NEW YORK—Tzila Krugier, director of the Jan Krugier Gallery announced that the gallery will close its New York space and transfer operations to its Geneva branch by the end of the calendar year.
Noting that she lives in Geneva and that the family business, founded by her late father, Jan Krugier, has been based there since 1962, Tzila Krugier said “of course we will continue to be active in New York and in the United States. Our clients here will continue to be very important to us, and our relationships with galleries and dealers, developed over the past 40 years, will be preserved and made even stronger. But I have decided that the most efficient way to conduct our business is to consolidate all operations in Geneva.”
The New York gallery was located in the Fuller Building on East 57th Street for many years and is currently housed at 980 Madison Avenue. The gallery specializes in 19th- and 20th-century contemporary art and original prints and is known for organizing museum-quality exhibitions.
At the 2009 edition of Art Basel, Krugier honored her father, who passed away in late 2008. The gallery’s booth was entirely given over to works by artists he had championed, including Jean-Michel Basquiat, Paul Cézanne, Max Ernst, Alberto Giacometti, Paul Klee, Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso. Several pieces had only been seen previously in museums.
Among the highlights were Picasso’s oil Personnage, 1971, and Bram van Velde’s Composition, 1957. Van Velde was the first artist Jan Krugier chose to represent after opening his first gallery in 1962. Contemporary artists in the Basel show included Michel Haas, Geneviève Asse, Zoran Antonio Music and Irving Petlin. Krugier Gallery holds exclusive North American rights to sell works from Pablo Picasso’s granddaughter Marina.