A More Focused Biennale

This year’s edition of France’s Biennale des Antiquaires has a noticably streamlined feel to it, and the upgrade is no accident. Christian Deydier, president of the Syndicat National des Antiquaires which puts on the Biennale, has spent the last two years correcting what he saw as the fair’s descent into the ordinary. This year, the high-end jewellers who had previously been able to exhibit alongside more serious art and antiquities dealers have been effectively banished to a dank corner, and dealers who were perceived to be offering less than excellent works for sale were disinvited. The result is a decidedly more upscale art fair.