.
Where: Grand Palais and Cour Carrée of the Musée du Louvre in Paris
When: October 22-25
Who: Nearly 200 galleries, including more than 60 newcomers

Grandeur at the Grand Palais: The fair, now in its 36th year, has always promoted a balance of contemporary and modern art, but this year a special section, Le Projet Moderne, ups the ante: 10 of the world’s biggest names — including Acquavella, L&M Arts and PaceWildenstein, from New York; Galerie Beyeler, from Basel; Jan Krugier, from Geneva; and Malingue, from Paris — are each exhibiting museum-quality modern masterworks in a 3,330-square-foot space in the heart of the Grand Palais.

Despite such stellar competition, contemporary art holds its own at the fair. Among the 115 galleries in the Grand Palais are Lelong, of Paris, Zurich and New York, which is bringing Spanish painter Antoni Tàpies’s mixed-media Cap i bandes, 2008, and first-timer Sprüth Magers, of Berlin, Cologne and London. "The role of Paris in the development of modernism is undisputed, but its significance as a center of contemporary art is now equally powerful," says dealer Philomene Magers, who is bringing the maverick American artist Richard Artschwager’s playful sculpture Exclamation Point (Chartreuse), 2008, made of painted plastic bristles and mahogany.

Several standout shows are on tap, including Rachel Whiteread’s sculptures at New York’s Luhring Augustine and British Pop artist Peter Blake’s paintings at Paris’s Claude Bernard. Natalie Seroussi, of Paris, has a thematic show of works that relate to the machine by Pol Bury, Alexander Calder, Francis Picabia and Jean Tinguely, among others.

Cutting edge at Cour Carrée: Eighty contemporary galleries are setting up shop here — among them, Jousse Entreprise, of Paris; New York’s Perry Rubenstein; and Barbara Thumm, of Berlin. In a move to establish itself as a serious supporter of emerging art, fiac has invited 14 young international galleries, whose participation is being subsidized by the Galeries Lafayette, now in its fourth year of FIAC sponsorship. A curatorial jury picked the galleries, which include Lucile Corty, of Paris, and London’s Hotel. One artist in this section will be awarded the newly established Prix Lafayette — the brainchild of Guillaume Houzé, son of the president of Galeries Lafayette, descendant of the store’s founder and an avid supporter and promoter of French contemporary art. The store’s foundation will purchase a work by the winning artist, and he or she will be invited to exhibit in a major Paris institution and given a budget for producing new work.

Bottom line: "We’re presenting the top level of both modern and contemporary art with a touch of design and with a priority of quality — it’s not fashion nor a chase after novelty," explains FIAC managing director Martin Bethenod. "In short — back to art

"Back to Art" originally appeared in the October 2009 issue of Art+Auction. For a complete list of articles from this issue available on ARTINFO, see Art+Auction's October 2009 Table of Contents.