Europe

Asian Biennale: Running alongside the main Biennale for six days last month and providing an alternative Asian focus to the glitter of French furniture, jewels and Art Deco at the Carrousel du Louvre was a new venture. The Biennale des Arts Asiatiques, organised by the Association des Specialistes d’Art Asiatiques, was a Salon of 22 specialist dealers set in a marquee at the other end of the Tuileries Gardens, which ran from September 21-25.

UNTIL November 30 Vienna dealers Michaela and Wolfgang Bauer hold their autumn selling exhibition at their gallery Bel Etage at Mahlerstrasse 15.

BELGIAN dealer and international interior designer Axel Vervoordt made a big splash in Paris during the 21st Biennale, but although he had a stand at the grand fair his real showstopper was outside in a 44 metre industral barge moored on the opposite bank of the Seine facing the Carrousel du Louvre.

A set of paintings, including two by Flemish master Peter Paul Rubens, have been stolen from a country house in Ireland that has now been targeted four times by thieves, police said.

THE RICS have announced details of their 2002 Fine Arts Conference, which will be held in Amsterdam from November 14-17. Highlights of the conference include a day at the Rijksmuseum prior to its renovation next year during which time its displays will be significantly reduced.

FRENCH auction laws may have been reformed, but monopolies still exist, as Christie’s have just found to their cost.

THE merger of Italy’s two leading domestic auction houses, Semenzato and Finarte, has won the support of shareholders, who voted on September 4.

THIS 75 per cent-complete shell of the extinct South American mammal known as the Glypdodont, pictured right, will be the star attraction of a highly unusual single-owner collection of ornithological and palaeontological specimens being sold by the Moulins auctioneers Enchères Sadde on October 20.

PARIS: The knock-on effects of auction reform mean it’s all change for the new season: France’s traditional auction scene has undergone a major overhaul, with commissaires-priseurs retaining their monopoly for court-order sales only, and obliged to create new commercial entities if they wish to stage other auctions.

ONE of the more unusual characters of the so-called ‘Golden Age’ of Danish art was Sally Henriques (1815-1886). Firstly, contrary to what the name might suggest, Sally was a man. Secondly he was Jewish. And thirdly he painted for just four years from 1841-45 before becoming – in a neat reversal of the career of Georges Braque – a house painter.

Christian Deydier, head of the Syndicat National des Antiquaires, sees lobbying for change as one of his most important roles. With help from his Vice-President Hervé Aaron, and Honorary President Philippe Kraemer, Deydier promises to “give it everything when it comes to lobbying… We must make the most of current favourable circumstances.”

A host of other events have been programmed to attract the international buyers expected in France for the Paris Biennale (September 20-29). These range from auctions – Christie’s sale of sculptures by Alberto Giacometti on September 28, or Prunier’s Haute Epoque sale in Louviers on September 22 – through small, specialist fairs (devoted to Asian Art, Decorative Arts and Tribal Art) – to gallery shows.

After decades of wrangling over the reform of their antiquated auction system and a period of uncertainty and inaction among its dealers, the Paris art market starts the 2002 season in an unusually positive frame of mind.

IRELAND’S top antiques fair will be held in Dublin next week when from September 26 to 29 some 45 dealers stand at the 37th annual Irish Antique Dealers Fair in the Main Hall of the Royal Dublin Society, Ballsbridge.

PARIS: A new Paris fair dedicated to Asian Art gets under way later this month. Running from Saturday September 21 to Wednesday September 25, the inaugural Biennale des Arts Asiatiques is timed to coincide with the opening week of the French capital’s Biennale des Antiquaires and takes places at the Carré des Sangliers in the Jardin des Tuileries – just a stroll down the road from the Carrousel du Louvre, where Paris’s most celebrated and glamorous veteran fair is held.

DENMARK: The modern design session of Bruun-Rasmussen’s (25% buyer’s premium incl. VAT) mixed 5-day sale from August 5–9 included a smattering of pieces from each of the big Scandinavian names: Just Anderson, Axel Salto, Poul Henningsen, Hans J. Wegner, Mogens Koch and Kaare Klint all put in an appearance, but the main focus was on Finn Juhl.

Dutch designer and architect Anne Paul Brinkman is a well known name in interior decorating circles. He opened his first Antiek Curiosa shop in 1972 at the tender age of 15 and over the next 30 years established himself as the creator of what he terms Gesamtkunstwerke – total interiors combining architecture, antique and modern works of art with a sympathy for the original surroundings.

FRANCE: François Curiel has regained his post as head of Christie’s France after the abrupt departure of Dominique-Henri Freiche.

GERMANY: The sales of the firm of Kricheldorf (15% buyer’s premium) of Freiburg are relatively rare occasions but when they do hold them there are a large number of lots. There were two sales in July at Berlin. That on July 29-30 was a general affair (4205 lots).

AMSTERDAM: It was a full house at the Christie’s Amsterdam(23.205% buyer’s premium) salerooms on July 2, when the one-off sale of African and Oceanic Art from the Estate of the late Baron Freddy Rolin took place.