We’re 30! This year, the gallery is 30 years old.
And all’s well.
We are one of France’s leading galleries and are quite a substantial player in the global market.
Before following in my father’s footsteps at the gallery, I successfully oversaw the setting-up of Christie’s French auction house.
I formerly sat on the boards of FIAC and TEFAF and am now a member of the selection committee for Art Basel.
I sometimes find myself taking a stand to defend what I believe to be the interests of my profession.
I have broadened Applicat’s marketing strategy to include horses. I may not have actually done it myself, but I am a French Dressage Champion by proxy, and my mare Fiadora is poised to take part in the World Dressage Championships.
Last but not least, we are in the process of mounting our most ambitious exhibition yet, which is scheduled to open in October.
All’s well!
But in doing all this, what have I really achieved over the last 30 years?
I fear I may have reached the point of no return on my path from Ionesco to Houellebecq, and that bothers me.
What has become of my roots? There is probably still some life in them, but I cannot be sure.
Yet I have acquired at least one conviction, from rubbing shoulders with the genuine talent of great artists. There can be no oeuvre without a masterpiece, no trace without posterity.
I myself do not possess artistic talent, but I am still driven by the fire that glows beneath the ash-strewn hearth of redundancies and endless beginnings again. A light has touched my soul and it has flared up again, offering me a glimpse of the next 30 years and allowing me to view them resolutely.
Franck Prazan