Eight years ago it was considered dead and buried, but FIAC (Foire Internationale d’Art Contemporain), France’s premier contemporary art fair in Paris, has since staged a dramatic revival, with some commentators claiming that its latest edition, which closed on Sunday, was even better than Frieze.
Now in its 38th year, FIAC was long regarded as a ’must attend’ fair for collectors of modern and contemporary art along with fairs in Basel and Cologne. But following the recession of 1991, it became largely dependent on French exhibitors and French artists, and experienced a slump in the international ratings. The Frieze Art Fair, which began in 2003, was timed to run bang in between the autumnal fairs in Cologne and Paris, and was a direct challenge to both. But while Cologne succumbed, changing shape and shifting dates, FIAC hung on in there to meet the challenge.
Although the two are essentially different in that FIAC combines early 20th century modern art with the contemporary, and Frieze is exclusively focussed on the latter, FIAC needed a more international contemporary edge, so a battle for key exhibitors ensued.
The most important change came in 2006 when FIAC moved from a convention centre on the outskirts of Paris to the imposing splendour of the Grand Palais, with a courtyard at the Louvre for the younger galleries. Outdoor sculptures were placed in the Tuileries Gardens, satellite art fairs sprung up, and private collectors and museums mounted special exhibitions to make FIAC a special cultural event.
Within the fair, a process of internationalising the exhibitor list began to the point where French gallery representation has been reduced from 70 per cent in 2003, to 31 per cent this year. Major names to have joined the fair recently are New York’s Barbara Gladstone, which ceased exhibiting at Frieze after it opened a gallery in Brussels, and Gagosian, which opened a gallery in Paris last year, but still does both fairs. About a dozen other galleries have opted for Paris over London in the last four years, but rather than a drift, it’s been more of a game of musical chairs as galleries leave and then return to FIAC, as they did this year.
