Pace Gallery

Pace Gallery
Map
Established1960; 65 years ago (1960)
LocationMultiple
TypeArt gallery
FounderArne Glimcher
PresidentSamanthe Rubell
Websitethepacegallery.com

The Pace Gallery is an American contemporary and modern art gallery with 9 locations worldwide.[1] It was founded in Boston by Arne Glimcher in 1960.[2] His son, Marc Glimcher, is now president and CEO.[3] Pace Gallery operates in New York, London, Hong Kong, Los Angeles, Geneva, Seoul, East Hampton, Tokyo, and Palm Beach.[1]

The gallery is named after Glimcher's father's nickname, "Pacey".[4] It moved to Manhattan in 1963.

Main business

In 1960, at the age of 22, Arnold (Arne) Glimcher founded The Pace Gallery in Boston, running it with his wife, Milly, and his mother, Eva.[5] In 1963, Glimcher partnered with Fred Mueller to bring the gallery to New York, where it opened a location on East 57th Street with the help of Ivan Karp, a close friend of Glimcher's.[6] In 1965, Glimcher closed the Boston gallery and permanently moved his family to New York. Three years later, the gallery moved to its long-time location at 32 East 57th Street.

After the Pace Gallery closed its Boston location in 1963, Eva Glimcher maintained a branch of the Pace Gallery in Columbus, Ohio, located downtown on Broad Street, from 1965 to 1982. After her death, the branch closed.[7]

In the 1960s, Glimcher and Irving Blum briefly operated a Pace outpost on La Cienega Boulevard in Los Angeles.[8]

From 1995 to 1999, PaceWildenstein operated a gallery in Beverly Hills, designed by architect Charles Gwathmey.[9][8]

From 2008 until 2019, PaceWildenstein – and later Pace – maintained a 22,000 square feet (2,000 square metres) space gallery in the Factory 798 District of Beijing, China; it was the first major Manhattan art gallery with a presence in the city.[10] It opened in 2008 to coincide with the Summer Olympics in the city.[11] Under the direction of its president, Leng Lin, Pace Beijing showed a mixture of American, European, and Asian artists.[11]

From 2012 to 2020, Pace occupied the 9,000 square feet (840 square metres) west wing of the Royal Academy of Arts's 6 Burlington Gardens building in London, beginning with an exhibition that juxtaposed late paintings by Mark Rothko with photographs by Hiroshi Sugimoto.[12][13]

In April 2014, Pace used the former Tesla Motors building in Menlo Park, California, as a 25,000 square feet (2,300 square metres) temporary exhibition space.[9] It later operated a permanent gallery in downtown Palo Alto from 2016 to 2022.[14]

Also in 2014, Pace operated a temporary space in Chesa Büsin, a historic 12th-century house in Zuoz, Switzerland.[15] In 2018, it opened a permanent 3,700 square feet (340 square metres) gallery in Geneva.[16]

Pace opened its first space in Seoul – a 925 square feet (85.9 square metres) gallery – in 2017 before moving to an 8,500 square feet (790 square metres) space in the city's Hannam-dong district,[17] designed by Minsuk Cho.[18]

In 2019, Pace opened a new space in New York's Chelsea district, designed by Bonetti/Kozerski Architecture, spanning eight stories across 70,000 square feet (6,500 square metres) — 10,000 square feet (930 square metres) of which are outdoor exhibition space.[19] In addition to exhibitions, the building features Pace Live, a multidisciplinary music, dance, film and conversation program with a full-time curatorial director at the helm.[20]

In 2020, Pace opened a temporary 1,700 square feet (160 square metres) exhibition space in East Hampton Village.[21]

In 2021, Pace relocated its London outpost to 4 Hanover Square in Mayfair, the former home of the now-defunct Blain Southern gallery, and enlisted Jamie Fobert to renovate the 8,600 square feet (800 square metres) space.[22]

In June 2022, Pace Gallery partnered with the NFT platform Art Blocks, with the intention of each organization giving access to each other's collectors bases.[23]

In December 2022, Samanthe Rubell was named President of Pace Gallery, and a “Round Table, consisting of the gallery’s 10 most senior directors," was formed to formalize the gallery's structure.[24]

In 2022, Pace partnered with Osulloc to create a café in Seoul, with artwork by Kohei Nawa.[18]

Other activities

Pace Verso

In November 2021, Pace launched their custom-built NFT platform with drops from Lucas Samaras's XYZ series.[25]

