Dear Friends and Colleagues,

In 2019, Hollis Taggart celebrated its 40th anniversary. Hitting this significant milestone inspired us to both examine our history and consider the future. Over the years, as new trends have come and gone, and we’ve made changes to our locations and spaces, one essential component of our vision has remained: our unwavering commitment to scholarship and to presenting artwork of the highest quality. As the commercial landscape continues to shift, we know that this commitment will continue to serve us and those who seek exceptional artistic experiences. With this in mind, we have made changes to our digital and physical program. And as December winds to a close, we are delighted to share with you some of the developments from this year and to highlight what is to come at the start of 2020. We look forward to connecting with you at our gallery locations and also online.

Happy holidays and to a wonderful new year.

Hollis Taggart

A New Online Viewing Room

Today, we launched our digital Viewing Room, which serves as a new platform to present curated online-only exhibitions of our current holdings and the works of contemporary artists that have joined our program. This new virtual space is part of the broader redesign of our website, which we first unveiled this fall. The new website expands our ability to share images of works by and news from our roster of artists, and to better connect with you about important happenings at our gallery locations. The Viewing Room is an exciting new component of our revamped virtual presence, further enhancing the ways in which we display outstanding works to the art.

The first presentation in the Viewing Room is titled Hidden Jewels and features a selection of works on paper that highlights major developments in abstraction, from the post-war period to the present. This includes an emphasis on geometric structures, as seen in the work of William Baziotes, Audrey Flack, and Günther Förg, as well as on experiences of color and light in works by artists such as Richard Pousette-Dart, Mark Tobey, Paul Jenkins, Norman Bluhm, Leon Berkowitz and contemporary artist John Knuth. Additionally, drawings by Franz Kline, Michael West, Joan Mitchell, Elaine de Kooning, and contemporary artist Hollis Heichemer highlight the range of gestural approaches within the genre, while works by Lucio Fontana and Sam Gilliam capture artistic engagement with the physicality of paper through the use of bold punctures and folds.

An Expanded Contemporary Program

This year, we formalized the expansion of our contemporary program. We hired new senior leadership to guide our contemporary division and opened a new location at 514 W. 25th Street to support an ongoing and robust roster of exhibitions by emerging and under-recognized contemporary practitioners. The growth in our contemporary program has allowed us to more actively engage with today’s artistic dialogues, and to create interesting and dynamic throughlines between new and historic works.

In January 2020, both our flagship and secondary spaces will feature presentations by contemporary artists, with Kenichi Hoshine: The Magician and The Thief on view at W. 26th Street and Of Folly, Fortune, Glory, Ruin: William Buchina and Christina Nicodema on view at W. 25th Street. Through new and recent paintings, the artists in the upcoming exhibitions examine and interpret the constructs of our daily experiences through the lens of abstraction, offering audiences three distinct visions and approaches to contemporary painting. More information about the exhibitions can be seen on our website.

Ongoing Commitment to Discovery

Throughout our history, we have been committed to and responsible for shedding new light on little-known and under-recognized historic artists. In 2019, we revealed to audiences the works of such talented artists as Leon Berkowitz, Harry Bertschmann, Sven Lukin, and Michael (Corinne) West, whose work is on view at our flagship location through January 4. These presentations have introduced these artists to new audiences and expanded knowledge of their contributions to the development of important artistic movements.

In February, the Newark Museum of Art will present the first monographic survey of the work of gallery artist Norman Bluhm, featuring paintings and works on paper produced between 1947 and 1998. To support engagement with the exhibition and to further engage audiences with Bluhm’s distinct voice, we will also be presenting a selection of works and ephemera from the artist’s estate. We look forward to sharing this work with you, and to bringing forth additional voices that deserve wider recognition and acknowledgment.