Puces Portrait : Eva Steinitz

With her keen eye and instinctive flair, Eva Steinitz creates a lively dialogue between antiques and art from all eras and styles at Stand 23, Marché Paul Bert

image Rik Bas Backer; portrait of Eva and her daughter Jazz by Toby Glanville

Eva Steinitz grew up in a world where beautiful objects were both luxury and necessity – a way of thinking, working and living. Raised in a dynasty of Parisian art and antiques dealers, she explored architecture, philosophy, painting and writing before returning, almost inevitably, to the Puces de Saint-Ouen. Since 2021, she has run a stand at the Paul Bert market, where she assembles thrilling dialogues between periods and styles, guided by instinct rather than orthodoxy.

This edited interview is taken from The Paris Flea Market (Prestel, 2024), a book that draws back the curtain on this remarkable place through encounters with a handful of the dealers at its heart.

Are you more tradition or revolution?
I’m a big mix. Life, the mess, the classic and the modern, the tradition of craftsmanship and contemporary action. In art, I obviously like what made a mark in its time, broke codes, jostled genres, but I like the ‘followers’ too. I love minds that communicate, shared intelligences, ‘was influenced by ...’, Art Deco, Art Nouveau. I think I have a particular weakness for transitions – geographical ones for that matter, I like ports of call, borders and, historically, I love everything around 1900 for example, this mixture of insolence, of travel and the pursuit of stories ...