Thirty-five works drawn from the collection of the State Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg are due to go on show at the 28th edition of the Biennale des Antiquaires this autumn at Paris’s Grand Palais (10-18 September). The special, non-selling exhibition will include objects such as vases, clocks and candelabra in porcelain, silver and bronze dating from the 18th century. A portrait of Louis XV made by the Sèvres porcelain factory in 1761 is among the works.
The move marks the first year the historic jewellery, art and antiques fair—which launched in 1962 as a biennial event—is held annually. Last summer, members of the Syndicat National des Antiquaires (SNA), the French association of antiques dealers that runs the fair, voted to make the Biennale a yearly event.
A total of 121 galleries from 13 countries will participate in the Biennale this September, with 78 dealers from France and 14 galleries from the UK. Another exhibition will include furniture and textiles drawn from Le Mobilier National, France’s national furniture collection, based in Paris.
Henri Loyrette, the former president of the Louvre, will be at the helm as fair chairman. The Old Master Fair, Paris Tableau, was folded into the Biennale des Antiquaires last autumn.