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MAD WOMEN: Kornblee, Jackson, Saidenberg, and Ward, Art Dealers on Madison Avenue in the 1960s | Curated by Damon Brandt and Valentina Branchini,

September 8 - October 22, 2022

MAD WOMEN: Kornblee, Jackson, Saidenberg, and Ward, Art Dealers on Madison Avenue in the 1960s | Curated by Damon Brandt and Valentina Branchini

Past exhibition
  • Overview
  • Installation Views
  • Press
  • Overview
    MAD WOMEN, Kornblee, Jackson, Saidenberg, and Ward, Art Dealers on Madison Avenue in the 1960s | Curated by Damon Brandt...

    BILLY AL BENGSTON · NORMAN BLUHM · LEE BONTECOU · LOUISE BOURGEOIS · JOHN CHAMBERLAIN · JIM DINE · ROSALYN DREXLER · JEAN DUBUFFET · CLAIRE FALKENSTEIN · DAN FLAVIN · JULIO GONZÁLEZ · JOE GOODE · GRACE HARTIGAN · ALEX HAY · HANS HOFMANN · ROBERT INDIANA · ALFRED JENSEN · ALEX KATZ · PAUL KLEE · JOAN MITCHELL · LOUISE NEVELSON · PABLO PICASSO · RICHARD STANKIEWICZ · PAUL THEK · BOB THOMPSON · ANDY WARHOL

     

    David Nolan Gallery is pleased to announce MAD WOMEN, an exhibition profiling pioneering women gallerists Jill Kornblee, Martha Jackson, Eleanore Saidenberg, Eleanor Ward, and their respective exhibition programs that flourished along Madison Avenue in the 1960s. During a complex and fraught decade in American history, each of these groundbreaking women became an essential and defining part of the contemporary cultural landscape, all of which remains relevant today.

    Madison Avenue, located on an Uptown-Downtown axis in Manhattan, is the ideal retail destination between the residential gold coasts and museums of Fifth and Park Avenues. Shops and galleries proliferated in the 1950s and 1960s along or close to Madison Avenue, forming a robust inter-connected community that catered to an expanding and inquisitive audience. Influential art critics Lawrence Alloway, John Ashbery, Dore Ashton, John Canaday, and Donald Judd were frequent Saturday afternoon visitors, moving amongst a fluid crowd of well-heeled clients and penniless young devotees of the more freewheeling Downtown art scene. Every Friday, The New York Times ran an expansive black and white patchwork quilt of printed ads, calling attention to the extraordinarily diverse array of the best of both European and American artistic creativity. It was in the midst of this fertile urban avenue of art and commerce that the Kornblee Gallery, Martha Jackson Gallery, Saidenberg Gallery, and Stable Gallery flourished.

    In 1955, Eleanore Saidenberg, no doubt over the protestations of her almost exclusively male competition, was awarded the sole representation of Picasso for North America. Armed with an already vibrant classical exhibition program that included Paul Klee, André Masson, Julio González, and Jean Dubuffet amongst others, throughout the 1960s she became an early inspiration, mentor, confidant and supporter of the neighboring Madison Avenue dealers working in the often more arduous and volatile contemporary art field. It was an extension of her character and the professional concern for her colleagues that she became a founding member of The Art Dealers Association of America (ADAA).

    Jill Kornblee, a reserved and intense graduate of Bryn Mawr College, opened her first gallery in 1961, moving soon after to 58 East 79th Street, where she quickly earned a reputation for being a dealer of astute intellectual and aesthetic vision. She gave inaugural exhibitions to such maverick talents as Michelangelo Pistoletto, Dan Flavin, Rosalyn Drexler, and Alex Hay.

    Further down Madison Avenue, often dressed in Dior, Eleanor Ward reigned over Stable Gallery for close to twenty years with a similarly impressive roster of fresh talent, including Andy Warhol, Paul Thek, Marisol, and Joan Mitchell. Quoting Dore Ashton, “Eleanor [Ward] injected the art scene, which sometimes seemed a little bland, with a sense of urgency. Her decision, at a key time in American art, made Stable important.” Ward suddenly closed the gallery in 1970, when she felt “the art world had gotten too commercial. Although some dealers may get a ‘high’ from their sales, that aspect was far less interesting to me than discovering new artists, selecting work and installing the show itself.”

