The NY Times noted the gallery issued a short press release Wed evening stating “It is with profound regret that the owners of Knoedler Gallery announce its closing, effective today. This was a business decision made after careful consideration over the course of an extended period of time. Gallery staff will assist with an orderly winding down of Knoedler Gallery.”
The NY Times reports
Click HERE to read the NY Times article.Although the gallery’s history is long and expansive, its statement Wednesday evening about closing was short and sudden: “It is with profound regret that the owners of Knoedler Gallery announce its closing, effective today. This was a business decision made after careful consideration over the course of an extended period of time. Gallery staff will assist with an orderly winding down of Knoedler Gallery.”
Nothing was said about what will happen to one of Knoedler’s most valuable properties: an enormous library that includes letters, photographs, sale records, stock books and catalogs going back to 1863.
News of the institution’s demise was met with surprise at Art Basel Miami Beach, an art fair where leading artists and gallery owners from around the world have gathered this week.
“Goodness me, that’s pretty stunning,” said Lucy Mitchell-Innes, president of the Art Dealers Association of America, who was at the Art Basel fair. “My reaction is one of tremendous sadness. This is a very venerable institution that provided great art to a number of the great collections and great institutions in this country.”
Knoedler, at 19 East 70th Street, has been rattled by a series of changes over the past three years, including the recession in 2008. In October 2009, Ann Freedman, the gallery’s president and an employee of 31 years, resigned. Two months later, the gallery put the landmark Italian Renaissance-style town house that it has occupied for the past 41 years on sale for $59.9 million. This past February, the building was sold for $31 million.
Most recently, a civil lawsuit involving the Dedalus Foundation, a nonprofit organization created by the artist Robert Motherwell, put Knoedler in an embarrassing light. The foundation accused Ms. Freedman of selling forged paintings by Motherwell while she was president of Knoedler, an assertion she has denied. Knoedler will be better remembered for its history of bringing the American art world into existence, however.
Turning Up The Heat: Assets 2012
ISA Annual Conference
April 20–23, 2012
Tempe Mission Palms Resort
Tempe, AZ
Click HERE for more info.
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