Barbara Krakow, Krakow Witkin Gallery’s founder, has been an influential figure in the Boston art world since the 1960s. She began her career as an art dealer in 1959, first running a gallery space out of her own carriage house. Building on close relationships with important 20th-century artists such as her friends Sol LeWitt, Fred Sandback, and Mel Bochner, Krakow has steered her gallery through various iterations and partnerships before establishing its current space on Newbury Street in 1983. Prior incarnations include Carriage House Gallery, Parker 470, Harcus Krakow Rosen Sonnabend, and Harcus Krakow Gallery. The Newbury Street iteration, then called the Barbara Krakow Gallery, was renamed Krakow Witkin Gallery in 2017. Its new name reflects the ongoing partnership between Krakow and artist and gallery professional Andrew Witkin, which began in 2000.

Taking advantage of its architectural configuration, Krakow Witkin Gallery holds simultaneous six-week shows exploring the work of 20th and 21st century artists through group and solo survey and thematic shows. Inspired by one of Sol LeWitt’s last drawings for the gallery in 2008, the gallery’s ongoing One Wall, One Work project allows viewers to see one artwork in isolation on its own wall. Since the early 2000s, the gallery also holds an annual benefit exhibition selling artworks to raise funds for AIDs charities. Keen to celebrate its uniquely Boston roots, the gallery is particularly active in supporting the community. The gallery is credited with bringing the art world to Boston and Boston to the art world.

Krakow Witkin Gallery Artists

While overall remaining focused on Minimalism and conceptually driven art Krakow Witkin Gallery’s large selection of artists is particularly diverse. It presents paintings, sculpture, drawings, prints, photography, film, and video works by emerging and established artists at the state, national, and international level. Heavily featured in the gallery’s roster are European and American pioneers of mid- and late-20th-century art such as Josef Albers, John Baldessari, Bernd and Hilla Becher, Mel Bochner, Ellsworth Kelly, Dan Flavin, Bruce Nauman, Robert Ryman, Sarah Charlesworth, Agnes Martin, Daniel Buren, Richard Serra, and Julian Opie. They are joined by other long-established figures such as Jenny Holzer, Scott Hadfield, Liliana Porter, and Kiki Smith. Alongside these bigger names the gallery presents a younger generation through artists such as Amy Stacey Curtis, Frank Poor, Kelly Sherman, and Sam Durant. The gallery also represents the estates of influential artists such as LeWitt and Sandback.

Krakow Witkin Gallery Exhibitions and Art Fairs

As a member of the Art Dealers Association of America (ADAA) and the International Fine Print Dealers Association (IFPDA) Krakow Witkin Gallery maintains its presence on the international art scene by participating in The Art Show and the IFPDA Fine Art Print Fair, both in New York. The gallery is also active in publishing literature relating to artists including catalogues raisonnés for prints by artists such as Mel Bochner, Sol Lewitt, and Fred Sandback.