The announcement of the American election results did little to disrupt sales at the Paris Photo fair this time. "In 2016, when Trump was first elected, some collectors had canceled purchases," said American gallerist Hans Kraus. At his stand, this specialist in 19th-century photography is offering a rare 1856 landscape by British artist Roger Fenton (1819-1869), where the clouds steal the show, priced at $495,000. On Wednesday, November 6, several dealers had already sold works, like Gil Rigoulet, who dedicated his entire stand to modernist photography. It featured a very mysterious photo by Roger Parry (1905-1977), a 1930 solarized montage combining a hand and a map of the Paris metro, priced at €20,000.
The world’s major still image fair has made a successful return to the Grand Palais in Paris, with a greatly expanded space (21,000 square meters compared to 16,000 before the building’s restoration), where circulation in the aisles has become notably smoother, thanks to new open areas on the upper floor.
The 2024 edition stands out mainly for the significant presence of modest-sized classic black-and-white works, following years of dominance by color and large-format contemporary art. Impossible to miss, right at the entrance, the spectacular installation People of the 20th Century, a masterpiece by portraitist August Sander (1876-1964), who sought to create a typology of German society shaken by the two world wars. It is presented here in its entirety with all 619 images, printed in the 1990s, by his great-grandson, the gallerist Julian Sander – for a price of "several million euros."
Throughout the fair, there are also several photographs by Robert Frank (1924-2019), whose centenary will be celebrated on Saturday. The Pace Gallery is showcasing portraits of artists such as Allen Ginsberg, Willem de Kooning and Jack Kerouac taken by the photographer. Several gallerists are also dedicating their stands to photojournalists: Gilles Caron (1939-1970), at Galerie Anne-Laure Buffard, with some rare period prints, as well as Spanish artist Ramón Masats (1931-2024) at Galerie Alta. Former photojournalist Denis Malartre (1952-2017) occupies gallerist Thierry Bigaignon's entire stand: For two years, locked away at home, he composed an abstract, minimalist work, sold as a unique set of 50 images, priced at €230,000.
Despite a few high prices, the dealers do offer a variety of price ranges on their stands, starting at €300, in keeping with an art market that's "slowing down." "Photography allows people to buy big names at very reasonable prices," said gallery owner Nathalie Obadia, who presents a photograph by American artist Mickalene Thomas at €68,000, while her paintings easily fetch five times that amount.
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