Paris Dispatch / October 2026

Courtyard view, Design Miami Paris 2026
COURTESY: © Design Miami Paris / PHOTOGRAPH: © Ivan Erofeev

Design Miami Paris
PARIS ART WEEK took place during a tumultuous time. Following demonstrations about the high cost of living and deterioration of public services in several French cities the weekend before, further protests were still ongoing as Paris Art Week opened. This prompted the closure of Art Basel Paris on Friday 23rd October, cancelling the weekend, to avoid clashes at the Grand Palais. Despite the political unrest, a buoyant mood was palpable at the fourth edition of Design Miami Paris, held at L’hôtel de Maisons – once the residence of couturier Karl Lagerfeld – on the Left Bank. The fair ran its full length, with a total of 31 international galleries – from historical design to edgy contemporary – installed in the splendid two-storey building, as well as 20 separate presentations. 

Peter Schlesinger, vases, 2026
COURTESY: © The Artist & Salon 94 Design

“We were afraid that the American visitors wouldn’t come but they did,” the gallerist Maria Wettergen told The Design Edit, noting that the protests were on the right bank, with the left bank less impacted. Her eponymous gallery’s first-floor presentation in what is thought to have been Lagerfeld’s dressing room included Mathias Bengtsson’s sinuous ‘Membrane Chair’ (2026), awarded best contemporary work prize by the fair. The Danish designer invented a computer-aided design technique to plant a “digital seed” programmed to emulate natural growth.

Mathias Bengtsson, ‘Membrane Chair’, 2026
COURTESY: © The Artist & Galerie Maria Wettergren

Also on view were delicate mural pieces by Gjertrud Hals made from threads and wires and Dhruv Agarwal’s ‘Nest II (Ganga)’ (2025) a white velvet chair with striped lacquered arms and base. “The pieces really come alive in the natural daylight,” reflected Wettergren.

Installation view Galerie Maria Wettergren at Design Miami Paris with Mathias Bengtsson ‘Membrane Chair’, 2026 and mural pieces by Gjertrud Hals
COURTESY: © The Artist & Galerie Maria Wettergren

On the ground floor, in a splendid room with gilt-framed panels was Salon 94, which won best gallery presentation for blending Rick Owens’s ‘Double Bubble (Petite)’ (2026), a sofa with zebra-stripe gold finishing, with twentieth-century, bronze whimsical pieces by Diego Giacometti – such as an ostrich sculpture and a low table with a mouse creeping up the leg – and Peter Schlesinger’s swan-handle vases. It came together as a bold proposal infused with a love of the animal world. 

Installation view Salon 94 at Design Miami Paris with Rick Owens, ‘Double Bubble (Petite)’, 2026
COURTESY: © The Artists & Salon 94

Meanwhile, Side Gallery from Barcelona championed post-war Japanese design, juxtaposing furniture, lighting and ceramics created during Japan’s reconstruction era. Tendo Mokko’s three-seater sofa and armchairs on metal supports, with plywood framework wrapped around the sky blue upholstery, captured the experimental spirit of the 1960s. Several pieces were originally designed for hotels, such as Isamu Kenmochi’s cedar wood ‘Kashiwado’ armchair (1961) – carved using the uzukuri technique to accentuate the grain. 

Tendo Mokko, sofa and armchairs, circa 1960s
COURTESY: © The Artist & Side Gallery

Works from different eras blended at Galerie kreo, including an elegant white console in metal and wood with coloured glass drawers from 1988 by Garouste and Bonetti, Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby’s low side table, ‘Iris’ (2008), composed of aluminium components in tonal variations, and a new three-metre-high pink glass lamp that London-based trio JAM made at Cirva glass factory in Marseille. “This is the first time we’re showing JAM’s work, and we absolutely wanted to present something by them here,” said Clara Krzentowski about JAM, whose solo show, ‘Lampposts’, opened at the gallery’s Paris space on 30^th October (until 23^rd December).

