The highly renowned Salon Art Paris, which takes place from April 4 to 7 at the ephemeral Grand Palais, is not exclusively devoted to contemporary creations. The modern art section, offering artists from the 20th century, represents 20% of the works on display. Among them, paintings and drawings by European artists from the 1950s-1970s linked to abstraction are increasingly numerous. Barely fifteen years ago, these painters were of little interest. Their works rarely appeared on the market and were traded at low prices. It is quite different today.
This comeback can be explained by the rehabilitation undertaken by gallery owners who, in major fairs such as Art Basel or Fiac Paris, demonstrated the importance of abstraction in the history of modern art. This is the case of Franck Prazan who brought an artist like Georges Mathieu back to the forefront by devoting, in 2014, his entire Fiac stand to 16 large canvases by the artist. Since then, his popularity has continued to rise to the point that one of his paintings, a very large format measuring four meters in length, recently sold for 1.9 million euros. But we are still far from the records established by American abstract artists like Mark Rothko or Barnett Newman whose sales sometimes exceed 50 million euros.
From 4,000 euros for a work on paper
Nothing like this for artists from the Old Continent. Although prices continue to rise, it is still possible to buy cheaply. This relative moderation will not last because demand is high. This is therefore an opportune time to invest. Some artists like Hans Hartung, Zao Wou-Ki, Serge Poliakoff or Georges Mathieu are already very expensive: you need to count on several hundred thousand euros for their paintings, even if you can still buy beautiful works on paper between 10,000 and 100,000 euros.
Other artists are more accessible, works on paper trading between 4,000 and 50,000 euros, oils on canvas trading between 10,000 euros and 200,000 euros for the most popular artists. You will have the choice because the list is long. Let us cite, among other painters, Hans Arp, Jean-Michel Atlan, Jean Bazaine, Olivier Debré, Jean Degottex, Jean Dewasne, Maurice Estève, Oscar Gauthier, Jacques Germain, Auguste Herbin, André Lanskoy, Alfred Manessier, André Marfaing, Jean Miotte, Gérard Schneider, Gustave Singier, Bram van Velde, Maria Helena Vieira da Silva… Among all these names, you will inevitably find what you are looking for.