A spate of New York galleries are celebrating significant anniversaries—Pace Gallery (65 years), Sperone Westwater (50), Hal Bromm (50), Albertz Benda (10), Jane Lombard (30), Yancey Richardson (30), and James Cohan (25)—mounting special exhibitions that mark their longevity. These milestones come amid widespread anxiety about the traditional dealer model, with headlines suggesting the sector is in crisis.
This trend matters because it offers a counter-narrative to the prevailing doomerism in the art market, demonstrating that smaller and mid-sized galleries can endure and adapt through cycles of disruption. The dealers interviewed frame the current turbulence as a natural period of recalibration, emphasizing lessons learned about serving artists, trusting instincts, and building resilient teams—values that transcend short-term market fluctuations.