"It's very, very figurative," said Martin Guesnet, director for Europe at the Artcurial auction house and a keen observer of the art market, with a mix of skepticism and admiration. He isn't wrong; the 27th edition of the Art Paris Fair, returning to the Grand Palais with 170 galleries (its move from the cramped temporary Grand Palais Ephémère has allowed for an additional 34 stalls), heavily emphasizes the style. An entire section has been entrusted to curator Amélie Adamo and director of Montpellier Contemporain (MoCo) Numa Hambursin, who held an exhibition on the trend in 2023. Titled "Immortal: A Focus on Figurative Painting in France," it highlighted around 30 artists selected from the choices of exhibiting galleries.
For those familiar with the great – or terrible, depending on one's perspective – years after 1970, when young artists eager to pursue this style were strongly encouraged to turn to comics or relocate (in France, unlike the rest of the world, figurative art was so frowned upon in art schools and institutions that one felt more comfortable in Berlin), there is a sense of vindication.
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