Andrea Hazen’s Paris City Guide
Welcome to APAA’s series celebrating the intersection of travel and art around the world. This collection spotlights insider perspectives from our global membership, as we invite members to share personal guides to their cities—highlighting favorite restaurants, bars, things to do, and, most importantly, local art.
Just in time for Art Basel Paris, APAA advisor Andrea Hazen shares her insider City Guide—from the most talked-about exhibitions to can’t-miss museum shows and the restaurants everyone’s trying to book.
Exhibitions
In tandem with Richter’s major retrospective at the Fondation Louis Vuitton, David Zwirner will present a selection of new works on paper alongside several significant bodies of painted work by the artist from the 1990s to the 2010s, including photo paintings, Abstrakte Bilder (Abstract Paintings), and reflective glass installations.
During Art Basel Paris, Marian Goodman will show an exhibition of work by Californian artist Paul Sietsema. The artist borrows imagery from the visual arts and found objects, using this as a starting point to create unique compositions.
Andréhn-Schiptjenko will be exhibiting German artist Cornelia Baltes’ work at their Paris gallery opening in October, marking the artist’s first solo show in the city. Baltes’ paintings oscillate between abstraction and figuration. Her use of bright, seductive color combinations and minimal compositions balances play and meticulous detail.
In October, Mennour will present exhibitions of the important Korean painter and sculptor Lee Ufan’s work across two of its galleries. Known for his minimalist and meditative approach, Ufan’s practice is characterized by a deep engagement with the relationship between materials, space, and perception, reflecting his philosophical inquiries rooted in Eastern aesthetics and phenomenology.
A show of new work from Karyn Lyons will open at STEMS during the week of Art Basel Paris. Lyons’ paintings intertwine fantasy with autobiography to capture moments of solitude that highlight the mystery and longing of adolescence.
Jeffrey Gibson’s highly anticipated inaugural solo exhibition in France and his first show with Hauser & Wirth opens this month. The show will highlight the breadth of Gibson’s practice with three new groups of paintings as well as new examples of his series of punching bags, hanging cloaks, and beaded paintings, alongside a new body of free-standing ceramic head sculptures. The exhibition title, This is dedicated to the one I love, serves as both a call for empathy and a meditation on how we act and create in times of crisis, which is fitting to these uncertain times we are living through.
Museums
A landmark retrospective of Gerhard Richter’s work will open in October at the Fondation Louis Vuitton, curated by Dieter Schwarz and Nicholas Serota. The exhibition will be unmatched in scale and scope, including 270 works stretching from 1962 to 2024— offering a comprehensive view of over six decades of Gerhard Richter’s work. This retrospective of Richter’s work is exciting news for those who missed his ill-timed show that opened in NYC just as Covid was hitting.
Sargent and Paris opened at the Musée d'Orsay in September. This exhibition, which was recently on view at The Met in NYC, explores Sargent’s early career, from his arrival in Paris in 1874 as an 18-year-old art student through the mid-1880s, when his infamous portrait Madame X was a scandalous success at the Paris Salon.
Opening in October, the Musée National Picasso-Paris will present an exhibition conceived around Guston's drawings inspired by Philip Roth's book Our Gang, curated by Didier Ottinger and Joanne Snrech. The exhibition will highlight the links between Guston's painting and the satirical, caricatural verve of his drawings inspired by President Nixon and his administration. Alongside this show, the museum will present an exhibition of seventy drawings and fanzines by Raymond Pettibon on the lower level, curated by Sébastien Delot.
Le fil voyageur [A Traveling Thread] at Musée du quai Branly - Jacques Chirac explores sixty years of friendship between the artist and Monique Lévi-Strauss, historian of textile arts. The exhibition places a range of Hicks’s works in dialogue with pieces by Latin American artists from the museum’s collection, selected by the artist. In this show, Hicks’ works take on new depth through encounters with the Andean textile lexicon of pompoms, ikats, tapestries, and looms from the museum’s collections.
Opening in October, the Bourse de Commerce is host to a major exhibition dedicated to Minimalist art, including masterpieces from the Pinault Collection alongside loans from prestigious collections, including the Dia Foundation. Organized in seven themes, Light, Mono-ha, Balance, Surface, Grid, Monochrome, and Materialism, bringing together these diverse yet interconnected global artistic movements.
After Delacroix places work by Nate Lowman in dialogue with Eugene Delacoix, the Romantic master, breathing new life into his work and treating history itself as a material to be worked with. Central to the exhibition is an oil painting by Lowman that reimagines Delacroix’s palette as both a material archive and a record of artistic agency. Also included are light sculptures assembled from hand-printed t-shirts, paint cans, and other studio materials.
Restaurants & Bars
Le Grand Café Paris, designed by Joseph Dirand, is an exquisite new restaurant located inside the newly restored Grand Palais. It is a truly iconic spot to enjoy a meal or a drink in Paris year-round.
On the same street as famed artist and literati rendezvous cafes Les Deux Magots and Café de Flore, this Art Nouveau cocktail bar was named after the nephew of Oscar Wilde, Arthur Cravan. Embracing Cravan’s duality as both a poet and a boxer, the establishment offers coffee during the daytime and an elegant cocktail menu in the evening.
Located in the Marais, directly across from the Île Saint-Louis, Chez Julien is a cozy, quintessential French bistro with an old-school interior (founded in 1780!) that was revamped by the Costes brothers.
Due to limited space and popularity it can be difficult to snag a table at Parcelles, but, if you manage to secure one, it’s a wonderful restaurant. The sophisticated but casual bistrot a vins is perfectly situated amongst a trove of galleries and little shops in the heart of the Marais.
Perched on the Seine, directly facing the Louvre, Le Voltaire is a classic Parisian brasserie, elegant and romantic, complete with wood-paneled interiors. The restaurant also boasts a special piece of history. Writer and philosopher François-Marie Arouet once lived in the building—his pen name? Voltaire.
Local Recommendations
Cult-favorite, lifestyle “superstore,” Merci sells everything from chic, hip clothing, shoes, jewelry, and housewares to children’s toys and books. They rotate temporary themed exhibitions and curated collections that are integrated into the store's general offerings. It is a can’t miss stop for art and design lovers while in Paris.
Le Bon Marché is the oldest department store in Paris; celebrated for its selection of top designers as it is for its beautiful design and layout. Le Bon Marché was founded with an emphasis on art and design, including its own art collection and acting as a space for artistic events and major installations. Be sure to pass through La Grande Épicerie, a 31,000-square-foot food hall housed in an adjoining building, where you can bring lots of delicious goodies back to the US.
Blanche Patine in the Marais is a very special and unique spot in Paris. It’s an appointment-only specialty Terre de Fer showroom, that showcases hand-picked antique dinnerware. I visited for the first time last winter and was absolutely enchanted and walked away with many treasures.
Further Afield
The general public isn’t aware that Auguste Rodin’s home and studio can be visited in the nearby suburb of Meudon. It’s a hidden gem which includes Villa des Brillants, Rodin’s home for the last 20 years of his life, the artist’s studio which displays many prototypes and sculptures, and even his tomb, which is overlooked by his masterpiece, The Thinker.