    Less than six blocks away from Ward, Martha Jackson worked her own brand of personality and magic, a kindred spirit to Ward and Kornblee in both her evangelical approach to being an artist-centric dealer and emotional commitment to cutting edge contemporary art. Early exhibitions of such future art world luminaries as John Chamberlain in 1960, Lucio Fontana in 1961, Louise Nevelson in 1963, and Bob Thompson in 1964 are just a part of this compelling story until her untimely death in 1969 at age 62.

    Where ultimately only four dealers became the necessary curatorial focus of this exhibition, it should be noted that there were a heartening number of other quality galleries run by women along Madison Avenue at that time: Grace Borgenicht, Antoinette Kraushaar, Helen Serger, Marian Willard, Virginia Zabriskie, Gertrude Stein, Terry Dintenfass, and even a young Paula Cooper (then under the name of Paula Johnson) either initiated, nurtured, or inherited serious and well considered programs that warrant acknowledgment.

    Jill Kornblee, Martha Jackson, Eleanore Saidenberg, and Eleanor Ward each possessed that essential talent of a keen and prescient eye working in tandem with an innovative and responsive approach to a business that was often as challenging as it was rewarding. Their shared passion and courage, exemplified by the advocacy and connoisseurship reflected in each of their exhibition programs, remain a testament to a tenacity and brilliance that is worthy of closer attention. In a curatorial celebration of the very artists that helped define their respective legacies, it is our pleasure to bring these four women together, examine their extraordinary careers, and highlight the connective tissue that bound them together in a special time and place.

