Clément Delépine, the director of Art Basel Paris since the spring of 2022, will leave after the conclusion of this year’s fair (22-26 October) to become the director of Lafayette Anticipations. He will succeed Rebecca Lamarche-Vadel, who has been Lafayette Anticipations’ director for six years; his first day in the new role will be 17 November, according to The Art Newspaper France.
Delépine was appointed to lead Art Basel’s French fair in March 2022, shortly after it was revealed that the art-fair franchise belonging to the Swiss expo company MCH Group would be taking over the October slot at the Grand Palais that previously belonged to the Foire Internationale d’Art Contemporain (Fiac). The fair was named Paris + par Art Basel for its first two editions, which took place in the Grand Palais Éphemère, a temporary structure erected on the Champ de Mars while the Grand Palais underwent a €466m renovation. The fair switched to the more conventional name Art Basel Paris ahead of last year’s edition, when it moved into the Grand Palais.
This past May, Art Basel revealed the more than 200 galleries participating in the 2025 edition of its Paris fair. “The exceptional quality of this year’s projects is powerful proof of Art Basel Paris’s magnetism—and of the central role Paris and France continue to play on the global art market and the world of culture at large,” Delépine said at the time.
“We are truly happy for Clément as he embarks on this new adventure,” Vincenzo de Bellis, the chief artistic officer and global director of Art Basel fairs, said in a statement. “He brought not only vision and creativity but also a generosity of spirit that helped make Art Basel Paris a place of discovery and dialogue. Even as we begin the process of finding the right successor to continue this journey, our focus is firmly on presenting a 2025 Paris edition that will inspire artists, galleries, our partners and audiences alike. Clément’s imprint will remain a lasting part of that story.”
An Art Basel spokesperson confirms that a search is already underway to find Delépine’s successor. Following his departure, De Bellis will serve as the fair’s interim director.
Founded in 2012, Lafayette Anticipations is the non-profit contemporary art and culture branch of the famous French department store Galeries Lafayette. Since 2018, it has been located in the Marais neighbourhood a few blocks from the Centre Pompidou, in a former industrial building that was renovated by the architect Rem Koolhaas and the firm OMA.
Lafayette Anticipation has hosted exhibitions by buzzy artists including Martine Syms, Issy Wood, Cyprien Gaillard, Wu Tsang, Rachel Rose and more. It is currently preparing solo exhibitions by the Rabat-born, Brooklyn-based artist Meriem Bennani and the American artist Steffani Jemison, who is developing a project during a residency there.
