Marian Goodman, the founder of the eponymous gallery that helped shape the course of New York’s contemporary art scene, died at her home on January 22nd, at the age of 97, according to an official announcement from her gallery.
Over a career that spanned more than five decades, Goodman was known not just for her eye, but for the depth of her commitment to artists. She played a pivotal role in establishing the international reputations of figures such as Gerhard Richter, William Kentridge, Lawrence Weiner, Nan Goldin, Pierre Huyghe. As such, she often maintained working relationships with artists that lasted decades rather than market cycles.
A trailblazing dealer, Goodman entered the art world at a time when women gallerists were still rare. Even earlier, she had already carved out space for herself in academia. In 1960, she enrolled at Columbia University as the only woman in the MA program in art history. Five years later, she founded Multiples, a publishing venture dedicated to prints, artist books, and three-dimensional materials by artists including Man Ray, Sol LeWitt, and Robert Indiana.
Frequent trips to Europe during this period of time proved formative. They introduced her to a generation of artists who would become central to her life’s work and sharpened her focus on contemporary European art. During a visit to Documenta in Kassel in 1968, Goodman met a group of young artists including Marcel Broodthaers and Joseph Beuys. She began collaborating with them soon after, forging relationships that would define her career.
Yet it was not until 1977, frustrated by her inability to find a New York dealer willing to represent Broodthaers, that she opened Marian Goodman Gallery on 57th Street in Manhattan. The gallery’s inaugural exhibition was dedicated to Broodthaers—his first solo show in the United States. Four years later, she mounted Anselm Kiefer’s first U.S. solo exhibition, further cementing her role as a crucial bridge between Europe and the American art world.
Goodman was widely admired for her loyalty and intellectual rigour. She worked with Richter for 37 years, and maintained relationships of more than two decades with artists such as Kentridge, Huyghe, and Chinese artist Yang Fudong.
As her health declined, Goodman gradually withdrew from the gallery’s day-to-day operations in 2021. Since then, the gallery has undergone a period of transition. Richter and photographer Jeff Wall departed the gallery roster to join David Zwirner and Gagosian, respectively, while Philipp Kaiser stepped down as president after six years with the gallery.
Though the gallery has played a defining role in the art world for more than five decades, it has largely resisted rapid expansion. Outside the United States, Marian Goodman Gallery opened two international outposts: Paris in 1995 and London in 2014. The London space closed in 2020 amid the coronavirus pandemic. Within the U.S., the gallery expanded to Los Angeles in 2023 and relocated its New York headquarters to Tribeca, into a new space designed by architect Markus Dochantschi.
Many figures from across the art world have paid tribute online. “She was a guiding star—for her artists, collectors, and for generations of curators and art lovers around the globe,” wrote art dealer and Tate board member Matthias Arndt on Instagram.
