In Memoriam: Paul Kasmin
‘Self Portrait’, © Paul Kasmin. Image Courtesy of Kasmin Gallery
By Lamia Baladi
The renowned art dealer Paul Kasmin, sixty, lost his battle to cancer on Monday morning in his upstate home. Born in London in a family of art aficionados, Kasmin was heavily influenced by his father John Kasmin, an eminent art collector and catalyst in the launch of David Hockney’s career. Paul Kasmin later moved to New York City, where he opened his first eponymous gallery in Soho.
As a pioneer in the New York art scene, Kasmin was one of the first to move his gallery to the Chelsea district in 2000. The Paul Kasmin Gallery now holds four exhibition spaces in the area, with the fourth one being a 5000 square foot rooftop garden, alongside the Manhattan High Line. The gallery’s notoriety lies in its eclectic roster of artists, merging historically pivotal figures such as Constantin Brancusi with more contemporary ones, such as photographer Tina Burney.
More recently, Kasmin cultivated his lifelong passion for photography. He photographed his artistic community, including his friends, family and gallery staff. In the occasion of his passing and to celebrate the enormous contribution Kasmin made to the arts, his photographs are currently on view on the gallery’s site.
“Paul devoted himself to a life celebrating art and artists,” the gallery said in a statement. “Those of us who have worked with Paul learned from his extraordinary eye for talent, his delight in the work of the artists he loved, and his rare sense of openness and generosity”.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to his friends and family during this painful time.
