500 Best Galleries Worldwide 2015
Modern Painters
ACQUAVELLA GALLERIES I New York, U.S.
ARTISTS: Joan Miro, 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 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 artist 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.