Clément Delépine, former director of Art Basel Paris and soon-to-be director of Lafayette Anticipations. Courtesy of Art Basel

When Art Basel Paris opened last year inside the newly restored Grand Palais, the enthusiasm was palpable. The ground floor quickly filled with high-level collectors and professionals from around the globe, fueling brisk sales, buoyant energy and nonstop negotiations from the moment the doors opened. Yet staging the fair in the iconic venue in the heart of the French capital did not come without challenges. Some dealers lamented that its labyrinthine architecture overshadowed younger exhibitors, burying them in upstairs sections and dead-end clusters in an architectural spectacle riddled with navigational headaches and interruptions. The layout has been described as “cinematic but incoherent” and lacking the intuitive flow needed to guide visitors through the fair’s full offering. Certain booths felt swallowed by scale or stranded in under-trafficked corners, depending on how well (or poorly) the building’s rhythms aligned with the fair’s internal logic.

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As the French fair prepares to return this October with 203 exhibitors from 40 countries and territories, including 25 newcomers, Observer spoke with director Clément Delépine about how the fair intends to respond to and harness the grandeur of its venue while continuing to grow in quality, curatorial focus and dialogue with Paris’s vibrant art scene.

Delépine ambitiously describes the Paris edition as a laboratory for new ideas. “I would like to think of it as a lab of sorts. We’re testing new ideas here. For the first two years, it’s been rather experimental,” he said. “We have the opportunity to test new formats and collaborations between industries.”

Our conversation with Delépine took place a month ago, before last week’s announcement of his departure to helm one of the city’s most experimental art venues, Lafayette Anticipations, starting on November 17, immediately after the conclusion of this edition of Art Basel. “Leading Art Basel Paris has been a privilege, and I want to express my heartfelt gratitude to Noah Horowitz, Vincenzo de Bellis and the Art Basel teams for their trust and support,” Delépine told Observer, describing his move to Lafayette Anticipations and succession of Rebecca Lamarche-Vadel as “an extraordinary opportunity.” “I feel a deep attachment to this institution and am honored by the trust placed in me by Guillaume Houzé. I look forward to further strengthening its unique position on the French and international art scene.”

The decision does not come as a surprise. During our exchange, it was clear that curatorial vision and cultural quality had always been central to Delépine’s leadership, as he saw the fair first as a platform for contemporary creation, before and above any market consideration.

Delépine sees Art Basel Paris as a commercial platform that aspires to present modern and contemporary art of the highest caliber while also generating discourse around both culture and the art market. On a practical level, the fair differs from other events in the brand’s portfolio because it remains fundamentally French: 62 of the 203 exhibitors—nearly a third—are either French or operate spaces in the country. “That’s more than just a gesture; it reflects a real commitment, one that was promised to the city of Paris and the Ministry of Culture. It’s part of the fair’s founding ethos to anchor the event firmly within the Parisian cultural landscape,” Delépine said. “The goal is to create an event that speaks not only to VIPs and art world professionals, but also to Parisians themselves—something they can embrace and make their own.”

The public component has always been central to the Paris edition of Art Basel, which seeks to echo and amplify the city’s unrivaled role as a global nexus of the artistic, intellectual and creative avant-garde. Local galleries and cultural institutions align some of their strongest exhibitions with the fair, creating a robust public program organized in collaboration with leading institutions. Free and open to all, the program unfolds across several of Paris’s storied venues,........

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