Montmartre Galerie - Rated 4,5

La Galerie Montmartre accueille et promeut des artistes contemporains à la vision singulière et les confronte aux grands maîtres de l'art.

Galerie Montmartre welcomes and promotes contemporary artists with a singular vision and confronts them with the great masters of art.

While the Galerie Montmartre is certainly the most visited art gallery in the district, it's also perhaps one of the least-known by Montmartre residents. And that's the paradox of Place du Tertre, with many still convinced that only cheap, ugly fakes can be found up there. At Galerie Montmartre, this is far from being the case, as since 2004, the venue has been exhibiting a number of renowned contemporary artists, thanks to a team determined to carve out a place for itself among the greats of the art market.

Founded in 2004 by the Dalì Paris team, it wasn't until 2016 that Alex Doppia, its director, breathed new life into the gallery. He is also known as curator and dealer of contemporary art. In October 2020, Alex Doppia's son Eliott joined the gallery, after studying at Sciences Po and then business school. It was during the confinement that he became close to his gallerist father, and after a first internship at Place du Tertre, Alex decided to entrust him with the keys.

A breath of fresh air directly inspired by the district's history, "because Montmartre is expected to be something of a symbol of artistic Paris, and some people saw us as perpetuating a certain very nineteenth-century art, so we had to fit in without being shocking, while at the same time bringing a certain modernity". Just as the neighborhood has always been a crossroads for artists from all over the world, today the gallery welcomes both established and emerging artists from the four corners of the globe. Sculptures by Bosnian artist Mirsad Herenda stand alongside those by French artists Michel Bassompierre and Bénédicte Dubart, amidst paintings by Yemeni artist Nasser Al-Aswadi, English artist Bruce Clarke and Italian artist Silvio Porzionato; not forgetting, of course, the presence of the master Salvador Dalì.

Thanks to its location, it attracts up to 450 visitors a day; tourists who, without any judgment whatsoever, don't always know the difference between a work costing several thousand euros and a poor-quality reproduction. Yet this is a real boon for them, who can visit the gallery as if it were a museum. But it's also very complex, because among them are sometimes also buyers. That's why Eliott pays particular attention to the reception area, and sometimes has to use a great deal of diplomacy to explain that here, as in a museum, you don't come in and eat an ice cream, for example; "it's essential that the gallery remains open to all, but also that people can discover it in good conditions."

Galerie Montmartre regularly organizes temporary exhibitions devoted to particular themes or techniques. So, after the Face to Face between Gil Bruvel and Silvio Porzionato in April, or the more recent spotlight on young artist SKIMA, Patrick Rubinstein will be in the spotlight this autumn. If you're passing through the Place du Tertre, don't miss the Galerie Montmartre; its frontage is red, and it's well worth a visit, even (and especially) if you're from Montmartre.