Bodley Gallery

The Bodley Gallery was a prominent art gallery in New York City, United States, from the late 1940s through the early 1980s. The Bodley specialized in contemporary and modern art. David Mann was director of the gallery during its heyday and Mr. and Mrs. Raymond Braun (a.k.a. Georgie Duffee), were the owners.

Upper East Side haven for new and modern art

Several of Andy Warhol's earliest exhibitions in New York were at the Bodley during the 1950s, starting with two in 1956. David Mann, the Bodley's director, had previously been manager of the Hugo Gallery, assistant to director Alexander Iolas, when the Hugo mounted Warhol's first solo exhibition in 1952 [1] [2] [3]. Apparently David Mann was not the first director of the Bodley Gallery, which seems to have existed already in the late 1940s; but the period of David Mann's directorship includes the most important years of the Bodley's existence, judging from exhibition catalog records and other published historical material. According to at least one source, Mann was still director of the Bodley as late as 1981. [4]

Max Ernst had a major solo exhibition at the Bodley Gallery in 1961, after his works were exhibited together with those of Yves Tanguy in a 1960 Bodley Gallery show. Also in 1960, Roberto Matta had a solo show at the Bodley, entitled "Matta, from 1942 to 1957". Many other notable artists had showings at the Bodley under Mr. Mann's directorship, including Victor Brauner, Charles Bunnell, Clarence Holbrook Carter, Thomas Chimes, Louis Delsarte, Jane Frank, Charlotte Gilbertson, Eugenio Granell,Shirley Hendrick, Hank Laventhol, Mina Loy, Larry Rivers, Ethel Schwabacher, Bettina Shaw-Lawrence, Thomas Sills, and Ahmed Yacoubi.

Although the gallery emphasized the work of living artists, exhibits were not limited to such works - as evidenced by its showing of paintings by Tanguy in 1960, and by the exhibition catalogue listed below for a 1970 show including works of René Magritte, who had died in 1967. A 1971 exhibition entitled "Modern Master Drawings" included works by Klee, Léger, Matisse, and Picasso. The Bodley exhibition record, as evidenced by listed catalogues, shows a general preponderance of surrealists (including Jorge Noceda Sanchez) among the artists featured.

Early Warhol exhibitions at the Bodley Gallery

  • "Drawings for a Boy-Book" : February 14 - March 3, 1956 [5]
  • "The Golden Slipper Show or Shoes Shoe in America" : December 3–22, 1956 [6]
  • "A Show of Golden Pictures" : December 2–24, 1957 [7]
  • "Wild Raspberries" : December 1–24, 1959 [8]

Location

According to many sources (including warholstars.com and the 1961 Max Ernst exhibition catalogue listed below), the Bodley Gallery was located (through the 1950s and until at least November 1963, according to the catalogue for a 1963 Jane Frank show) at 223 East 60th Street, in Manhattan's wealthy Upper East Side neighborhood. This would place it between Second and Third Avenues. Presently the storefront is occupied by Dejavu Boutique & Gallery, a luxury fashion boutique selling mostly European clothing. To acknowledge the building’s past, the boutique preserved the 2nd floor of the space as an Art Gallery to showcase artwork by established artists and the interior is lined with décor by Mackenzie-Childs.

As of no later than April 1964, the Bodley Gallery had relocated to 787 Madison Avenue (an ad on page 15 of the April 1964 issue of Art in America gives this address). This put it in an even more exclusive section of the Upper East Side, at Madison and 67th Street. That is now the address of Jacadi, which sells upscale children's clothing.

A third address, 1063 Madison Avenue (at 80th Street), seems to have been in effect by about 1975, if not earlier (but no earlier than 1967; see references and external links). 1063 Madison is now the address of a women's fashion boutique called Agnes B.

It is possible, of course, that the Bodley owned or rented more than one location simultaneously.

See also

References

Books

Other

  • "What's New in Art", The New York Times; Sunday, April 2, 1967; listing art openings for Monday (April 3) including "JANE FRANK - Bodley Gallery, 787 Madison Avenue. Paintings. To April 21." (This verifies that the gallery was still located at 787 Madison Avenue as late as April 1967.)

External links

Coordinates: 40°45′43″N 73°57′54″W / 40.76191°N 73.96491°W / 40.76191; -73.96491


This page was last updated at 2019-11-09 03:21 UTC. Update now. View original page.

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