A special summer issue of Modern Painters, which will be published in installments on ARTINFO this month, surveys the world’s best galleries, across six continents and 36 countries. Throughout the issue you’ll hear from 50 of the most influential gallery owners and directors, discussing their achievements and envies, the artists they have their eye on, and the regional trends affecting this increasingly international market. Below you’ll find Q&As with seven gallerists based in New York. To see other installments from the special issue, click here.
ACQUAVELLA GALLERIES | NEW YORK, U.S.
ARTISTS: Joan Miró, Pablo Picasso, Andy Warhol, Lucian Freud, Wayne Thiebaud
ESTABLISHED: 1921
CONTACT: acquavellagalleries.com; info@acquavellagalleries.com; +1 212 734 6300
ELEANOR ACQUAVELLA, CO-OWNER
How did you get your start as a gallerist?
My first job in the art world was at the Phillips Collection, where I worked for a summer during college under then-director Charlie Moffett. I absolutely loved it, and I decided that I wanted to work with and around art for the rest of my life. After college I worked at Sotheby’s in various departments. After two years had passed, my father and I both felt it was time for me to start my career at the gallery.
How have you generally discovered new artists? Are there any new discoveries for the gallery whom you’re especially excited about?
Usually, our discoveries begin with us as collectors—we purchase and live with artists that are new to us and then see how their careers and work develop over time. For example, Jacob El Hanani is an artist I discovered at a works-on-paper fair, and I bought one of his drawings on the spot. I purchased a few more over the years, and that relationship culminated in the show we have up now.
What was your biggest show of the past year?
Probably the show of Basquiat drawings from the Schorr Collection.
What’s one show you loved in the past year at a gallery other than your own?
Martin Puryear at Matthew Marks.
If cost were no object, what work of art would you have in your bedroom?
I could spend hours and hours thinking about this… I guess I would say a Matisse. I couldn’t imagine a better way to start the day.
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CHEIM & READ | NEW YORK, U.S.
ARTISTS: Louise Bourgeois, Joan Mitchell, Lynda Benglis, Jack Pierson, Jenny Holzer, Ron Gorchov
ESTABLISHED: 1996
CONTACT: cheimread.com; gallery@cheimread.com; +1 212 242 7727
JOHN CHEIM, CO-OWNER/HEAD OF EXHIBITIONS
How did you get your start as a gallerist?
I studied as a painter at the Rhode Island School of Design, and after moving to New York City in 1977, I began to work at another newly formed gallery, where I soon became director and stayed for 20 years. I grew more excited by the art of others than by my own.
How have you generally discovered new artists? Are there any new discoveries for the gallery whom you’re especially excited about?
I have long been interested in work by artists who have been overlooked or neglected. That’s how I came to be involved with Louise Bourgeois, Alice Neel, Joan Mitchell, Lynda Benglis, and Ron Gorchov. Recently I’ve been excited by the work of the Israeli-born Tal R. A protean talent that is not interested in a “career.”
What was your biggest show of the past year?
One of the most important exhibitions of last year at our gallery was “Joan Mitchell: Trees.” She is one of the greatest painters ever—by way of Van Gogh, Cézanne, and on into pure abstraction. She’s similar to Twombly in the way that she bridges Europe and the States.
What trend do you see happening in your region right now?
A recent trend has been a focus on abstraction. It’s disdained by some as “zombie formalism,” but I love it. Abstraction—like pure music—will always be a language I want to hear.
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DAVID ZWIRNER GALLERY | NEW YORK, U.S.
LEADERSHIP: David Zwirner
ARTISTS: Dan Flavin, Donald Judd, Marlene Dumas, Jeff Koons, Yayoi Kusama
ESTABLISHED: 1993
INTERNATIONAL LOCATIONS: London, U.K.
CONTACT: davidzwirner.com; +1 212 727 2070
KRISTINE BELL, SENIOR PARTNER
How did you get your start as a gallerist?
In my first year in New York, in 1998–99, I worked for both a very small gallery, Feigen Contemporary, and a very large gallery, Pace Gallery. In that year I learned many nuances about the primary market and the secondary market. I fell in love with the idea of making historical exhibitions in a commercial gallery. This led me to David Zwirner, and in 2000 we opened Zwirner & Wirth.
What was your biggest show of the past year?
Richard Serra’s Equal has surpassed all of our expectations. We were excited to open an exhibition of a new major work, but the reality of this sculpture has created a sublimely unique experience for the gallery and the visitors. We are thrilled that it was recently acquired by MoMA.
What’s one show you loved in the past year at a gallery other than your own?
I thought the David Hammons exhibition at White Cube, London, was brilliant. We see so little of his work that I always run directly to a show when there is one. This exhibition did not disappoint; it was rigorous, resolute, and memorable.
What trend do you see happening in your region right now?
We see a wider and younger audience for Minimalism emerging. Young collectors are gravitating to artists like Donald Judd and John McCracken more and more. These artists have shaped the way we look at architecture and design, so it’s not surprising that today’s collectors enjoy living with great examples of these artists’ work.
What might you be doing if you weren’t a gallerist?
Since the age of five, my life has revolved around art. I cannot imagine any other life, to be honest.
Name the last great book you read, art-related or otherwise.
I thought Donna Tartt’s The Goldfinch was one of the most captivating stories in recent years.