Galerie kreo at Design Miami Paris 2026
COURTESY: © The Artists & Galerie kreo / PHOTOGRAPH: © Alexandra de

Hostler Burrows presented a duo of Gal Gaon’s new wooden furniture ‘Guyku’, resting on Louise Hederström’s ‘September’ carpet. “It was inspired by my childhood memory of a meadow in a forest,” said Hederström, who collaborated with the Swedish rug company Kasthall to achieve different tufting techniques. The stand’s peaceful atmosphere contrasted with the political situation in Paris. “I don’t see that the unrest has affected the fair, but the show must go on,” said New York dealer Juliet Burrows.

Gal Gaon, ‘Guyku’ collection
COURTESY: © The Artist & Hostler Burrows / PHOTOGRAPH: © Alain Potignon

Out in the garden, dealer Josh Fayer was upbeat but regretful about protests, saying: “I’m from New York so I’m used to people on the streets making a ruckus, but it’s a shame as this weekend will not be what it’s used to be.” He presented Leo Orta’s canopied marshmallow pink loveseat and pale yellow bench with hoof feet. “I wanted to make pieces reflecting on the folly of the garden for romance and quiet moments,” Orta remarked.

Leo Orta, ‘Whispers in the Garden’, 2026 COURTESY: © The Artist & Josh Fayer / PHOTOGRAPH: © Grégory Copitet

Nearby, Alex Turco presented a group of unique pieces, including a sculptural mirror with a lava-stone base and a sumptuous outdoor dining table made from Brazilian marble layered with epoxy resin. “It’s a tough moment; we received a lot of questions from collectors in the US and some of them cancelled their trip,” he reflected. Nonetheless, he was pleased to be exhibiting: “I’ve been in love with Design Miami for a long time because it and PAD are the only fairs presenting one-of-a-kind pieces.”

Installation view, Alex Turco at Design Miami Paris 2026
COURTESY: © The Artist

Ceramic Art Fair + Glass
The second edition of Ceramic Art Fair + Glass was housed in Maison Latine – a cultural venue honouring Latin America – in the Saint-Germain district.  Founded by Victoria Denis, the event brimmed with experimental eclecticism across 41 stands spread over three floors, with a selection of sculptures and outdoor furniture presented in the garden.

Installation view, Galerie Negropontes at Ceramic Art Fair + Glass
COURTESY: © The Artists & Galerie Negropontes

Among the highlights was the exuberant stand of Galerie Negropontes. Christian Pellizzari’s glass light installation, ‘Natural Rebirth’ (2025), made in Murano glass by Salviati, resembled a bunch of grapes with its dark turquoise pieces and red twisted vines. It illuminated Alessandro Mendini and Jaime Hayon’s joyful ceramics, Maurizio Galante and Tal Lancman’s “sewn” bronze vases with stitching marks, and Perrin & Perrin’s pale pink abstract and landscape glass sculptures.

Installation view, Galerie Negropontes at Ceramic Art Fair + Glass with works by Perrin & Perrin
COURTESY: © The Artists & Galerie Negropontes

“The idea was to represent all the gallery’s artists working in glass, ceramics, bronze and porcelain,” said Sophie Negropontes, who was saddened by how the behaviour of some “certain individuals” during the protests damaged the image of Paris and France. “It’s been hurtful in particular for our activity this week, which is an especially rich week for Paris with around 15 art and design fairs that have been touched, in part, by these events.”

Maurizio Galante & Tal Lancman, ‘Sewn Vase Gold’, 2026
COURTESY: © The Artists & Galerie Negropones

Ceramic stands prevailed. Maison Rapin showcased a large collection by the late Italian ceramicist Giuseppe Civitelli, ranging from anthropomorphic vases to enamelled tables depicting landscapes. Meanwhile, Daguet-Bresson’s stand was infused with humour, with Faye Hadfield’s smiling vases, Timothée Humbert’s quirky, glazed owls and dinosaurs, and Jin Eui Kim’s meticulous vases in rippling stripes of colour. Jousse Entreprise staged a mini retrospective of ceramicist Kristin McKirdy, whose sensual, organic pieces, in muted tones with pops of colour, cascaded down a wall and lay spread out on tables.

