8 Must-Visit Independent Art Galleries in Paris

Fondation Cartier

Building, Museum

Better known as Fondation Cartier, this contemporary art museum celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2014, marking the Cartier firm’s departure from jewelry into the arts. For the past 20 years, this space has been based in Paris’s 14th arondissement, housed in a light-flooded glass building designed by Pritzker Prize architect Jean Nouvel. Typically lamented for its distance from the city center, the idyllic woodland garden surrounding the venue is an added delight. The permanent collection bolsters the thread of artistic debuts, while innovations include the hugely popular ‘Nomadic Nights’, which focus on the performing arts, enabling a discourse between different creative genres and themes.

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Modus Art Gallery

Art Gallery

Set in the oldest planned square in Paris, Place de Vosges, this often-overlooked gallery describes its vision as a reference point for both contemporary and modern art in the Marais district. It would, however, be valid to say that their influence should be felt further afield. The collections at Modus are singular and unique, showcasing a range of styles, media, and talents. This eclecticism is driven by the gallery’s notable presence at global art fairs, inspired by France’s long artistic legacy.

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La Maréchalerie

Building

For anyone in need of an escape from the clamor of central Paris, La Maréchalerie in Versailles is easily accessible by mainline train services and bus. Part tourist attraction, part religious icon, the building was formerly a passageway – the two ends of which overlook the castle and town, respectively, through striking bay windows. The gallery prioritizes artists whose work is dedicated to and inspired by ways of diverting or reconfiguring circumstantial urban constraints. On the gallery’s tenth anniversary in March of 2014, a time capsule insight into the formative decade of the gallery was exhibited for a celebratory retrospective.

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Galerie Xippas

Art Gallery

Located in the vibrant Marais area of the city, Xippas is something of an artistic powerhouse. With showrooms and galleries from Greece, Switzerland, Uruguay, as well as France, there is a confidence in their aim to be an international platform for contemporary art works. Founded by Renos Xippas in 1990, this gallery is one of the largest of its kind, dedicated to exhibiting the works of both new and established contemporary artists. The venue’s interior is a sight to behold in and of itself, with custom-made features such as a transparent staircase and a ghost wall designed by Barthélémy and Grino.

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Yvon Lambert

Art Gallery

A relative veteran of the Parisian contemporary art scene, Yvon Lambert has nurtured its vision to showcase pioneering artists of Conceptualism such as Lawrence Weiner, Minimalism (notably, Carl André), and land art since its opening in 1966. The gallery’s pivotal aims to present artistic projects which are ambitious, innovative, and intense, resonate in their diverse program of shows. Their library is the perfect place to pick up an art publication that will keep the memory of Yvon Lambert long after you return home.

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Laurent Godin

Art Gallery

Tucked away by the Centre Pompidou, Galerie Laurent Godin sits on Rue de Grenier Saint-Lazare. With only three rooms, the exhibition space is undeniably compact – but each show is allowed to breathe, with a surprising fluidity between the rooms and space to wander with knowledgeable staff on hand to talk you through the nature of the work. Although the gallery platform is dominated by two-dimensional art forms, it champions contemporary artists with wide-reaching horizons, including sculptors and plasticiens. For those who enjoy art that tells a story, Laurent Godin’s exhibitions are unlikely to disappoint.

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Millésime Gallery

Art Gallery

A local favorite, this wonderful space is nestled beneath the laced steelwork of the Eiffel Tower. Millésime Gallery seeks out the best new French talent, and prides itself on being several artists’ stepping-stones to global success. A particular highlight of this pocket-sized tour-de-force is its affiliated photo-framing workshop, Cadre Art. Drop by at the end of a rainy day and the manager, Juliette Murcia, may just offer you a preview of unframed artworks.

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Bugada & Cargnel

Art Gallery

Formerly known as Cosmic Galerie, Bugada & Cargnel is certainly one to watch – the gallery has become the hub of burgeoning artistic life in the Belleville region of Paris. The stunning showroom offers a dramatic atmosphere of discovery, occupying 500 square meters in a former industrial garage dating from the early 1930s. Artists represented by the gallery are a mix of emerging and well-known presences such as Parisian multimedia artist Cyprien Gaillard and Mat Collishaw, a Young British Artist whose work has explored the realms of photography and video.

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