The pandemic has also hit galleries and artists in France.

However, the crisis has not stopped the dynamic development of Paris as an art city: only recently the Art Basel art fair pushed the most important art fair FIAC out of the market place with a new offshoot called "Paris+".

Art Paris, the spring fair for contemporary art and post-war modernism, which is positioning itself as a more regional counterpart with less high-flying prices, is also benefiting from this élan.

In addition, thanks to the skilful leadership of Guillaume Piens, she has managed to emerge stronger from the pandemic.

Due to the messed up trade fair calendar, the last edition took place last September and was able to inaugurate the Grand Palais Éphémère.

Despite the proximity to the big autumn fair in October, some powerful international galleries - Perrotin, Lelong & Co, Massimo de Carlo, Kamel Mennour or Galleria Continua - suddenly backed Art Paris and took part for the first time.

They have returned to the current 24th edition after a record number of almost 73,000 visitors, with other well-known galleries in tow, such as Max Hetzler, Xippas, Pietro Spartà or Brame & Lorenceau.

French galleries, whose program previously seemed less compatible with Art Paris, such as gb agency, Christophe Gaillard or Catherine Issert, are also there this time.

Guillaume Piens lets know

With 130 exhibitors, the focus – a good 60 percent – ​​is on French galleries.

Kamel Mennour (Paris, London) is showing paintings and sculptures by artist Camille Henrot, who has been featured in international exhibitions in recent years.

Her surreal, symbolic sculpture "Y Woman" in violet, pink and green shimmering bronze costs 90,000 euros.

The German painter Raphaela Simon has recently become interested in the sculptural work on the figure – with humor.

She creates rag dolls and lets the outfit create weird types.

At Max Hetzler (Berlin, Paris, London) you are greeted by a curious "model with a hat" in a man's shirt and frilly skirt (between 20,000 and 25,000 euros).

Art Paris is a fair for a broader public of collectors from France and the surrounding countries, there is hardly any conceptual art,

installations or oversized formats.

Claude Bernard (Paris) caused a sensation with a solo by the American textile artist Sheila Hicks (32,000 to 650,000 euros).

Catherine Issert (Saint-Paul-de-Vence) is showing paintings by Jean-Charles Blais, who paints on discarded posters and lets the background shimmer through: melancholy silhouettes that seem irresolute in front of an expanse (3,000 to 34,000 euros).

In the case of Fabienne Levy (Lausanne), the young German artist Alina Frieske stands out.

She works with photos from the Internet, which she digitally collages into new works (4,500 to 9,000 euros).

The photographic prints look like paintings.

The Chinese artist Du Zhenjun, who is represented by the Frankfurt gallery Red Zone, takes a similar approach.

His pictures are reminiscent of Hieronymus Bosch (a photograph from his Colosseum series: 12,500 euros).

This year, Art Paris focuses on the themes "Natural Stories" and "Art and Sustainability" in two sections, which are organized by art historian Alfred Pacquement and curator Alice Audouin.

The artist Gilles Aillaud, who died in 2005, repeatedly painted caged animals (at Loevenbruck, Paris, 100,000 to 300,000 euros).

Eva Jospin works with cardboard, from which she creates monumental forest reliefs.

Recently she has been creating sculptures with imaginary garden architecture (at Suzanne Tarasiève, Paris, 30,000 to 45,000 euros).

The work of Dove Allouche is subtle in another way. He creates pictorial objects mounted in sanded wooden frames, in which photographs of barely visible structures – spores, for example – are overlaid with hand-blown, gently iridescent glass (at gb agency, Paris, 19,800 euros).

The gallery Sono (Paris), which has only been in existence for nine months, has specialized in environmental issues.

It shows sculptures by Vincent Laval, which were created from nature and plant forms: chestnut fruit cups cast in bronze (500 euros each) or sculptures made from tree branches (from 6000 euros).

Art Paris, Grand Palais Éphémère, Paris, until April 10, admission 30 euros