MUSÉE À LA UNE
70
FIG. 9 : View of Ewa and
Yves Develon’s apartment.
Paris, summer 2018.
Photo © Ewa Develon.
cannot describe led to what is sometimes called a passion
but which actually is the limitless engagement of
a person confronted with choices that goes so far as to
change him profoundly.”3
THE GALLERIES
For Develon, the late 1970s were marked by the encounter
with Ewa Pietryka, an architect of Polish origin
who quickly became interested in African art after
becoming acquainted with Yves. They nourished their
appetite for beautiful objects together from then on.
For Yves, the desire to become involved in dealing
became increasingly interesting since, among other
reasons, he might gain privileged access to a greater
number of pieces. This came to fruition in 1980 with
the opening of his fi rst gallery in Ramatuelle, near
Saint-Tropez. Ewa quickly abandoned her career as an
architect and joined him in this adventure, bringing her
wonderful eye and keen sense of presentation. Hidden
away on a tiny street (fi g. 4), the place was open from
June through September and was an ideal refuge for
the summer months. The Develons became part of a
“trilogy of tribal art dealers”4 on the French Riviera
(fi g. 5), whose other members were Alain Dufour and
his Galerie Afrique, which opened in Ramatuelle in
1974, and Alain Bernard, a specialist in Pre-Columbian
art. Their convergence in this village in the Var
commune was anything but trivial, since through their
participation in a variety of fairs and exhibitions, Ewa
and Yves built up a network of collectors in the south
of France that extended from Bordeaux to Monte Carlo,
for which Ramatuelle became a nexus. Their presence
in a location off the beaten track of the traditional
“primitive art” circuit gave them the opportunity to
access part of a market that until then Paris had completely
dominated.
It was in the capital that their activities as dealers
ultimately really took off. After a time of receiving
clients and collectors in a small apartment rented for
that purpose, they opened a gallery in 1988 at 11 Rue
Charles V in the Marais district, which they ran until
they retired in 1998. Ewa and Yves animated this
neighborhood, which is somewhat removed from the
historical Rue de Seine center for such galleries. Particularly
popular was “Marais-Primitif,” an evening of
openings they regularly produced in partnership with
Claude Lebas’ Galerie l’Accrosonge and sometimes
with Alain Dufour.
While they operated as a couple where the selection
of works was concerned, Yves was the one who in-