The 20 best art galleries in Paris

Spread over two floors, Almine Rech’s gallery has more of an apartment feel, but it’s home to some big international names. Among regulars are light installations by James Turrell, neo-minimalists John McCracken and Anselm Reyle, the eclectic clowning of Ugo Rondinone and powerful films by French artist Ange Leccia.

Lambert is a powerhouse of the French arts scene, with plenty of big-name stuff, a New York offshoot and a personal collection granted museum status in Avignon. The gallery includes a dedicated area for video installations, and the main space shows leading international names – American bigwigs Andres Serrano, Sol LeWitt, Nan Goldin and Jenny Holzer, plus next-generation artists Douglas Gordon and Jonathan Monk. The street-front art bookshop has a window showcase and basement gallery for younger talents.

In 1990 Emmanuel Perrotin, decided to get into the gallery game. There's now Perrotins in Paris, New York, Tokyo, Seoul, Hong Kong and Shanghai. The Parisian establishment is now installed in an elegant hôtel particulier in the Marais. The man himself is one of the sharpest figures in town: not content with owning a gallery in Hong Kong and a glossy magazine, he has recently jumped on the design bandwagon with shows by Robert Stadler and Eric Benqué. As well as the quirky Japanese set of Takashi Murakami, Mariko Mori et al, and big French names such as Sophie Calle, Xavier Veilhan, Prix Marcel Duchamp winner Tatiana Trouvé and Bernard Frize, he also features the radical Austrian collective Gelitin. Lots of cool, cool, things to be gazing at here. 

This gallery has four floors available for viewing, it's almost impossible to get bored here. It features American Pop and neo-Pop by Andy Warhol, Tom Sachs, Elaine Sturtevant and Alex Katz, along with European artists such as Antony Gormley, Erwin Wurm, Sylvie Fleury, Tony Cragg and Gilbert-George. Opened back in 1990, it specializes in international contemporary art and also runs its own publishing house, producing catalogues and books to accompany exhibitions. There's plenty to do in the area, and it's also located two minutes from Musée Picasso.

‘Every photo has a tale to tell’: such is the motto at Polka Galerie in the Marais, where Adélie de Ipanema and Edouard Genestar have entirely devoted their art space to photojournalism, turning their triple-roomed gallery into one of the only places in Paris to mix art, journalism and politics. Works on display are signed by photographers like Ethan Levitas, Marc Riboud, Reza and Daido Morayima, all known for their hard-hitting sociopolitical angles. But it’s not all serious; you might also come across an expo on Elliot Erwitt renowned for his amusing dog photos. While you’re there, pick up a copy of Polka Magazine, a fortnightly spread, created by Alain Genestar (former director of Paris Match), brimming with picture-rich articles, many of which tie in with the exhibitions in the gallery.

Suzanne Tarasieve opened her vast Loft19 in 2008, part of the rapid artistic expansion of the Belleville neighbourhood, and within a few years it became the favourite destination for young alternative galleries in Paris. Her second space, opened in the Marais in May 2011, is a stronghold for the most powerful representatives of the Parisian art market. A certain split personality gives the gallery its charm, attracting as it does both underground talents like the Le Gun collective and successful artists like photographer Boris Mikhailov and even Nick Cave and his ‘Soundsuits’.

Interesting conceptual work in all media includes the likes of American provocateur Paul McCarthy, Turner Prize winner Keith Tyson and a clutch of French 30 and 40 somethings, including Alain Bublex and Gilles Barbier, as well as veteran affichiste Jacques Villeglé.

Vivian Maier, Bruce Wrighton, Tom Arndt are just a few names you'll find at this beautiful Canal Saint-Martin photography gallery, which was restored from its former purpose – public showers – in 2006. 

After bursting on to the St-Germain art scene with shows by fashion photographers David LaChapelle and Ellen von Unwerth and filmmaker Larry Clark, and introducing emerging artists Kader Attia and Adel Abdessemed, Mennour has asserted his presence on the gallery scene with a move to these grand new premises in a hôtel particulier. Recent shows by an impressive cross-generational stable have included Daniel Buren, Claude Lévêque and Huang Yong Ping. It's increasingly becoming a bit of a contemporary powerhouse, this spot. Well spots, you see, the gallery represents more than 40 artists across five spaces (four in paris, pretty near one another) and one in London. Catch them all. 

If you hanker after Miró, Tàpies, Bacon or Kounellis, Lelong is a safe bet, with its selection of bankable, postwar international names. Daniel Lelong honed his skills in the schools of abstract expressionism, surrealism, pop art, and arte povera: movements whose representatives grace the walls of 13 rue de Téhéran, once occupied by the Maeght gallery. The gallery is as prestigious now as it always was. 

Galerie Kreo explores the best of both the Parisian and London art scenes with branches in both capitals. The focus here is on design, both past and present. Exhibits have explored the work of Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec, Marc Newson and Konstantin Grcic, and delving into the archives, the gallery also hosted canonical names Pierre Paulin, Pierre Guariche, Joe Colombo and Vico Magistretti.

Translation by Flora Hudson. 

A Paris institution since the 1960s and conveniently located opposite the Centre Pompidou, Galerie Daniel Templon mainly shows paintings – wall-friendly items for wealthy private collectors. Jean-Michel Alberola, Gérard Garouste, Philippe Cognée and Vincent Corpet all feature on the list, along with the American David Salle and German expressionist Jonathan Meese. They also have a good few sculptures. It's a nice spot to see some of the best contemporary art from the continent and beyond. It's also a small walk rom Centre Georges Pompidou, for even more arts viewing.