Barbara Gladstone, influential New York gallerist, dies at 89

Barbara Gladstone, the New York gallerist who championed contemporary artists from the 1980s onward, has died aged 89. Born in 1935, she left a teaching post in art history at Hofstra University to open Gladstone Gallery in Manhattan in 1980. She quickly became known for representing key figures of the decade, including Richard Prince, David Salle, and Matthew Barney, whose career she notably boosted. Later additions to the roster included Shirin Neshat, Carrie Mae Weems, and Wangechi Mutu. In 2020, Gavin Brown joined as a partner, bringing artists from his former gallery—Joan Jonas, Ed Atkins, Mark Leckey, Rirkrit Tiravanija, Arthur Jafa, and the Jannis Kounellis estate. Gladstone once remarked to W Magazine in 2018 that the art business had many women because it was considered harmless and not a serious moneymaker; she herself was twice divorced with three children when she started. The gallery now operates three spaces in New York, an appointment-only viewing room in Los Angeles, and previously expanded to Brussels in 2008 and Seoul’s Gangnam district in 2021. A senior leadership team led by Max Falkenstein, with Brown, Caroline Luce, and Paula Tsai as partners, has been in place in recent years.