Dear Madam, Dear Sir,
Dear Friends,


Nearly 20 years after creating the gallery and our company Art & Confrontation, we have today taken a carefully thought out, personal decision to put an end to the activity of the gallery at the end of Marjane Satrapi’s exhibition on March 23.

Our business has profoundly changed since our opening in September 1994.  The future appears to be in certain specialized niches for simple structure galleries, and in the branding of mega-galleries, just as powerful as they are big with several international locations.  It would therefore be necessary to move to the next level to continue to ambitiously serve the artists in this increased competition.  That would mean enlarging our premises, recruiting numerous employees including several on a high-level, and greatly expanding the list of represented artists.  Surfing the wave and keeping the gallery in its current form would ultimately be a disservice to the artists because nowadays, stagnating means moving backward!

Such a significant development implies huge investments in terms of finance, time and energy along with major risk taking and responsibility.  Personally, not wanting to leave France, such an expansion seems unrealistic to us.  The unfavorable political, economic and social context in France today, along with the unhealthy ideological climate and stifling tax burden, compromises any prospect of a future art market in France and alters any enthusiasm as well as any entrepreneurial spirit!

We had a wonderful artistic, human and entrepreneurial adventure, always trying to put the artists on center stage and to serve their cause with passion and dedication.  By supporting them in the production of their work and in the fulfillment of their diverse projects, by organizing exhibitions for them at the gallery and in museums around the world, by expanding the distribution of their creation, by publishing catalogues or by creating a dynamic website, we took great pleasure in accompanying them in their work, their innovation and their creativity, even if it sometimes meant taking great risks or fighting misunderstanding, bigotry and intolerance alongside them.

We were also very happy to help make contemporary art accessible to everyone in a country deemed conservative which esteems the History of art rather than contemporary creation, and to participate in this way in the emergence of new ideas, new behaviors and a greater open-mindedness.

It is for all these reasons and with a loyalty to our beliefs that we have thus decided, after much thought, to turn towards other horizons.  Our future commitments, even if they are not all exactly determined at this point, will always put Art and contemporary creation at the heart of a social project drawing new paths through focused actions, both professional and charitable.

We will inform you at a later date about the changes in our company which will continue to exist.  Of course, we will honor all commitments made to date and will complete all projects that are currently underway. We will also accompany the artists represented by the gallery in the search for new objectives.

Today, we want to especially thank all of you: artists, art lovers and collectors, curators and journalists, employees and suppliers, colleagues and other art professionals, for the confidence that you have granted us since the beginning, for your continued support and perpetual encouragement, which gave us wings and the courage to work diligently and travel the world in the service of Art for almost 20 years!

Hoping to see you soon for new adventures, sincerely yours,


Jérôme and Emmanuelle de Noirmont