This event was part of On Drawings 2024 programming

Lecture by Hervé Aaron, president of Didier Aaron and honorary (former) president of the Salon du Dessin, and Louis de Bayser, president of the Salon du Dessin and FAB Paris

Since its first iteration in 1991, the Salon du Dessin made an important intervention into the French art world and contributed to an increasingly energetic interest in drawings in particular. The international fair now brings collectors, specialists, curators, scholars and connoisseurs from all over the world. This lecture will offer an overview of the history art market in France for old master and modern drawings and insights into the contributions of the Salon du Dessin among other trends.

Born in Paris in 1972, Louis de Bayser hails from a dynasty of world-renowned art dealers. Shortly after completing his business studies, he set off to become an Old Master Drawing expert following the footsteps of his ancestors. In 1998, together with three of his brothers (he is one of eleven children), he took over the prestigious Galerie de Bayser which had been run by his parents, Bruno & Thérèse de Bayser since the 1960s. The Parisian gallery was originally created in 1936 by Louis’ grandparents, Patrick and Rose-Anne de Bayser.

Appointed President of the Salon du Dessin in 2014, Louis de Bayser was instrumental in the creation of Fine Arts Paris in 2017 and became the fair’s president the same year. Over the past years, he has played a major role in ensuring the rapid growth of these two Paris fairs and expanding their international reputation. Following the fusion of Fine Arts Paris with La Biennale in February 2022, he was chosen as President of the new fair, Fine Arts Paris & La Biennale, renamed FAB Paris in 2023.

Hervé Aaron is the New York-based president of the Didier Aaron gallery, founded in 1923 and specializing in the sale of paintings, drawings and sculptures from the 17th to the 19th centuries, with offices in Paris and New York. He represents the third generation of this family of art dealers. Involved in promoting France abroad with the Comité Colbert and the French art market, he was one of the founding members of the Salon du Dessin in 1991, which he chaired for 17 years, and was president of the Syndicat National des Antiquaires from 2008 to 2010, in charge of organizing the Biennale des Antiquaires’.

This event was presented in partnership with and sponsored by the Salon du Dessin.

Image: Salon du Dessin 2024, Exterior view of the Palais Brongniart, Place de la Bourse, Paris. Photo © Tanguy de Montesson