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300:. The couple would remain married for more than 25 years, and were friends and partners even after their divorce, when Ileana married Michael Sonnabend and that couple opened its own gallery. Castelli arrived in the United States in 1941, by way of Marrakesh, Tangier, Algeciras, Vigo and Havana. He took graduate history courses in economic history at
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offered him a guarantee of three years of monthly payments even though he did not expect to sell any of the unknown sculptor's lead-plate work in that time. Castelli also was known for spotting new talent and insisting on
European exposure for his American artists, leading to Rauschenberg in 1964 becoming the first American to win the
349:, one of the early proponents of the school. In 1957, he opened the Leo Castelli Gallery in a townhouse at 4 E. 77th Street between Madison and Fifth Avenues in New York City. From the mid-1960s through the 1970s, the gallery was perhaps the most prominent commercial venue for art in the world. Initially the gallery showcased European
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Castelli's second wife, Antoinette
Fraissex du Bost, opened Castelli Graphics, an art gallery devoted to the prints and photographs of Castelli Gallery and other artists. The couple also had a son together, Jean-Christophe Castelli, but Antoinette Castelli died in 1987. In 1995 Leo Castelli married
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in Los
Angeles, his collection was said to be worth some $ 2 million. In October 2007, Castelli's heirs – his widow, Barbara Bertozzi Castelli, and his two children, Jean-Christophe Castelli and Nina Castelli Sundell – announced the donation of the gallery's archives from 1957 through 1999 to
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until volunteering for the Army, serving in the intelligence service in Europe. After the liberation of France, he was sent to
Bucharest as an interpreter for the Allied commission that controlled the city. As a result of Castelli's military service, he was given American citizenship. Returning to
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Castelli also pioneered a stipend system that was unknown in New York when he opened his gallery. He put his artists on a payroll whether or not their work sold. For this and other reasons, desertions were initially rare among his artists. When
Castelli discovered Serra in 1967, for example, he
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painted his portrait, Warhol made a silkscreen of him in a jacket and tie. Frank Stella named a work after him, in 1992 he posed for the French artist Klaus
Guingand who immortalized his shadow, and a sculpture by
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The Leo
Castelli Gallery continues to operate at 18 East 77th Street in New York under the direction of his wife showing many of the same artists from the gallery's past. The Leo Award, presented annually by the
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joined the stable of
Castelli artists. He gave Johns, Stella and Lichtenstein their first one-man shows. Castelli opened a temporary annex, the Castelli Warehouse, on West 108th Street, with a show organized by
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branch of the Leo
Castelli Gallery at 420 West Broadway, in a building bought by the Hague Art Delivery Company and a cooperative of dealers: Castelli took the second floor; his former wife's
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in 1924, Castelli returned to
Trieste, where his father had secured a job for him with an insurance company. In 1932, he went to work for an insurance company in Bucharest, where he married
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269:. Specializing in surrealistic art, the gallery opened in July 1939, with a show of modern and antique furniture, including commissioned pieces by Drouin,
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In 1988, when there were no tax deductions for gifts to museums, Castelli gave one of the icons of postwar American art, Robert Rauschenberg's
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of 1951, a seminal event in the emergence of Abstract Expressionism. He soon attached himself to the pioneering gallerist
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In 2015, Bertozzi Castelli opened a one-room satellite gallery at 1046 Madison Avenue, near 80th Street, with
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mounted the exhibition "Leo Castelli: An Exhibition in Honor of His Gallery and Artists" in Beverly Hills.
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Leo Castelli's FIRST STEPS in the art world: a "Surrealist" event in Paris in '39 – by Michèle C. Cone.
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one year later. After their wedding, the couple honeymooned in Vienna and bought their first artwork, a
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in Paris, which was named for its co-director, the decorator René Drouin, and situated between the
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Russel, John. "Leo Castelli, Influential Art Dealer, Dies at 91." New York Times, August 23, 1999.
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In New York, the Castellis were two of only three non-artist members (the other was dealer
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In 1982 a traveling exhibit honoring the 25th anniversary of Castelli Gallery visited the
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New York, Castelli took a managerial position with his father-in-law's clothing factory.
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Castelli's father-in-law, Mihai Schapira, helped him to be transferred in 1935 to the
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Leo Castelli; Influential Dealer Promoted Careers of Artists From Johns to Warhol
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in Paris. There, Ileana's taste and money helped him start his first gallery at
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Book Review: A dealer and his galaxy of art stars in 'Leo and His Circle"
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Dealer Leo Castelli Sold the World on Pop Art, and Now He's Cleaning Up
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Italian-American founder of contemporary art gallery system (1907–1999)
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A Smooth Operator, at the Vanguard of the Gallery World in the 1960s
159:; September 4, 1907 – August 21, 1999) was an Italian-American
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awarded Castelli its Centennial Medal of Honor. On this occasion,
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Oral history interview with Leo Castelli, 1969 May 14-1973 June 8
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for five decades. Among the movements which Castelli showed were
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524:) took the top floor; while John Weber, (former director of the
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called Castelli "the godfather of the contemporary art world."
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Leo the Lion – How the Castelli gallery changed the art world
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DiEgidio, Tom. "Leo Castelli." Salon.com, September 11, 1999.
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Antoinette Castelli, 58, Dies; President of Graphics Gallery
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presented "Leo Castelli: a tribute exhibition". In 1996,
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Oral history interview with Leo Castelli, 1997 May 22
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Many artists have enshrined Castelli in their works.
