Gazette Drouot - C apencheres

THE MAGAZINE MEETING
Maurizio Canesso Paris Tableau organiser
The exhibition dedicated to Old Masters
will once more be filling the Palais de la
Bourse, confirming the success of the first
event last year, as though there were any
need. Maurizio Canesso, one of the organisers
of Paris Tableau, talks about some of the high
points of the show.
La Gazette Drouot: What lessons did you learn from
the first Paris Tableau?
Maurizio Canesso: In the first exhibition, we attracted a
highly interested audience – six thousand visitors, with
sixty paintings sold in five days… So the lesson we
have learned is that there is undeniable enthusiasm for
our profession. This encourages us to continue along
the same path, to show what we like and what we do
best. Our real aim today is to promote our trade. There
are many generic exhibitions around, where antique
and contemporary art are mixed. Paris Tableau, which
is solely devoted to Old Masters, fills a gap.
What's new in the 2012 vintage?
We haven't planned any revolutions, as the results for
2011 were positive, so we'll carry on in the same way.
This year, Paris Tableau will have twenty-one exhibitors
– ten organisers, hosting eleven foreign galleries, and
two frame dealers: Montanari (Paris), who is presenting
a collection of old models from the 16th to the 20th
century, and Enrico Ceci (Formigine), who has also
specialised in the same period since 1985. In addition,
we want to put the spotlight on the Mobilier National
in the person of Arnaud Brejon de Lavergnée, the exhibition
curator and the former director of the Mobilier
National collections.
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Last year, ten French galleries invited ten foreign
galleries. This time around, the French dealers are
hosting an eleventh gallery…
Even if the Bourse is the perfect setting for our show, it
cannot be extended infinitely, because we only have
1,500 m 2 available. We have reduced our stands so that
we can welcome a new dealer, but it would be difficult
to do much better! Paintings need a certain amount of
space to be seen properly: if we reduced our surface area
even more, it would be detrimental to the works on
show. This venue, which we really like, is unique, and is
beginning to get known because it also hosts the
drawing exhibition, the Salon du Dessin.
You have also announced the creation of a festival
of Old Master-based films. In your view, are there
enough works in the seventh art to feed this event,
year after year?
Yes, we think there are. Old Master paintings have
inspired a large number of film directors, and we are
spoilt for choice. Our aim is to reach out to an
audience who are not necessarily connoisseurs by
exploring the links between Old Masters and the
cinema. The entrance ticket to Paris Tableau will
provide admission to four film shows as well in the
Palais de la Bourse auditorium: Rembrandt, Nightwatching,
Bruegel, The Mill and the Cross and The Girl
with a Pearl Earring.
In 2011, a rich and educational presentation took
us to "the other side of the picture". This year you
are inviting the Mobilier National.
We are always seeking links between institutions,
because they often play a decisive role in our sales.