  • Installation Views
    Open a larger version of the following image in a popup: Mad Women Ephemera
    Open a larger version of the following image in a popup: Mad Women 4
    Open a larger version of the following image in a popup: Mad Women 1
    Open a larger version of the following image in a popup: Mad Women 3
    Open a larger version of the following image in a popup: Mad Women 2
    Open a larger version of the following image in a popup: Mad Women 5
    • Jean Dubuffet Personnage Dans un Paysage, 1960 india ink on paper 9 1/4 x 12 in (23.5 x 30.5 cm)
      Jean Dubuffet
      Personnage Dans un Paysage, 1960
      india ink on paper
      9 1/4 x 12 in (23.5 x 30.5 cm)
    • Jean Dubuffet Le Sol Constellé, March 1957 Assemblage d'Empreintes 25 5/8 x 23 1/4 in (65 x 59 cm)
      Jean Dubuffet
      Le Sol Constellé, March 1957
      Assemblage d'Empreintes
      25 5/8 x 23 1/4 in (65 x 59 cm)
    • Jean Dubuffet Corps de Dame, 1950 crayon, gouache, and watercolor on paper 19 x 12 3/8 in (48.3 x 31.4 cm)
      Jean Dubuffet
      Corps de Dame, 1950
      crayon, gouache, and watercolor on paper
      19 x 12 3/8 in (48.3 x 31.4 cm)
    • Andy Warhol Untitled (Dollar Bill), 1962 acrylic and silkscreen ink on canvas 6 1/2 x 12 1/4 in (16.5 x 31.1 cm) framed: 12 x 18 x 2 in (30.5 x 45.7 x 5.1 cm)
      Andy Warhol
      Untitled (Dollar Bill), 1962
      acrylic and silkscreen ink on canvas
      6 1/2 x 12 1/4 in (16.5 x 31.1 cm)
      framed: 12 x 18 x 2 in (30.5 x 45.7 x 5.1 cm)
    • Joe Goode Cloud Drawing, 1968 pencil on paper 20 1/2 x 24 7/8 in (52.1 x 63.2 cm) framed: 23 1/4 x 27 3/8 x 1 1/2 in (59.1 x 69.5 x 3.8 cm)
      Joe Goode
      Cloud Drawing, 1968
      pencil on paper
      20 1/2 x 24 7/8 in (52.1 x 63.2 cm)
      framed: 23 1/4 x 27 3/8 x 1 1/2 in (59.1 x 69.5 x 3.8 cm)
    • Joe Goode Unmade Bed Drawing aUBd 1.1, 1967 graphite on paper 20 x 25 1/2 in (50.8 x 64.8 cm)
      Joe Goode
      Unmade Bed Drawing aUBd 1.1, 1967
      graphite on paper
      20 x 25 1/2 in (50.8 x 64.8 cm)
    • Joe Goode Money Bag Drawing, 1961 pencil and oil on paper 12 x 11 1/4 in (30.5 x 28.6 cm)
      Joe Goode
      Money Bag Drawing, 1961
      pencil and oil on paper
      12 x 11 1/4 in (30.5 x 28.6 cm)
    • Jim Dine Car Crash, 1959-60 oil and mixed media on burlap 60 x 64 in (152.4 x 162.6 cm)
      Jim Dine
      Car Crash, 1959-60
      oil and mixed media on burlap
      60 x 64 in (152.4 x 162.6 cm)
    • Paul Thek Tribute to LBJ, 1967 graphite, plastic, paper, horse flies, fecal matter 15 x 15 x 1 in (38.1 x 38.1 x 2.5 cm)
      Paul Thek
      Tribute to LBJ, 1967
      graphite, plastic, paper, horse flies, fecal matter
      15 x 15 x 1 in (38.1 x 38.1 x 2.5 cm)
    • Louise Bourgeois LAIR, 1963 latex 9 1/2 x 16 3/4 x 14 3/8 in (24.1 x 42.5 x 36.5 cm)
      Louise Bourgeois
      LAIR, 1963
      latex
      9 1/2 x 16 3/4 x 14 3/8 in (24.1 x 42.5 x 36.5 cm)
    • Louise Bourgeois Untitled, 1968 ink and colored pencil on paper 8 1/2 x 11 in (21.6 x 27.9 cm)
      Louise Bourgeois
      Untitled, 1968
      ink and colored pencil on paper
      8 1/2 x 11 in (21.6 x 27.9 cm)
    • Paul Klee Bazar, 1924 pen and ink on paper laid down on board sheet: 7¼ x 8 7/8 in. (18.4 x 22.5 cm) mount: 9 7/8 x 11 1/8 in. (25.1 x 28.3 cm)
      Paul Klee
      Bazar, 1924
      pen and ink on paper laid down on board
      sheet: 7¼ x 8 7/8 in. (18.4 x 22.5 cm)
      mount: 9 7/8 x 11 1/8 in. (25.1 x 28.3 cm)
    • Julio González Étude pour Homme Cactus, 1939 ink and wash on laid paper with two deckled edges 14 1/2 x 10 1/4 in (36.8 x 26 cm)
      Julio González
      Étude pour Homme Cactus, 1939
      ink and wash on laid paper with two deckled edges
      14 1/2 x 10 1/4 in (36.8 x 26 cm)
    • Grace Hartigan Articulations, 1968 watercolor and collage 29 1/2 x 22 in (74.9 x 55.9 cm)
      Grace Hartigan
      Articulations, 1968
      watercolor and collage
      29 1/2 x 22 in (74.9 x 55.9 cm)
    • Grace Hartigan Lateral View #2, 1968 watercolor and collage 29 1/2 x 22 in (74.9 x 55.9 cm)
      Grace Hartigan
      Lateral View #2, 1968
      watercolor and collage
      29 1/2 x 22 in (74.9 x 55.9 cm)
    • Robert Indiana The American Eat, 1962 conté crayon on paper 25 x 19 in (63.5 x 48.3 cm)
      Robert Indiana
      The American Eat, 1962
      conté crayon on paper
      25 x 19 in (63.5 x 48.3 cm)
    • Robert Indiana The American Eat: New York, 1962 conté crayon on paper 25 x 19 in (63.5 x 48.3 cm)
      Robert Indiana
      The American Eat: New York, 1962
      conté crayon on paper
      25 x 19 in (63.5 x 48.3 cm)
    • Pablo Picasso Femme assise, 1912 India ink on paper 9 1/4 x 4 3/4 in (23.5 x 12.1 cm)
      Pablo Picasso
      Femme assise, 1912
      India ink on paper
      9 1/4 x 4 3/4 in (23.5 x 12.1 cm)
    • Pablo Picasso Étude pour "Déjeuner sur l’herbe" II, 1962 pencil on paper laid down on paper 10 3/4 x 13 3/4 in (27.2 x 35 cm)
      Pablo Picasso
      Étude pour "Déjeuner sur l’herbe" II, 1962
      pencil on paper laid down on paper
      10 3/4 x 13 3/4 in (27.2 x 35 cm)
    • Pablo Picasso 8 Janvier 1937, 1937 lithograph 12 1/2 x 16 1/2 in (31.8 x 41.9 cm) edition of 850
      Pablo Picasso
      8 Janvier 1937, 1937
      lithograph
      12 1/2 x 16 1/2 in (31.8 x 41.9 cm)
      edition of 850
    • Pablo Picasso 8 Janvier 1937, 1937 lithograph 12 1/2 x 16 1/2 in (31.8 x 41.9 cm) edition of 850
