Julien Levy (1906–1981) was an art dealer and owner of Julien Levy Gallery in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, important as a venue for Surrealists, avant-garde artists, and American photographers in the 1930s and 1940s.

Biography

Levy was born in New York on January 22, 1906. After studying museum administration at Harvard under Paul J. Sachs, Levy dropped out shortly before graduating, and moved to New York. There he met

Marcel Duchamp Henri-Robert-Marcel Duchamp (, ; ; 28 July 1887 – 2 October 1968) was a French painter, sculptor, chess player, and writer whose work is associated with Cubism, Dada, Futurism and conceptual art. He is commonly regarded, along with Pablo Pica ...

. In 1926 he traveled to Paris with Duchamp, and befriended

Man Ray Man Ray (born Emmanuel Radnitzky; August 27, 1890 – November 18, 1976) was an American naturalized French visual artist who spent most of his career in Paris. He was a significant contributor to the Dada and Surrealism, Surrealist movements, ...

and

Berenice Abbott Berenice Alice Abbott (July 17, 1898 – December 9, 1991) was an American photographer best known for her portraits of cultural figures of the interwar period, New York City photographs of architecture and urban design of the 1930s, and science ...

, through whom he came into possession of a portion of Eugène Atget's personal archive. In Paris in 1927, he also met artist and writer Mina Loy and was married to Loy's daughter, Joella Haweis. The couple returned to New York, where Levy worked briefly at the Weyhe Gallery before establishing his own New York gallery at 602 Madison Avenue in 1931. Levy and Haweis were divorced in 1942. In 1944, Julien Levy married again, to surrealist artist Muriel Streeter. His connections with many other artists during this period of the 1930s and 1940s allowed Streeter to gain helpful insight with her own work during this time spent in and around Levy's New York gallery. In 1949, Levy moved to Connecticut, he was a friend to Arshile Gorky, and he married a third time, to Jean Farley McLaughlin in 1958. He wrote and taught at

Sarah Lawrence College Sarah Lawrence College (SLC) is a Private university, private liberal arts college in Yonkers, New York, United States. Founded as a Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in 1926, Sarah Lawrence College has been coeducational ...

and

State University of New York at Purchase The State University of New York at Purchase, commonly referred to as Purchase College or SUNY Purchase, is a public liberal arts college in Purchase, New York. Established in 1967 by Governor Nelson Rockefeller, SUNY Purchase is one of 13 compr ...

. Levy's books include ''Memoir of an Art Gallery ''and ''Surrealism'.'' Julien Levy died on February 10, 1981.

Julien Levy Gallery

Concentrating at first on photography, he staged Man Ray's first major show, introduced

Henri Cartier-Bresson Henri Cartier-Bresson (; 22 August 1908 – 3 August 2004) was a French artist and Humanist photography, humanist photographer considered a master of candid photography, and an early user of 135 film, 35mm film. He pioneered the genre of street ...

to the US, and promoted many other European and American figures. 1932, January 29, landmark multi-media Surrealist exhibition, "Surrealism: Paintings, Drawings and Photographs" of the work of

Pablo Picasso Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, Ceramic art, ceramicist, and Scenic ...

Max Ernst Max Ernst (; 2 April 1891 – 1 April 1976) was a German-born painter, sculptor, printmaker, graphic artist, and poet. A prolific artist, Ernst was a primary pioneer of the Dada movement and surrealism in Europe. He had no formal artistic trai ...

, Joseph Cornell,

, and the introduction of

Salvador Dalí Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, Marquess of Dalí of Púbol (11 May 190423 January 1989), known as Salvador Dalí ( ; ; ), was a Spanish Surrealism, surrealist artist renowned for his technical skill, precise draftsmanship, ...

's '' The Persistence of Memory'' (which Levy owned). He also championed the surrealist work of Leon Kelly. This exhibition marks the first in New York to display the works of members of the official surrealist group. 1933, November 21 - ?, Salvador Dalí exhibition. 1934, October 1–13, Fifty Photographs by George Platt Lynes. 1934, October 22 - November 2, 8 Modes of Modern Painting. 1934, November 21 - December 10, Salvador Dalí exhibition. 1935, Julien Levy publishes Salvador Dalí's booklet ''Conquest of the Irrational.'' 1936, January 3–20,

René Magritte René François Ghislain Magritte (; 21 November 1898 – 15 August 1967) was a Belgium, Belgian surrealist artist known for his depictions of familiar objects in unfamiliar, unexpected contexts, which often provoked questions about the nature ...

exhibition. 1936, December, Salvador Dalí exhibition. 1937, the gallery moved to 15 East 57th Street. 1937, Julien Levy publishes Salvador Dalí's booklet, ''The Metamorphosis of Narcissus''. 1938, January 4–18, Rene Magritte exhibition. 1938, November 1–15, the first solo exhibition of the work of

Frida Kahlo Magdalena Carmen Frida Kahlo y Calderón (; 6 July 1907 – 13 July 1954) was a Mexican painter known for her many portraits, self-portraits, and works inspired by the nature and artifacts of Mexico. Inspired by Culture of Mexico, the country' ...

. 1939, March 21- April 17, Salvador Dalí exhibition. 1943, the gallery moves to 42 East 57th Street. 1945, Arshile Gorky had his first solo show. 1947, Paul Delvaux had an exhibition of paintings, which was well received by critics. The gallery closed in 1949.

References

External links

finding aid for Levy's papers
at the

Philadelphia Museum of Art The Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA) is an List of art museums#North America, art museum originally chartered in 1876 for the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. The main museum building was completed in 1928 on Fairmount, a hill located at ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Levy, Julien 1906 births 1981 deaths Modern art American art dealers People associated with the Philadelphia Museum of Art