Pace Wildenstein

From 1993 to 2010, Pace operated jointly with Wildenstein & Co., a gallery specializing in old master paintings, as PaceWildenstein.[26] In 1993, after sales had slowed following the art-market crash of 1990, Arne Glimcher agreed to take up Daniel Wildenstein's long-standing merger offer; by 2010, the Glimcher family paid $100 million to buy back the Wildensteins' 49 percent share in Pace's assets, including an inventory of several thousand paintings.[4]

Pace/MacGill

Pace is a partner in the Pace/MacGill, which specializes in photographs and is run by Peter MacGill.[27] From 1983 until 2019, Pace/MacGill maintained its standalone space at 32 East 57th Street before consolidating with Pace's headquarters at 540 West 25th Street.[28]

Pace Prints

Founded in 1968, Pace Prints (Pace Editions, Inc.) on East 57th Street was sold in 2024.[29] Pace Prints operated Pace African & Oceanic Art (formerly Pace Primitive)[30] between 1971 and 2024; it was first located in New York’s Upper East Side neighborhood before moving moved to a Chelsea location in 2022.[31]

Publishing

Over the course of its first 50 years, Pace was involved in releasing some 450 catalogs for its shows and artists.[32] In January 2009, PaceWildenstein announced plans for an independent publishing company called Artifex Press, dedicated to creating online artists' catalogs raisonnés.[33] In 2015, the company launched a unit specifically for digital catalogs raisonnés.[34]

Controversy

In 2016, London art dealer James Mayor filed a lawsuit against Arne Glimcher and the Agnes Martin catalog raisonné committee, arguing that they had hurt the value of 13 works of Martin he sold after they decided not to include them in their catalog.[35] The New York Supreme Court dismissed the lawsuit in 2018.[35]

In 2017, the CBRE Group alleged that Pace had failed to pay them over $3 million in commissions for advising the gallery during negotiations to redevelop the gallery's flagship space at 540 West 25th Street with the building's owner, Weinberg Properties (WP). By 2022, a United States District Court for the Southern District of New York jury brokerage awarded CBRE $6.3 million in damages.[36]

In 2020, an investigation by Artnet News revealed allegations that two presidents at Pace, Douglas Baxter, and Susan Dunne, had physically and verbally abused employees for nearly two decades. Former employees said that Baxter had thrown a phone at one employee's head, and an audio recording revealed him telling the Parrish Art Museum's director that a woman who accused Chuck Close of sexual misconduct "should go live in Puerto Rico and be a hurricane victim, or starve in Haiti or Ethiopia, or be a bomb victim in Aleppo."[37] The gallery launched an investigation into the presidents' conduct and ultimately parted ways with both employees. Dunne moved to work at David Zwirner; however, Pace retained Baxter as an advisor. The company then restructured its leadership.[38]

In 2022, Pace Gallery filed a lawsuit in the New York Supreme Court over a fake Georges Seurat drawing purchased for $2 million from a man purporting to be Seurat's descendant.[39]