Installation view, Jousse Entreprise at Ceramic Art Fair + Glass, with work from Kristin McKirdy
COURTESY: © The Artist & Jousse Entreprise

Among the glass exhibitors, one particular standout was the collaboration between Galerie 8+4 and glass manufacturer CIAV Meisenthal in northeastern France. On show were small-scale sculptures by four artists – François Azambourg, Damien Deroubaix, Emma Lutz and Réjean Peytavin – that highlighted the myriad ways of making delicate glass-blown works.

Installation view, Galerie 8+4 at Ceramic Art Fair + Glass with work from François Azambourg, Réjean Peytavin and Ciav Meisenthal
COURTESY: © The Artist

Rick Owens, Japanese ceramicists and Frederik Molenschot at Carpenters Workshop Gallery
During Paris Art Week, Carpenters Workshop Gallery unveiled three new exhibitions that capture the breadth of its programme. On the ground floor ‘Five New Easy Pieces’ by Rick Owens, curated by Michèle Lamy (until 15th March 2027), captures Owens’s fascination with brutalist forms and the effects of time on nature.

Rick Owens, ‘Stag Chair Bois des Marais Right’, 2022
‘COURTESY: © The Artist & Carpenters Workshop Gallery / PHOTOGRAPH: Benjamin Baccarani

This is best seen in ‘Tomb Chair’ and ‘Stag Chair’, whose greenish colour stems from the wood being submerged for “thousands of years” in swamp water; both are adorned with antlers, as is an oversized floor bed. 

Rick Owens, ‘Antler Bed’, 2025
COURTESY: © The Artist & Carpenters Workshop Gallery / PHOTOGRAPH: Benjamin Baccarani

On the first floor ‘Master Pieces – Eleven Modern Japanese Ceramicists’, a collaboration with Japanese ceramics specialists deBiousse&West (until 19th December), assembles 16 twentieth and twenty-first century works conveying rich savoir-faire, passed down by generations.

Kitaōji Rosanjin, ‘Snow, Moon, Flower’ jar, circa 1950s
COURTESY: © The Artist and De Biousse & West / PHOTOGRAPH: Benjamin Baccarani

Among the highlights are Kawai Kanjirō’s rounded ‘Three Colour Flattened Jar’ (1960s) and Kamoda Shōji’s greyish ‘Square Stoneware Bottle’ (1969) and ‘Saishiki Tea Bowl’ (1972) with swirling earthy tones.

Kamoda Shōji, ‘Raw Clay Square Bottle Vase’, 1969
COURTESY: © The Artist and De Biousse & West / PHOTOGRAPH: Benjamin Baccarani

Then, on the top floor, Frederik Molenschot’s graceful presentation, ‘Legenda’ (until 15^th March 2027), features three pieces from the ongoing ‘CityLight’ series. These are hanging sculptures in the form of undulating line drawings evocative of the Dutch sand dunes near where the designer lives.

Frederik Molenschot, ‘CityLights Les Dunes – Mer’, 2026
COURTESY: © The Artist & Carpenters Workshop Gallery / PHOTOGRAPH: Benjamin Baccarani

The surface of each is treated differently and lit with over a dozen small lights, creating poetic works that reflect on landscape. The polished bronze of one echoes the golden tone of sand; the silver patina of another is inspired by the greys of the North Sea, while the black patina of the third piece conjures up the midnight sky. 

Frederik Molenschot, ‘CityLights Les Dunes – Mer’, 2026 (detail)
COURTESY: © The Artist & Carpenters Workshop Gallery / PHOTOGRAPH: Benjamin Baccarani