The news came in on Friday—after twenty-eight years, Mitchell-Innes & Nash Gallery is closing its Chelsea gallery. But it’s a new beginning, not an ending. A gallery press statement and Instagram post reported that gallerist duo Lucy Mitchell-Innes and David Nash “will be working within a new paradigm, consulting with select primary market artists and estates, providing art advisory services to individual collectors and foundations, and representing artworks on the primary and secondary markets.” The gallery also announced that the business will transition into a “project-based advisory space,” after taking the summer to support its artists and staff through the change. A new location in Manhattan was teased but not revealed.
Mitchell-Innes & Nash originally opened in the Upper East Side in 1996 and moved to its current location in Chelsea in 2005. The couple opened the gallery after holding major positions at Sotheby’s: Mitchell-Innes was formerly head of the Contemporary and Impressionist Art and Nash was head of Impressionist and Modern Art. Mitchell-Innes also served on the Art Basel Switzerland selection committee and was president of the Art Dealers Association of America.
In its years of activity, Mitchell-Innes & Nash Gallery hosted 200 exhibitions, earning a reputation for high-quality shows and cementing its influence in the art market. The exhibition history spans everything from acclaimed surveys of 20th-century masters such as Jean Arp, Anthony Caro, Willem de Kooning, Leon Kossoff, Kenneth Noland, Roy Lichtenstein and Nicolas de Stael to solo exhibitions of work by Sarah Braman, Keltie Ferris, Daniel Lefcourt, Eddie Martinez, Pope.L (who died in 2023), Martha Rosler and Jessica Stockholder.
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This is just the latest in a series of high-profile art gallery closures and transitions announced in the past several months. In April, seventy-eight-year-old blue-chip Marlborough Gallery made headlines when it announced it would close in June. Another long-time dealer, Betty Cunnigham, shuttered her operations on June 14 after twenty years of business. Cheim & Read also closed last December after twenty-six years of gallery activity with a stellar roster. And Tribeca’s Postmasters Gallery went “nomadic” in May of 2023 in a venture Magda Sawon referred to as “Postmasters 5.0.”
The market has seen a significant downturn compared to just two years ago, while costs for real estate, particularly in New York City, and general business operations are rising. Downtown Manhattan has already lost between last year and this year several galleries, including David Lewis, Simone Subal, Heller Gallery, Jasmin Tsou’s JTT Gallery, Helena Anrather, Foxy Production and Queer Thoughts. Others, such as Nino Mier, are in the middle of big scandals for allegedly underpaying artists and pocketing the difference.
So, what’s going on? After the buoyant post-pandemic upswing, the art market is experiencing a serious readjustment, forcing dealers to rethink their business strategically or leave the playing field. It’s likely we’ll see other similar announcements over the summer months—or possibly after the fact, when galleries resume their operations after the summer break.