      Pablo Picasso
      8 Janvier 1937, 1937
      lithograph
      12 1/2 x 16 1/2 in (31.8 x 41.9 cm)
      edition of 850
    • Pablo Picasso Le Mendiant, Mougins, July 3, 1967 pen and ink and wash on paper 14 5/8 x 20 3/4 in (37.1 x 52.7 cm)
      Pablo Picasso
      Le Mendiant, Mougins, July 3, 1967
      pen and ink and wash on paper
      14 5/8 x 20 3/4 in (37.1 x 52.7 cm)
    • John Chamberlain Untitled, 1960s painted metal 5½ x 8 x 9¼ in (13.9 x 20.3 x 23.4 cm)
      John Chamberlain
      Untitled, 1960s
      painted metal
      5½ x 8 x 9¼ in (13.9 x 20.3 x 23.4 cm)
    • Rosalyn Drexler Hooker, 1963 acrylic and paper collage on canvas board 9 7/8 x 8 7/8 in (25.1 x 22.5 cm)
      Rosalyn Drexler
      Hooker, 1963
      acrylic and paper collage on canvas board
      9 7/8 x 8 7/8 in (25.1 x 22.5 cm)
    • Rosalyn Drexler Cigarette Smoking May Be Hazardous to Your Health, 1967 acrylic and paper collage on canvas 9 x 12 in (22.9 x 30.5 cm)
      Rosalyn Drexler
      Cigarette Smoking May Be Hazardous to Your Health, 1967
      acrylic and paper collage on canvas
      9 x 12 in (22.9 x 30.5 cm)
    • Alex Katz February, 1963 oil on canvas 48 x 32 in (121.9 x 81.3 cm)
      Alex Katz
      February, 1963
      oil on canvas
      48 x 32 in (121.9 x 81.3 cm)
    • Richard Stankiewicz Untitled, 1967 steel 25 x 30 x 9 in (63.5 x 76.2 x 22.9 cm)
      Richard Stankiewicz
      Untitled, 1967
      steel
      25 x 30 x 9 in (63.5 x 76.2 x 22.9 cm)
    • Billy Al Bengston Tom, 1968 lacquered polyester and resin on aluminum 26 × 25 in (66 × 63.5 cm) Edition of 50 (#17/50)
      Billy Al Bengston
      Tom, 1968
      lacquered polyester and resin on aluminum
      26 × 25 in (66 × 63.5 cm)
      Edition of 50 (#17/50)
      Inquire
      %3Cdiv%20class%3D%22artist%22%3EBilly%20Al%20Bengston%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22title_and_year%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_and_year_title%22%3ETom%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_and_year_year%22%3E1968%3C/span%3E%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22medium%22%3Elacquered%20polyester%20and%20resin%20on%20aluminum%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22dimensions%22%3E26%20%C3%97%2025%20in%20%2866%20%C3%97%2063.5%20cm%29%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22edition_details%22%3EEdition%20of%2050%20%28%2317/50%29%3C/div%3E
    • Billy Al Bengston Erroll, 1961 lacquer and polymer on Masonite 24 x 24 in (60.96 x 60.96 cm)
      Billy Al Bengston
      Erroll, 1961
      lacquer and polymer on Masonite
      24 x 24 in (60.96 x 60.96 cm)
    • Dan Flavin Untitled, 1969 daylight and cool white florescent light width: 48 in (122 cm) Edition 1 of 5, of which only two were fabricated
      Dan Flavin
      Untitled, 1969
      daylight and cool white florescent light
      width: 48 in (122 cm)
      Edition 1 of 5, of which only two were fabricated
    • Alex Hay Ground Drawing (square), 1968 graphite on filter paper 35 3/4 x 39 1/2 in (90.8 x 100.3 cm)
      Alex Hay
      Ground Drawing (square), 1968
      graphite on filter paper
      35 3/4 x 39 1/2 in (90.8 x 100.3 cm)
    • Hans Hofmann Astral Image No. 1, 1947 oil on canvas 48 x 60 in (121.9 x 152.4 cm)
      Hans Hofmann
      Astral Image No. 1, 1947
      oil on canvas
      48 x 60 in (121.9 x 152.4 cm)
    • Louise Nevelson Cascades - Perpendiculars XII, 1980-1982 wood assemblage 99 x 25 x 13 in (251.5 x 63.5 x 33 cm)
      Louise Nevelson
      Cascades - Perpendiculars XII, 1980-1982
      wood assemblage
      99 x 25 x 13 in (251.5 x 63.5 x 33 cm)
    • Louise Nevelson Untitled, 1962 gold painted wood construction 23 3/4 × 9 1/2 x 10 in (60.3 x 24.1 x 25.4 cm)
      Louise Nevelson
      Untitled, 1962
      gold painted wood construction
      23 3/4 × 9 1/2 x 10 in (60.3 x 24.1 x 25.4 cm)
    • Louise Nevelson Untitled, 1962 gold painted wood construction 24 × 8 x 8 1/2 in (61 x 20.3 x 21.6 cm)
      Louise Nevelson
      Untitled, 1962
      gold painted wood construction
      24 × 8 x 8 1/2 in (61 x 20.3 x 21.6 cm)
    • Lee Bontecou Untitled (D79), 1964 soot and graphite on paper 28 × 19 5/8 in (71.1 x 49.8 cm)
      Lee Bontecou
      Untitled (D79), 1964
      soot and graphite on paper
      28 × 19 5/8 in (71.1 x 49.8 cm)
    • Norman Bluhm Untitled, 1961 oil on paper mounted on Masonite 30 3/4 x 22 3/8 in (78.1 x 56.8 cm)
      Norman Bluhm
      Untitled, 1961
      oil on paper mounted on Masonite
      30 3/4 x 22 3/8 in (78.1 x 56.8 cm)
    • Alfred Jensen Upward; Downward; Upward Movements, 1961 oil on canvas 44 x 54 in (111.8 x 137.2 cm)
      Alfred Jensen
      Upward; Downward; Upward Movements, 1961
      oil on canvas
      44 x 54 in (111.8 x 137.2 cm)
    • Bob Thompson Odalisque, 1960 oil on canvas 24 x 36 in (61 x 91.4 cm)
      Bob Thompson
      Odalisque, 1960
      oil on canvas
      24 x 36 in (61 x 91.4 cm)
    • Joan Mitchell Untitled, 1960 oil on canvas 39 3/8 x 39 3/8 in (100 x 100 cm)
      Joan Mitchell
      Untitled, 1960
      oil on canvas
      39 3/8 x 39 3/8 in (100 x 100 cm)
    • Claire Falkenstein Untitled, ca. 1965 copper and glass 9 1/4 x 16 3/4 x 8 1/4 in (23.5 x 42.5 x 21.0 cm)
      Claire Falkenstein
      Untitled, ca. 1965
      copper and glass
      9 1/4 x 16 3/4 x 8 1/4 in (23.5 x 42.5 x 21.0 cm)
  • Press

