The NYC Art Gallery Overview

Masterworks
July 27, 2022

New York is one of the dominant destinations for the global art market and serves as the art capital of the United States. The city offers a bustling variety of museums and galleries to suit any kind of art lover. 

Here are some of NYC’s best art galleries whether you want to see some of the biggest names in the art world or immerse yourself in the emerging scene and discover the next Basquiat or Hirst. 

To make things easier This overview separates the art galleries by New York neighborhoods to make planning your next art walk or cultural day a breeze. 

Lower East Side

Start with the galleries of the Lower East Side. This is a vibrant neighborhood that is rich with artistic flair and history. Considered with being the birthplace of the graffiti movement in New York, the LES is filled with emerging artists that are bending the rules of fine art.

A young couple visits an art exhibition and looks at the fine art paintings in an art gallery.

Bereau

Bureau is a contemporary art gallery that can be found on 178 Norfolk street. The gallery was established in 2010 by Gabrielle Giattno to provide a space for a diverse group of emerging artists. The art gallery currently represents 19 different artists that range in medium from drawing to installation. Presenting seven exhibitions a year, Bureau strives to showcase artists that want to push the boundaries of artistic expression.

Mark Gallery

Mark Gallery is a contemporary art gallery and art advisory with locations in both the Lower East Side and a satellite location in East Hampton. The gallery is primarily known for showcasing emerging and mid-career artists. Founded and directed by Arielle Mark, the gallery also serves as an art consultancy, and advisory service, and curates a variety of shows.

Van Der Plas Gallery

Van Der Plas is a contemporary art gallery located in the heart of the Lower East Side. Van Der Plas Gallery stays true to the community’s roots with a specialized focus of Outsider and Street art. The subject of Outsider Art speaks to artistic practices that engage unconventional modes, falling outside of the art historical canon. Van Der Plas represents artists such as graffiti pioneer Al Diaz and the ‘Van Gogh of the East Village’, Kevin Wendell.

Other Galleries to See in the Lower East Side:

  • Richard Tattinger Gallery
  • Thomas Nickles Project
  • Cindy Rucker Gallery
  • Foley Gallery
  • François Ghebaly
  • Half Gallery
  • Hannah Traore Gallery
  • Hashimoto Contemporary
  • High Noon 
  • Krause Gallery
  • Perrotin Gallery 
  • Mckenzie Fine Art Inc. 
  • Shin Gallery
  • Spencer Brownston Gallery
  • Thierry Goldberg Gallery 
  • The Hole
  • Peter Blum Gallery 
  • Seregent’s Daughters

Chelsea

The Chelsea art district is one of the most important and influential art districts in the world. It’s concentrated largely between West 18th and West 28th streets and 10th and 11th avenues. The neighborhood features a plethora of galleries including some of the global mega galleries representing well-known and established artists, making it an attraction for any art lover. 

rear view of woman sitting in an art gallery in front of colorful paintings

Kasmin Gallery 

Founded by its namesake as the Paul Kasmin Gallery in 1989, the Kasmin gallery has served as one of the premier galleries specializing in Modern and Contemporary Art. Today the gallery represents a number of well-established artists as well as the estate of recognized artists such as Lee Krasner

Lisson Gallery 

Lisson is one of the most influential and longest-running international contemporary art galleries in the world. The gallery as a whole represents more than 60 international artists across its 6 locations, and the Chelsea location can be found on west 24th street. Lisson Gallery pioneered the early careers of important minimal and conceptual artists such as Donald Judd and Robert Ryman. Today, the gallery remains a hub of influence in minimalist and contemporary art. 

Gladstone 

Gladstone is a leading contemporary art gallery with locations in New York on west 21st street. They represent more than 70 artists as well as major foundations and estates, including the estate of Keith Haring. Founded by Barabara Gladstone in 1980, the gallery contributed to the introduction of international artists to an American audience. 

Other galleries to see in Chelsea

  • Carter Burden
  • Heller Gallery
  • Davidson Gallery
  • Paula Cooper Gallery
  • Marlborough
  • Pace Gallery
  • C24 Gallery
  • Jack Shainman Gallery
  • Hauser & Wirth 
  • Lehmann Maupin 
  • Gagosian Gallery 
  • Kravets Wehby Gallery
  • Elizabeth Harris Gallery
  • Skoto Gallery
  • David Zwirner
  • Ethan Cohen Gallery
  • Petzel Gallery 
  • Praxis

The Upper East Side

Home to some of the best museums the city has to offer like The Metropolitan Museum of Art and The Guggenheim, the Upper East Side is not limited to just the museums for viewing art. Lined along the blocks of 69th to Harlem, the UES offers art for everyone’s tastes.

woman visitor in gallery

David Zwirner

David Zwirner is a contemporary art gallery with locations in New York, London, Paris, and Hong Kong, and currently represents more than seventy artists and estates. The gallery has been home to innovative, singular, and pioneering exhibitions across a variety of media and genres.

Active in both the primary and secondary markets, David Zwirner has helped foster the careers of some of the most influential artists working today, including Yayoi Kusama and Kerry-James Marshall, and has maintained the long-term representation of a wide-ranging, international group of artists.

Lévy Gorvy

Lévy Gorvy, formed by Dominique Lévy and Brett Gorvy, is an international gallery devoted to the highest levels of connoisseurship and collecting in the fields of modern and contemporary arts. Lévy Gorvy maintains four gallery spaces in New York, London, Paris, and Hong Kong. The gallery fosters continued dedication to the living artists and artists’ estates it represents and pursues a robust program of exhibitions and multidisciplinary events.

Mnuchin

Mnuchin Gallery is located in the historic five-story townhouse at 45 East 78th Street on Manhattan’s Upper East Side and is dedicated to presenting museum-quality exhibitions of postwar and contemporary art. Owner and founder Robert Mnuchin, whose passion for the arts developed through his childhood. With this and his long-standing career in the financial sector as the head of the trading desk at Goldman Sachs, began a successful second career as an art dealer in 1992.

Other galleries to visit in the Upper East Side:

  • Franklin Parrasch Gallery
  • Ippodo Gallery
  • Mark Murray Fine Paintings 
  • Moeller Fine Art 
  • Meredith Ward Fine Art 
  • Meredith Rosen Gallery 
  • Nuemann Gallery 
  • Neue Gallerie New York 
  • Claire Oliver Gallery 
  • Heath Gallery 
  • Valerie Goodman Gallery 
  • Van Doren Waxter
  • Spainerman Modern
  • Leo Koeing 
  • Leon Tovar Gallery
  • Jonathan Boos
  • Jane Kahan
  • DI DONNA
  • Waterhouse & Dodd

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