by Pierre Naquin
According to the organizers of Fine Arts Paris, the results are honorable: 12,000 logins during the 10-day fair, interesting innovations like videos and, for some dealers, a number of sales. For example, Arnaud Charvet sold five pieces, including an oil on canvas by Charles-Désiré-Claude Maillot, and Paul Prouté two paintings by Jean-Baptiste Sécheret. Both managed to sell over half the pieces offered on the platform, where each exhibitor could display up to 10. The November 24 "opening" drew 2,500 people and some works sold almost immediately, such as La Mort de sainte Geneviève (The Death of Saint Genevieve) by Jean-Paul Laurens for €18,000 (galerie Aaron). The fair’s president, Louis de Bayser, managed to sell three works—including a self-portrait by Hippolyte Petitjean to an American museum—for €20,000 each. Patrick Lancz, based in the Sablons area of Brussels, sold a charcoal drawing by Xavier Mellery for €14,000.
