Art | GAGOSIAN GALLERY


History of a World-Wide Gallery


The History of Gagosian Gallery


Gagosian Gallery began in the mid-eighties in Los Angeles and became bi-costal in 1985 with a space on West 23rd Street in Manhattan. Gagosian Gallery dedicated itself to organizing important exhibitions of contemporary art, while presenting earlier works of art from the modern era, a goal which has been maintained throughout Gagosian Gallery’s history. In the 1980s, the Los Angeles gallery showed the work of young contemporary artists such as Eric Fischl, Jean-Michel Basquiat and David Salle, while the New York City space mounted exhibitions dedicated to the history of The New York School, Abstract Expressionism and Pop Art by showing the earlier work of Robert Rauschenberg, Roy Lichtenstein and Willem de Kooning. When the New York City location moved to Madison Avenue in 1989, the more spacious gallery showcased artists Yves Klein, Andy Warhol, Cy Twombly, Jackson Pollock, Walter de Maria, Philip Taaffe and Francesco Clemente.


In 1991, Gagosian Gallery’s second New York City location opened in the artistic neighborhood of SoHo, the heart of the New York art scene in the early 1990s. SoHo artists and galleries converted the old factory district of Manhattan into spacious studios and exhibition spaces, and the new venue allowed Gagosian to show large-scale works by Richard Serra, Mark di Suvero, Barnett Newman, Chris Burden, Ellen Gallagher, Jenny Saville, Douglas Gordon and Cecily Brown. Andy Warhol’s art was continuously exhibited at both


New York galleries, while newcomers such as Damien Hirst exhibited controversial modern pieces integral to each artist’s growth.


As the gallery continued to grow, a new gallery was opened in Beverly Hills in 1995. In addition to the aforementioned artists, the Beverly Hills gallery mounted major exhibitions by Edward Ruscha, Nan Goldin, Frank Gehry, Jeff Koons and Richard Prince, Pablo Picasso, Roy Lichtenstein and Abstract Expressionism group exhibitions.


In 1999, Gagosian Gallery moved from SoHo to West 24th Street in New York’s industrial district, Chelsea. Richard Gluckman designed the 25,000 square foot gallery in which Richard Serra presented the monumental sculpture, Switch, in November 1999. The uniquely large viewing space at West 24th Street allowed Gagosian artists such as Richard Serra, Damien Hirst and Robert Therrien to exhibit large scale works with great flexibility.


In spring of 2000, Gagosian became an international gallery with the opening of a Caruso/St. John designed space on Heddon Street in Picadilly, London. The U.K. gallery inaugurated its exhibitions program with a performance by the Italian artist Vanessa Beecroft, followed by an exhibition of works by Chris Burden. In 2004, a second London gallery, comparable to the Chelsea exhibition space in size, accommodated large sculpture, video pieces and installations such as Martin Kippenberger’s show, and the Magical


Gagosian Gallery…organiz(es) important exhibitions of contemporary art, while presenting earlier works of art from the modern era.


Misery Tour, Brazil. The Heddon Street location closed in July 2005, and a new storefront space on Davies Street opened simultaneously with an historic exhibition of Pablo Picasso prints.


Meanwhile, in New York, a Richard Gluckman designed space on West 21st Street opened in October 2006 to complement the West 24th Street gallery. A joint exhibition with the 24th Street gallery, Cast a Cold Eye: The Late Works of Andy Warhol, launched Gagosian Gallery’s second location in Chelsea and third location in New York. In 2009, the 21st Street gallery held an exhibition of Pablo Picasso’s late works entitled Mosqueteros, curated by Picasso historian John Richardson. The show received high critical acclaim and drew over 100,000 visitors in ten weeks.


With the continued success of the Los Angeles, New York, and London galleries, Gagosian opened a gallery in Rome in 2007 exhibiting new works by Cy Twombly. The Italian space is a refurbished former bank, redesigned by Rome-based architect Firouz Galdo in collaboration with Caruso/ St. John. The renovation transformed the classical space into a state-of-the-art contemporary gallery while retaining its distinctively Roman character.


Strong relationships with Russian collectors and a booming Russian art scene encouraged Gagosian Gallery to host temporary exhibitions in Moscow in 2007 and 2008, featuring works by Jeff Koons, Damien Hirst, Willem de Kooning and Pablo Picasso.


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80