Art Paris is back with a bang at the Grand Palais

From 3 to 6 April 2025, Art Paris, the leading spring event for modern and contemporary art, is back with a bang at the Grand Palais, whose entirely renovated nave and balcony spaces will allow the fair to host 170 exhibitors from 25 different countries (34 more than in 2024). At this edition, the fair’s events programme will be even more ambitious with new themes, exhibitions, prizes and panel discussions. The Art Paris VIP programme, a regular feature, provides a choice of 31 exhibition visits and tours reserved exclusively for guest collectors and art professionals, highlighting the effervescent Parisian cultural scene.

The 2025 selection embodies the unique identity of Art Paris, a fair that is both regional and cosmopolitan and, as ever, a place of artistic discovery: 60% of the exhibitors are from France with 40% of international galleries.

The 2025 edition will be exploring two themes.

Immortal : A Focus on Figurative Painting in France by Amélie Adamo and Numa Hambursin

Writer and independent curator Amélie Adamo and Numa Hambursin, general director of MO.CO. (Montpellier Contemporain), will be pursuing their commitment to the French figurative scene at Art Paris 2025, having previously co-curated Immortal, an ambitious and groundbreaking panorama of young French figurative painting in 2023. Working from a selection of thirty artists chosen from the exhibiting galleries, the guest curator duo will present a new analysis that will take into account the historical context and compare artists from different generations.

A catalogue presenting the work of each selected artist will be produced and a cycle of 4 panel discussions at the Grand Palais on 5 April and 6 April will further develop on the theme.

Out of bounds by Simon Lamunière

For Out of Bounds, independent exhibition curator Simon Lamunière has selected 18 international artists from among the exhibiting galleries. He will be exploring contemporary creation as seen through the prism of multiethnicity and the hybridisation of forms and cultures, while addressing questions such as origins, gender, kinship, history and geography. His reflections will give rise to a themed visit and a catalogue presenting the work of each selected artist.

A strong 2025 edition featuring new themes, exhibitions and prizes.

Promises : an all-new and larger-than-before sector focussing on young galleries and emerging artists

New for 2025, the Promises sector, curated by independent exhibition curator Marc Donnadieu, will be taking up residence on the southern balconies around the central nave at the Grand Palais. The space will play host to twenty-five galleries created less than ten years ago, 17 are first-time exhibitors at Art Paris and 59% hail from other countries: South Africa, Belgian, Canada, China, Kuwait, Italy, Japan, Hong Kong, Guatemala, Singapore and Slovakia.

Solo Show: 26 monographic exhibitions

Dotted around the main part of the fair and the young gallery sector, Promises, 26 monographic exhibitions allow visitors to discover or rediscover in depth the work of modern, contemporary and emerging artists.

French Design Art Edition: a new sector devoted to design and the contemporary decorative arts

Art Paris is an inclusive art fair that is open to all mediums. In 2025 – a year that marks the centenary of the International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts - it is launching the French Design Art Edition. This new feature focussing on design and the contemporary decorative arts, imagined in partnership with le FRENCH DESIGN directors Jean-Paul Bath and Sandy Saad, will be located on the balconies on the north side of the Grand Palais nave. The exhibition space designed by architects Jakob+MacFarlane will host eighteen exhibitors (interior designers, designers, design companies and galleries specialising in design) with creations by designers and examples of contemporary interior design, both one-off pieces and limited series. To complete this ensemble, a 130 m² group show will explore the fertile mutual inspirations between the worlds of art and design, as well as the relationship between contemporary creation and traditional artisanship and the objects created therewith.

Exhibition: Le Fonds d’art contemporain - Paris Collections

Curated by: Julie Gandini, head curator Fonds d’art contemporain – Paris Collections

This year, for the first time, Paris Municipality will be an Art Paris partner and will be presenting the Fonds d’art contemporain - Paris Collections at the fair. The only public collection on display amongst the exhibiting galleries, the City of Paris’s collection is made up of almost 23,500 works from the end of the 19^th century to the present day. Every year, new works are added to the collection as part of the municipality’s actions in support of arts professionals.

Exhibition: NEUMA, The Forgotten Ceremony. An installation by artists Sarah Brahim and Ugo Schiavi presented by Villa Hegra

Curated by: Wejdan Reda and Arnaud Morand

Saudi American artist Sarah Brahim and French artist Ugo Schiavi present the results of their collaborative project, NEUMA, The Forgotten Ceremony. This installation marks the culmination of their residency at Villa Hegra.

Exhibition: Le chuchotement des mains, as part of the Rencontres Équinoxes organised by leather goods company Camille Fournet

Le Chuchotement des mains, an exhibition presented at Art Paris in a design by artist Lucien Murat, evokes the hybrid zone in which contemporary creation meets the craft of expert artisans. It illustrates what happens when artists and artisans combine their energies with a selection of ten or so works by Yasmina Benabderrahmane, Fabrice Hyber, Ittah Yoda, Maude Maris, Lucien Murat, ORLAN, Recycle Group, Elsa Sahal.

The BNP Paribas Banque Privée Prize. A Focus on the French Scene

The BNP Paribas Banque Privée Prize. A Focus on the French Scene (with prize money totalling 40,000 euros) was jointly launched in 2024 by BNP Paribas Banque Privée and Art Paris as a means of supporting the French art scene. It rewards the career of a living artist (regardless of age) chosen from among those selected by guest curators Amélie Adamo et Numa Hambursin as part of Immortal: A Focus on Figurative Painting in France.

The Her Art Prize, a new prize for women artists launched by Marie Claire in partnership with Boucheron

Art Paris has joined forces with Marie Claire, a key magazine committed to defending the cause of women, to launch a prize for women artists in partnership with Boucheron. A prestigious jury will come together to choose a winner from amongst the women artists presented by the galleries exhibiting at the 2025 edition of the fair. The winner will be awarded the Her Art Prize and 30,000 euros in prize money, which will be presented by Boucheron during a special evening event at the Grand Palais on Saturday 5 April 2025. In addition, the winner will benefit from a domestic and international promotional campaign whose organisation has been placed in the capable hands of Marie Claire and Art Paris. This prize will reward both the career of a unique woman artist and a body of work that has pushed back the limits.

Art Paris: a sustainably designed art fair

Art Paris is a regional art fair that gives pride of place to proximity, drawing local visitors and favouring local transport solutions. Since 2022, the fair has undertaken to develop a sustainable approach to organising an art fair based on a life cycle analysis (LCA). This pioneering approach entrusted to Karbone Prod will be continued in 2025.

Paris: the world art capital this spring

Paris is in the midst of an exceptional period of cultural and artistic renaissance illustrated by the opening of new galleries and venues, the renovation of existing cultural institutions and the inauguration of new ones. The activities on offer as part of the VIP programme “In Paris during Art Paris”, devised in partnership with Parisian cultural institutions and reserved for collectors and art professionals, bear witness to the effervescent art scene in the City of Light this spring.

Making contemporary art accessible to all

Art Paris is dedicated to making contemporary art accessible to the widest audience, offering some 135 guided tours of the fair as well as a number of specific tools, in particular its elaborate yet eminently practical website which presents a virtual visit of the fair and filters allowing visitors to search for works by artist, price, geographical provenance and technique...