Louis Stern (born January 7, 1945) is a veteran Los Angeles

art dealer An art dealer is a person or company that buys and sells works of art, or acts as the intermediary between the buyers and sellers of art. An art dealer in contemporary art typically seeks out various artists to represent, and builds relationsh ...

and President of

Louis Stern Fine Arts Louis Stern Fine Arts is an art gallery located at 9002 Melrose Avenue in West Hollywood, California, in the heart of the city’s Avenue of Art and Design. History and development Louis Stern Fine Arts was founded in 1988 by Louis Stern, a s ...

West Hollywood West Hollywood is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Incorporated in 1984, it is home to the Sunset Strip. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, its population was 35,757. History Most historical writings about West Hollywood be ...

, California. Stern deals in the secondary market for Impressionist and Modern works. His gallery’s program specializes primarily in west coast hard-edge geometric abstraction.

Early life and family

Louis Stern was born in

Casablanca Casablanca (, ) is the largest city in Morocco and the country's economic and business centre. Located on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Chaouia (Morocco), Chaouia plain in the central-western part of Morocco, the city has a populatio ...

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

in 1945, and immigrated with his family to the United States in 1955. He is the oldest son of Frederic Stern, an art dealer who specialized in 19th century French painting. Stern began working in the art business with his father at the age of 16, developing expertise in

Impressionist Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...

Post-Impressionist Post-Impressionism (also spelled Postimpressionism) was a predominantly French art movement that developed roughly between 1886 and 1905, from the last Impressionist exhibition to the birth of Fauvism. Post-Impressionism emerged as a reaction a ...

, and Modern art. Stern’s brother Jean Stern is Executive Director Emeritus of the Irvine Museum in Orange County.

Career and development

After being active in the art business in London and Paris, Stern founded his first gallery on Brighton Way in

Beverly Hills Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. A notable and historic suburb of Los Angeles, it is located just southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Beverly Hil ...

in 1982. In 1994, he relocated to his current location on Melrose Avenue in West Hollywood. After moving to the Melrose location he exhibited Modern and Impressionist work including solo shows for Matisse, Picasso, Leger, Villon and Kupka. He has acquired and placed works by artists of the late 19th and 20th centuries, including Monet, Renoir, Pissarro, Sisley, Cassatt, Morisot, Degas, Van Gogh, Braque, Chagall, Modigliani, Giacometti, de Kooning, Dubuffet, Francis and Warhol. While Stern continues to be active in the secondary market, his gallery is focused on leading West Coast hard-edge abstractionists of the twentieth century (representing the estates of Karl Benjamin,

Lorser Feitelson Lorser Feitelson (1898–1978) was an artist known as one of the founding fathers of Southern California–based hard-edge painting. Born in Savannah, Georgia, Feitelson was raised in New York City, where his family relocated shortly after his b ...

, and Helen Lundeberg). The gallery represents a stable of contemporary artists as well, many of whom create work which continues the legacy of hard-edge abstraction. Over time Stern expanded his specialties to include Latin American art, particularly that of Mexican painter and muralist Alfredo Ramos Martínez, who is considered by many to be the "Father of Mexican Modernism". Stern founded the Alfredo Ramos Martínez Research Project to promote and protect the legacy of the artist. He serves as the director of the project, which is currently compiling the catalogue raisonné for Ramos Martínez. Stern’s advocacy reestablished the reputation of Ramos Martínez, resulting in a major retrospective at the Museo Nacional de Arte (MUNAL) in Mexico City in 1992.

Involvement and awards

Stern has served on the board of directors of the Fine Art Dealers Association (FADA); was vice president of the Art Dealers Association of California from 1990 to 1991; was a member of the International Foundation for Art Research, New York; was a member of the Archives of American Art (Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.); and was a founding member of the Photographic Arts Council at LACMA. He is also on the advisory board of Gallery 825/Los Angeles Art Association, is on the Advisory Council for the Arts at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, and is a member of the Getty Research Institute Council. He has advised numerous groups and assemblies regarding buying, selling and collecting important works of art, especially Impressionist and Modern. Stern is also a member of the Art Advisory Panel of the Commissioner of the

IRS The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting Taxation in the United States, U.S. federal taxes and administerin ...

. Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur In 2001, Stern was made a Chevalier in the Arts and Letters by the French Minister of Culture. On December 16, 2007, he was presented with France's highest decoration, the

Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

("Knight of the Legion of Honor") by Pierre Vimont, French Ambassador to the United States, on behalf of the President of France. Created by

Napoleon Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

in 1802, it is awarded for gallantry in military action or civilian life for work that enhances the reputation of France through scholarship, arts, sciences and politics. The Government of France recognized Stern for his efforts to further the knowledge and appreciation of French culture and French artists with his gallery program and his numerous French/American civic affiliations. He is a life member of the American Society of the French Legion of Honor.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stern, Louis 1945 births Living people American art dealers Businesspeople from Los Angeles Chevaliers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres French art dealers Knights of the Legion of Honour People from Casablanca