    • News

      Mad Women: Kornblee, Jackson, Saidenberg, and Ward | Art Dealers on Madison Avenue in the 1960s

      Clara Molot · AirMail October 19, 2022
      It’s not often that a gallery exhibition is about the gallerists themselves, but this one is. “Mad Women” tells the story of four pioneering female gallerists who opened spaces along...
    • News

      In Pictures: See Highlights of a Show Celebrating the Taste-Making ‘Mad Women’ Who Changed New York Art

      Caroline Goldstein · Artnet October 14, 2022
      Before there was Larry Gagosian, David Zwirner, or (ahem) David Nolan, a cohort of trailblazing female gallerists dominated a tony stretch of Madison Avenue in New York City—and have left...
    • News

      David Nolan Gallery Will Pay Homage to Four Pioneering Women Gallerists of the 1960s New York

      Widewalls October 7, 2022
      Some of the most renowned and respected artists of the 20 century would have remained unknown to American audiences if not for the few trailblazing women gallerists who recognized the...
    • News

      MAD WOMEN

      William Corwin · The Brooklyn Rail October 6, 2022
      Vintage exhibition posters from the galleries of Jill Kornblee, Martha Jackson, Eleanore Saidenberg, and Eleanor Ward, adorn the stairwell. Frayed corners and creases in the black and white flyer for...
    • News

      Mad for Art: A Look Back and Up the Avenue at Women Gallerists

      Deborah Solomon · The New York Times October 6, 2022
      Artists may strive for immortality, but art dealers would be foolish to do so. They tend to be forgotten over time. A fascinating show at the David Nolan Gallery, “Mad...
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