References

  1. ^ "PaceWildenstein - Art Galleries". Archived from the original on May 22, 2009. Retrieved February 14, 2010.
  2. ^ Kelly, Crow (August 26, 2011). "Keeping Pace". WSJ. Magazine. Retrieved July 13, 2018.
  3. ^ a b Kelly Crow (August 26, 2011), Keeping Pace Wall Street Journal.
  4. ^ Eva Glimcher, Founder Of Pace Art Gallery New York Times, February 18, 1982.
  5. ^ Sims, Patterson (2013). "Ivan C. Karp (1926–2012)". American Art. 27 (1): 104–107. doi:10.1086/670687. JSTOR 10.1086/670687. S2CID 191416685.
  6. ^ "Eva Glimcher's artistic legacy". Columbus Monthly. December 23, 2015. Retrieved April 7, 2020.
  7. ^ a b Christopher Knight (June 22, 1999), PaceWildenstein to End Its Beverly Hills Exhibition Program Los Angeles Times.
  8. ^ a b Zoë Lescaze (March 20, 2014), Pace Gallery Pops Up in Silicon Valley New York Observer.
  9. ^ Vogel, Carol (April 29, 2008). "Amid Asian Art Boom, Manhattan Gallery to Open Branch in Beijing". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 27, 2016.
  10. ^ a b Barbara Pollack (July 8, 2019), Pace Gallery Closes Beijing Branch—Arne Glimcher: ‘It’s Impossible to Do Business in Mainland China Right Now’ ARTnews.
  11. ^ Mark Brown (July 2, 2012), New York art gallery Pace takes up London residence The Guardian.
  12. ^ Melanie Gerlis (19 November 2020), The art-buying habits of New Yorkers revealed Financial Times.
  13. ^ Alex Greenberger (19 July 2022), Pace Gallery Closes Palo Alto Space After ‘Consolidating’ West Coast Operations ARTnews.
  14. ^ Swiss space for Pace The Art Newspaper, June 20, 2014. Archived June 22, 2014.
  15. ^ Andrew Russeth (January 26, 2018), Pace Will Open Its Ninth Gallery, in Geneva ARTnews.
  16. ^ Maximilíano Durón (April 8, 2021), Pace Gallery to Expand Seoul Outpost as City’s Art Market Grows ARTnews.
  17. ^ a b Andrew Russeth (1 September 2022), Pace Gallery Can’t Stop Expanding in Seoul, Where It Has Upgraded in High Style ARTnews.
  18. ^ Laura van Straaten (October 25, 2018), A Gallery by Any Other Name, Size and Shape? New York Times.
  19. ^ Robin Pogrebin (August 11, 2019), Picking Up the Pace: A Mega-Gallery Expands in Chelsea New York Times.
  20. ^ Sophie Haigney (June 9, 2020), Galleries to Open in the Hamptons. It’s Not Business as Usual. New York Times.
  21. ^ Tessa Solomon (November 19, 2020), London Presence, Pace Takes Over Former Blain Southern Gallery ARTnews.
  22. ^ Mattei, Shanti Escalante-De (June 7, 2022). "Forget the Crypto Slump — Pace is Furthering its Web3 Ambitions by Partnering with NFT Platform Art Blocks". ARTnews.com. Retrieved June 23, 2022.
  23. ^ Maximilíano Durón; Alex Greenberger (December 5, 2022). "Pace Gallery Restructures Leadership as Samanthe Rubell Is Named President". ARTnews.
  24. ^ "Pace to launch a custom-built NFT platform". The Art Newspaper - International art news and events. November 18, 2021. Retrieved February 7, 2024.
  25. ^ Vogel, Carol (April 1, 2010). "Pace and Wildenstein Are Two Galleries Again". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 27, 2016.
  26. ^ Philip Gefter (December 3, 2006). 'What’s New in Photography: Anything but Photos'. The New York Times.
  27. ^ Gabriella Angeleti (July 24, 2019), Chelsea gallery reshuffle: Kasmin expands as Pace/MacGill consolidates New York Times.
  28. ^ Francesca Aton (11 December 2024), Pace African & Oceanic Art Shutters, But Will Continue Under New Leadership ARTnews.
  29. ^ Grace Glueck (18 February 2005), ART IN REVIEW; 'Face to Face' -- 'Dan Masks From the Ivory Coast and Aquatints by Henri Matisse' New York Times.
  30. ^ Francesca Aton (11 December 2024), Pace African & Oceanic Art Shutters, But Will Continue Under New Leadership ARTnews.
  31. ^ Andrew Russeth (September 9, 2015), Bookish: On the Art World’s Publishing Boom ARTnews.
  32. ^ Vogel, Carol (January 8, 2009). "Expressionist Berlin: Sotheby's London to Sell Kirchner 'Street Scene'". The New York Times. Retrieved July 13, 2018.
  33. ^ Rachel Spence (June 26, 2015), Catalogues raisonnés: The corrected works Financial Times.
  34. ^ a b Claire Selvin (April 6, 2018), Dismissing Suit Against Agnes Martin Catalogue Raisonné Committee, Judge Bolsters Embattled Art-Authentication Field ARTnews.
  35. ^ Daniel Cassady (9 December 2022), Pace Gallery To Pay $6.3 Million To The Real Estate Brokerage CBRE: Lawsuit ARTnews.
  36. ^ Zachary Small (12 November 2020), Pace Gallery Positions Itself as the Art Business of the Future. But Employees Say an Abusive Work Environment Keeps It Mired in the Past Artnet News.
  37. ^ Zachary Small (17 March 2021), Pace Gallery Parts Ways With Two Top Executives Accused of Abusive Behavior Amid a Broader Company Restructuring Artnet News.
  38. ^ Solomon, Tessa (May 12, 2022). "Pace Gallery Suing Over a Fake $2 M. Seurat Bought from a Seller Claiming to Be the Artist's "Distant Cousin"". ART News. Retrieved June 27, 2022.