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the Italian art historian Barbara Bertozzi Castelli.
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from ArtNews "Portrait of the Art World" exhibition
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were some artists who were included in group shows.
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Oral history interview with Leo Castelli, 1969 July
1163:, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution
396:joined the gallery, signaling a turning away from
281:(a former girlfriend of Castelli's from Trieste),
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882:Leo Castelli, Influential Art Dealer, Dies at 91
292:. Castelli's parents did not escape but died in
235:'s government required names to be Italianized.
361:. However the gallery also exhibited American
1161:Leo Castelli Gallery records, circa 1880-2000
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1137:Leo and His Circle: The Life of Leo Castelli
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689:(ICI), is named after the late Castelli.
508:. In 1971 Leo Castelli opened a downtown
1096:"Castelli Archives Going to Smithsonian"
1056:Exhibition A Tribute To Noted Art Dealer
1015:Hilarie M. Sheets (September 24, 2015),
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1074:Leo Castelli Meets Film Maker and Fan
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583:Castelli received the rosette of the
357:, and other European artists such as
223:Leo Castelli was born Leo Krausz, in
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1267:20th-century American businesspeople
532:. He later mounted joint shows with
1257:Italian people of Hungarian descent
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1054:Rober Hurlburt (November 1, 1987),
849:Gerald Clarke (February 26, 1979),
608:La Jolla Museum of Contemporary Art
35:Leo Castelli (seated), with artist
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975:"The lost artworks of Les Lalanne"
954:Daniel Grant (February 24, 2011),
731:Whats Up in Art, The Castelli Clan
687:Independent Curators International
238:After earning a law degree at the
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1072:Carol Strickland (May 12, 1991),
973:Willingham, Marion (2023-07-12).
1094:Vogel, Carol (19 October 2007).
880:John Russell (August 23, 1999),
828:Myrna Oliver (August 24, 1999),
616:Butler Institute of American Art
167:system. His gallery showcased
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1139:. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.
933:Mark Lamster (May 23, 2010),
919:Leo Castelli's New York Story
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92:New York City, United States
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1262:Businesspeople from Trieste
728:Bourdon, David (May 1970).
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1060:South Florida Sun-Sentinel
516:took the third floor, and
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1242:Jews from Austria-Hungary
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419:Castelli Gallery's first
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1172:– includes audio excerpt
679:Archives of American Art
165:contemporary art gallery
1237:Austrian businesspeople
1217:American art collectors
675:Smithsonian Institution
359:François-Xavier Lalanne
653:published a eulogy by
585:French Legion of Honor
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398:Abstract Expressionism
363:Abstract Expressionism
177:Abstract Expressionism
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219:Early life and career
1222:American art dealers
1038:A Pearl Beyond Price
1006:, September 4, 1987.
666:Museum of Modern Art
309:Leo Castelli Gallery
193:Color field painting
126: 1933;
1227:Italian art dealers
1189:Robert Mapplethorpe
960:Wall Street Journal
636:Richard Artschwager
520:(later replaced by
481:Salvatore Scarpitta
390:Robert Rauschenberg
327:Robert Rauschenberg
302:Columbia University
240:University of Milan
201:Lyrical Abstraction
163:who originated the
1133:Cohen-Solal, Annie
1036:(March 29, 1998),
1017:Changing Galleries
597:National Arts Club
429:
265:and the couturier
197:Hard-edge painting
1118:, August 7, 2012.
939:Los Angeles Times
917:(June 11, 2010),
902:, July 21, 2010.
834:Los Angeles Times
632:Elaine de Kooning
593:Revoltella Museum
514:Sonnabend Gallery
371:Willem de Kooning
355:Wassily Kandinsky
343:Ninth Street Show
323:Willem de Kooning
298:Arrow Cross Party
267:Elsa Schiaparelli
213:Neo-expressionism
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71:Austrian Littoral
63:September 4, 1907
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595:. In 1998, the
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538:Julian Schnabel
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441:Lee Bontecou
433:Frank Stella
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423:exhibition,
394:Jasper Johns
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383:Norman Bluhm
347:Sidney Janis
335:Ad Reinhardt
315:Charles Egan
312:
290:World War II
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252:
250:watercolor.
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148:Leo Castelli
147:
146:
87:(1999-08-21)
37:Jasper Johns
23:Leo Castelli
1212:1999 deaths
1207:1907 births
579:Recognition
544:, in 1982.
542:David Salle
461:Donald Judd
453:Andy Warhol
437:Larry Poons
331:Franz Kline
279:Leonor Fini
205:Minimal Art
98:Nationality
1201:Categories
984:2024-01-20
693:References
534:Mary Boone
469:Cy Twombly
465:Dan Flavin
406:Minimalism
400:, towards
375:Cy Twombly
351:Surrealism
263:Ritz Hotel
173:Surrealism
161:art dealer
59:1907-09-04
53:Leo Krausz
506:Eva Hesse
477:Ed Ruscha
388:In 1958,
339:Kandinsky
317:) of the
271:Max Ernst
1135:(2010).
575:(1969).
294:Budapest
181:Neo-Dada
138:Children
1116:ARTINFO
738:June 9,
425:Flowers
402:Pop Art
248:Matisse
225:Trieste
185:Pop Art
132:
120:
116:
67:Trieste
1143:
900:Artnet
855:People
626:Legacy
610:. The
421:Warhol
381:, and
333:, and
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