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JACK SHAINMAN GALLERY | NEW YORK, U.S.
ARTISTS: El Anatsui, Nick Cave, Hayv Kahraman, Kerry James Marshall, Carrie Mae Weems
ESTABLISHED: 1984
CONTACT: jackshainman.com; info@jackshainman.com; +1 212 645 1701
JACK SHAINMAN, PRESIDENT
How did you get your start as a gallerist?
I was fortunate enough to have parents who exposed me to art at a young age, including taking me to see the great collector Lawrence Bloedel at his home. These types of experiences, and growing up with the Clark in my backyard, hugely impacted my career ambitions. Money from my bar mitzvah and from a little horse trading I did as a teenager were the funds that helped me start the gallery.
What was your biggest show of the past year?
We are very excited about El Anatsui’s solo exhibition “Five Decades,” at our upstate location, the School, in Kinderhook, New York, which will be up through September 26.
What’s one show you loved in the past year at a gallery other than your own?
“Picasso & the Camera,” curated by John Richardson at Gagosian, was superb.
What trend do you see happening in your region right now?
Our goal from the very beginning has been to exhibit, represent, and champion artists from around the world, including artists from Africa, and I think museums and galleries are starting to pick up on the importance of recognizing and working with artists based in the region.
Name the last great book you read, art-related or otherwise.
Provenance: How a Con Man and a Forger Rewrote the History of Modern Art, by Laney Salisbury and Aly Sujo.
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MARY BOONE GALLERY | NEW YORK, U.S.
ARTISTS: Ai Weiwei, Peter Halley, KAWS, Barbara Kruger, Peter Saul
ESTABLISHED: 1977
CONTACT: maryboonegallery.com; +1 212 752 2929
MARY BOONE, OWNER
How did you get your start as a gallerist?
As a secretary at Bykert Gallery. I started in September 1970.
Are there any new discoveries for the gallery whom you’re especially excited about?
Judith Bernstein and Angela Bulloch.
What was your biggest show of the past year?
KAWS’s 18-foot-high sculptures.
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MNUCHIN GALLERY | NEW YORK, U.S.
ARTISTS: David Hammons, Donald Judd, Willem de Kooning, Mark Rothko, Cy Twombly
ESTABLISHED: 1993
CONTACT: mnuchingallery.com; contact@mnuchingallery.com; +1 212 861 0020
ROBERT MNUCHIN, FOUNDER
How did you get your start as a gallerist?
My passion for collecting transformed from buying to selling, but it started with a true passion for the works. Whether buying art as a collector or selling it as a dealer, you have to love it first and foremost.
How have you generally discovered new artists? Are there any new discoveries for the gallery whom you’re especially excited about?
I keep my eyes and ears open, and sometimes you see an artist who sparks a particular interest. We recently had a show of Kazuo Shiraga that I was very excited about. While he’s not a new artist, he was new to a majority of the American public. His works are as fresh today as the day they were painted.
What was your biggest show of the past year?
“Casting Modernity: Bronze in the XXth Century.”
What’s one show you loved in the past year at a gallery other than your own?
I really enjoyed “Richard Serra: Vertical and Horizontal Reversals” at David Zwirner.
What trend do you see happening in your region right now?
The continuation of Asian artists, both old and new, in gallery exhibitions and at auction. The art world is global, and I think that we’ll be seeing a lot more in terms of international artists and buyers on the market.
What might you be doing if you weren’t a gallerist?
I might be a landscape architect.
Name the last great book you read, art-related or otherwise.
Not the last, but a great book—De Kooning: An American Master. I had the opportunity to meet de Kooning in his studio when I was first beginning to collect and saw his works at the ground level. It was an amazing time for art in New York and for art history.
If cost were no object, what work of art would you have in your bedroom?
I’m pretty happy with what we have there now. I think we’ll keep it.
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SEAN KELLY GALLERY | NEW YORK, U.S.
ARTISTS: Marina Abramovic ́, Los Carpinteros, Antony Gormley, Joseph Kosuth, and Kehinde Wiley
ESTABLISHED: 1991
CONTACT: skny.com; info@skny.com; +1 212 239 1181
SEAN KELLY,OWNER
How did you get your start as a gallerist?
I went to art school and became an artist. Subsequently I worked in museums and then as an independent curator. It was a natural next step for me to establish my own space.
How have you generally discovered new artists? Are there any new discoveries for the gallery whom you’re especially excited about?
I make it a priority to always be out looking, especially when I travel, which is a lot. That’s how we discovered Sun Xun. On a trip to Beijing, we spent several days visiting local galleries; Sun Xun’s was the last exhibition we saw. We knew immediately that we wanted to work with him.
What trend do you see happening in your region right now?
Many of the galleries who helped transform Chelsea into a major art hub are being priced out of the neighborhood. They’re moving to spaces in different areas of the city—just as we did in moving to Hudson Yards in 2012—where they can continue to afford to experiment and take chances.
What might you be doing if you weren’t a gallerist?
I suppose I would either be an architect, an author, or a farmer… or better yet, all three at the same time!
If cost were no object, what work of art would you have in your bedroom?
It would be an Egyptian artifact at the Met called Fragment of a Queen’s Face. It’s made of yellow jasper and dates back to before 1300 B.C.
