Sperone Westwater, a prominent New York gallery representing artists like Richard Long and Bruce Nauman, will close at the end of 2025 after 50 years. The closure follows a lawsuit filed by co-founder Gian Enzo Sperone against fellow co-founder Angela Westwater, alleging unlawful handling of funds and a "parasitic deadlock" over the gallery's finances, including rent disputes and salary increases. The gallery will continue its current Richard Long exhibition until December 13 and participate in Art Basel Miami Beach before shutting down on December 31.
The closure marks another high-profile gallery shuttering in New York this year, joining Blum, Venus over Manhattan, and Clearing, reflecting ongoing challenges in the art market. Sperone Westwater was a bastion of Neo-Expressionist painting in the 1980s and a pioneer in moving to the Lower East Side in 2010, commissioning a Norman Foster-designed building. Its dissolution affects 28 artists and their estates, signaling a loss of a historic bridge to an earlier New York art world.