PARIS.- The art world will once again make its way to the Salon du Dessin at the Palais Brongniart in Paris from 22 – 27 March to take a fresh new look at the subject of drawing, a sometimes overlooked aspect of art.

The Salon, an international art fair is dedicated to every aspect of drawing and includes Old Master drawings. It is attended by the world’s leading specialists in works on paper and takes place from Wednesday 22 March to Monday 27 March, 2017. More than 1,000 drawings will be showcased in the prestigious Palais Brongniart. It has become a ‘must-attend’ event for art lovers.

Many of the best galleries from both Europe and further afield are represented provide wonderful discoveries for any art lover.

Events by the Salon du dessin during drawing week:

• Two museum exhibitions (40 works acquired over the last 10 years by the association Le Cabinet des Amateurs de Dessins de l’École des Beaux-Arts, and Girodet’s preparatory drawings for his famous “Scene of the Flood”)

• A scientific symposium with 12 experts (22 & 23 march)

• A contemporary design prize awarded by the Daniel and Florence Guerlain Foundation for Contemporary Art (23 march)

• Off-site events: during the Drawing Week, 20 major museums and foundations will offer the public a privileged look at their graphics collections.

An eagerly anticipated international event
The Salon du Dessin is a made-in-France success that is admired around the world. For an entire week, it brings together art lovers, collectors, novices and museum curators interested in drawings, whether Old Masters, modern or contemporary. During that week, the Salon du Dessin is the epicentre of Paris’s cultural scene, attracting an intellectual community delighted to share with the public its passion for knowledge and the excitement of discovery. An entrance ticket to the fair is an open sesame to a wealth of expertise for every visitor.

Events include:

Leading art fair: Held in the Palais Brongniart, the fair has 39 exhibitors, 40 percent of them from abroad, keeping it to a manageable size. New dealers, all of them experts in works on paper, are present each year, ensuring that the show is always fresh. This year China will be represented for the first time.

Special exhibitions: an exhibition will be held of 40 works acquired over the last 10 years by the association Le Cabinet des Amateurs de Dessins de l’École des Beaux-Arts. The École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, which will celebrate its bicentennial in 2017, owns one of the most important collections of drawings in France.

Charitable fundraising: the fair will raise funds for the Musée Girodet in Montargis, France, where hundreds of works were damaged by floods last May. Girodet’s preparatory drawings for his famous “Scene of the Flood” (Salon of 1806, Paris, Louvre Museum) will be on show at the fair. This painting, inspired by Michelangelo, helped Girodet outshine his master, David.

Scientific symposium: visitors are welcome to attend a two-day symposium, “From David to Delacroix II”, at which 12 experts (under the direction of Pierre Rosenberg and Louis-Antoine Prat) will speak. The texts of these proceedings, published every year, have become a reference in the field.

Contemporary design prize: this internationally recognised prize, awarded by the Daniel and Florence Guerlain Foundation for Contemporary Art during the fair, will be celebrating its 10th anniversary.

Children’s drawing contest: This competition is held in partnership with the magazine Le Petit Léonard. The drawings of the three winners in each category will be exhibited in the company of works by great masters.

Off-site events: For this year’s Semaine du Dessin (Drawing Week), 20 major museums and foundations will offer the public a privileged look at their collections. The Fontainebleau Museum will participate for the first time in 2017 with a masterly exhibition on Charles Percier, an outstanding draughtsman and renowned architect who worked on major projects for the Consulate and the First Empire. In another important event during the fair, the Domaine de Chantilly will open its new graphic arts section, set in five rooms with a period decor, which have never before been open to the public. The restored rooms boast an elegant museography. The first exhibition will be “Bellini, Michelangelo, Parmigianino: The Blossoming of the Renaissance”.