But what are the Norman gallery owners doing now? Éric Baudet, the soul of the gallery which bears his name at Haven, perpetuates the bond. The one who is attached to the figurative pictorial works of the beginning of the XXe century and sculptures from the 1930s to the present day continue to promote its place. He has been posting regular, noteworthy posts every day for over a month on his gallery’s Facebook page. “ I usually post a work at the end of the day – sculpture, ceramic, painting, drawing – from the interrupted exhibition, presents Éric Baudet. Then, I enrich a little more, always by posting works that are part of the stock belonging to the gallery or left in deposit by the painters with whom I am used to working, thus reflecting the panorama of the gallery. Beyond those who follow me, these works can arouse interest and sharing. I thus widen the circle of dissemination of works. “
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The limits of digital
Fiona Hamon, who took up the father’s torch in Le Havre, developed, in addition to her art gallery activity, a sale of painting supplies and hand framing. “ I set up a drive system for customers wishing to maintain a painting activity, with an appointment at the store. I also make many deliveries myself to my Le Havre customers who send me their orders, details the gallery owner. The artists prefer to come to the gallery, needing more stock. I then give them a precise schedule, 20 minutes apart between each new entry, they apply hydroalcoholic gel and we maintain the safety distances. “
AT Honfleur, Danièle Bourdette-Gorzkowski was surprised in this very special year for her and her gallery, synonymous with four decades of existence. “ I had planned a whole series of festive exhibitions, the first of which was to be inaugurated on March 28, laments the mistress of the place. The exhibition is still presented at the gallery, with early artists such as Yvonne Guégan, Annick Leroy and Valérie Courtet. Despite the closure, I wanted to present it in full so that I could film it and make videos sent by email to our customers. We have also split it up on social media to keep in touch with our collectors and better serve the artists. “
If digital is an alternative, it obviously has its limits. Stéphanie Guyot-Révérend opened the White Gallery in Giverny in 2013. It exhibits, from April to October, mainly figurative painters, neo-impressionists, ceramists and jewelry designers. Its seasonal space is dependent on the tourist clientele drained by the Claude Monet Foundation. “ I am adding an online sales functionality to my website, the only solution to continue to make the gallery exist, even if I am quite puzzled, the Giverny galleries being very directly dependent on tourism, nuances the gallery owner. When we have the opportunity to reopen, the extra European borders will not be. However, my clientele is mainly American as other galleries here have a mainly Chinese clientele. The year is therefore already lost. “
Same extremely quiet operation at Galerie Rollin, who has exhibited for sixty years Rouen contemporary figurative painters such as Authouart, Ronel, Desvaux, sculptors (Claudine Loquen and Dominique Vervisch), as well as ceramists. “ Our windows display some works and our website has remained open, both for artists and for our coaching activity. We recorded eight sales, to be finalized during the reopening. Our exhibition devoted to Pierre Godet had to be interrupted, the following are in the pipeline. We do not know if our Parisian clientele will then be able to come to us. But, we must move forward. “
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And during this time, the artists …
Contrary to what you might think, that’s not why I work much more. I am a real sponge and I absorb what can happen without a negative. It tends to block me. I had started a series on the krakens, the leviathans, but I cannot continue it because I am not in the process of painting. He posts a lot of photos of garden safaris, houses, bestiaries on his Instagram account and ultimately works differently.
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Admittedly, the galleries do not know when they will reopen and the exhibitions are all postponed or even canceled. Even if they contribute like us to the Maison des artistes, since the galleries are not part of the public culture circuit, they do not receive any help. Artists are considered to be self-employed: the aid they can benefit from is calculated on the basis of income from the previous year. ”
Our status is misunderstood. No doubt it will be necessary to invent new channels for the dissemination of our art, in addition to the galleries that make us live … ”
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From an artistic point of view, confinement still imprints its imprint. David Karsenty is “confined” all year round in his workshop where he works alone. ”
But on the inspiration side, there are peaks, ups and downs. It’s not always easy to talk about art right now : as an artist, father, my work schedule is different, my two children are at home and we have to provide lessons, my wife is a trader, so we have to deal with … ”
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