Kasmin to Close After 35 Years, Replaced by Gallery Olney Gleason

Chelsea’s Kasmin Gallery is closing its doors after 35 years in business.

But in its place, two principal staff members will lead a new enterprise named Olney Gleason.

The new gallery is spearheaded by Nick Olney, Kasmin Gallery’s president since 2020, and Eric Gleason, who joined the gallery in 2013 as a director and since 2022 has headed the sales team.

It comes following years of planning, including discussions with founder Paul Kasmin before his death in 2020, and made in consensus with the dealer’s estate.

Olney Gleason will represent some 25 artists and estates that were previously part of the Kasmin roster at a Chelsea location set to open this autumn. Around 80 percent of these artists joined Kasmin in the last five years, according to ARTnews.

In a statement, Gleason spoke of the new venture as both a tribute to Kasmin and a strategic next step.

‘This is an unprecedented moment of opportunity in the art world, with the focus rapidly shifting back to thoughtful programming and an artist-centric model,’ he said. ‘It’s time to look ahead, building on what we’re proud to have already forged.’

He told ARTnews that with this new venture the pair will aim to become leaders for ‘a new generation of collectors, dealers, and artists’ and help ‘define its values’.

Launched in SoHo in 1989, Kasmin Gallery became a prominent New York institution, with three locations and representing Surrealist masters and contemporary artists, including Walton Ford, Leonor Fini, and, more recently, Jackson Pollock’s estate. 

In recent years the gallery became known for its contemporary programme, taking on artists like Diana al-Hadid, Ali Banisadr, and vanessa german. 

Further details on the location, exhibits, and roster will be announced in September. —[O]

Main image: Kasmin, 509 West 27th Street, New York. Courtesy Kasmin. Photo: Roland Halbe.