Berthe Weill: The Pioneering Parisian Dealer Who Launched Picasso, Modigliani, and the Avant-Garde
Berthe Weill, who was born in Paris on November 20, 1865, made history in 1901 as the first female art gallery owner in the city. She established "Galerie B. Weill" in Montmartre, showcasing contemporary talents such as Pablo Picasso and Amedeo Modigliani. Notably, in 1917, she arranged Modigliani's sole solo exhibition, which was abruptly closed by police. Out of her 149 solo exhibitions, Weill highlighted the works of 29 women artists, including Berthe Morisot and Tamara de Lempicka. Financial difficulties led to the gallery's closure in 1940. After World War II, a sale organized by Maurice Rheims aimed to assist her. Weill passed away on April 17, 1951, and has gained renewed recognition since 2007, with her memoirs reissued in 2009 and translated in 2022.
Key facts
- Berthe Weill was born in Paris on November 20, 1865, and became the first woman to run an art gallery in Paris by 1901.
- She opened her gallery in Montmartre under the sign "Galerie B. Weill," omitting her first name to avoid misogyny.
- Weill sold and exhibited Pablo Picasso's work as early as 1901, including pieces from his Blue and Rose periods.
- In 1917, she organized Amedeo Modigliani's first and only solo exhibition, which police shut down within hours because nude paintings were visible from the street.
- She represented Raoul Dufy most frequently, with one solo and 35 group exhibitions, and he called her "little Mother Weill."
- Weill dedicated 29 of the 149 solo shows at her gallery to women artists, including Suzanne Valadon, whom she represented from 1913 to 1932.
- She closed her gallery in 1940 due to economic reasons and the rise of Nazism, and died in poverty on April 17, 1951, at age 85.
- Since 2007, Weill has been rediscovered; her memoirs were reissued in 2009 and translated into English in 2022, when Paris also named a garden after her.
Entities
Artists
- Berthe Weill
- Pablo Picasso
- Amedeo Modigliani
- Raoul Dufy
- Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec
- Marie Laurencin
- Suzanne Valadon
- Salvator Mayer
- Marcellin Weill
- Pedro Manach
- Ambroise Vollard
- Francis Picabia
- Georges Braque
- Fernand Léger
- Marc Chagall
- Jules Pascin
- Chaim Soutine
- Henri Matisse
- André Derain
- Maurice de Vlaminck
- Kees Van Dongen
- Berthe Morisot
- Tamara de Lempicka
- Léonie de Maistre
- Valentine de Saint-Point
- Léopold Zborowsky
- Georges Kars
- Hermine David
- André Warnod
- Maurice Rheims
Institutions
- Galerie B. Weill
- Salon d'Automne
- Drouot
- Philadelphia Museum of Art
- Guggenheim Museum
- National Gallery of Art
- Musée d'Art Moderne
- Musée d'Orsay
- Tate
- Musée des Beaux-Arts
- The Phillips Collection
- Musée de l'Orangerie
- Picasso Museum
Locations
- Paris
- France
- Montmartre
- Spain
- New York
- United States
- Washington
- London
- United Kingdom
- Nancy