Prominent New York Gallerist Paul Kasmin, Who Helped Elevate Chelsea Into an Art Hub, Has Died at Age 60

Paul Kasmin, one of New York City’s leading art dealers, died
this morning at the age of 60 after a long illness.

Artnet News understands the dealer had been ill with cancer for
several years, but his condition intensified over the past few
months and he died early this morning at his home in upstate New
York.Succession plans are already in place for the gallery, with
Nick Olney slated to continue his leadership role as managing
director with the support of a board.

In the 30 years since founding the gallery in Soho in 1989,
Kasmin developed a program that managed to toe the line between
brainy and lighthearted by placing historic postwar artists like
Lee Krasner, Robert Motherwell, and Stuart Davis in dialogue
with established and emerging contemporary figures. The gallery has
fostered the careers of artists including Tina Barney, Walton
Ford, James Nares, Mark Ryden, Bosco Sodi, and Bernar Venet. Kasmin
also organized the first US show of the now-coveted work of
husband-and-wife design duo Les Lalanne.

A soft-spoken, puckish gentleman who enjoyed good food and good
wine, he had the habit of making you feel as if he were telling you
a secret even when he was divulging nothing more salacious than his
dinner plans. A refined conversationalist with an appetite for good
gossip, there was no subject he didn’t have his own way of cheekily
broaching.

Art runs in the family. Kasmin’s father, John, was a legendary
dealer and collector in London who was the first to show the work
of David Hockney. His brother, Aaron, is a painter; his
great-grandfather was the English abstract painter Ben
Nicholson. But while the Kasmins had nearly unparalleled
art-world pedigree in London, Paul set out to make a name for
himself in New York. His was among the first galleries to move to
Chelsea in 2000; it now has one of the largest footprints in the
area—four spaces including the rooftop sculpture garden that sits
adjacent to the High Line.

A recent New York Times
story described the sculpture garden as “almost an extension of the
High Line’s already ambitious public art program.”
Its early displays have included work by Joel Shapiro, Robert
Indiana, and Barry Flanagan.

In recent years, as the art market looked back in history,
Kasmin expanded its work with estates, mounting exhibitions of work
by Constantin Brancusi, William N. Copley, Lee Krasner, and Robert
Motherwell.

“Paul devoted himself to a life celebrating art and artists,”
the gallery said in a statement. “Those of us who have worked with
Paul learned from his extraordinary eye for talent, his delight in
the work of the artists he loved, and his rare sense of openness
and generosity.”

Over the past few years, Kasmin continued his lifelong passion
for photography with renewed enthusiasm. He took pictures of
family, friends, gallery artists, and staff. The works are
currently available for viewing on the gallery’s website.

“Paul took great pleasure in overseeing all aspects of the
gallery until the very end,” the gallery said, “and it was his
sincere wish, and in his plans, that his vision for Kasmin continue
as ambitiously as ever.”

The post Prominent New York Gallerist Paul Kasmin, Who
Helped Elevate Chelsea Into an Art Hub, Has Died at Age 60
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