Roland Augustine, a cofounder of Luhring Augustine, one of New York’s longest-running galleries, is stepping aside to focus on his philanthropy, marking the end of an era. Cofounder Lawrence Luhring will continue to lead the gallery, which celebrated its 40th anniversary last year, alongside longtime directors Lauren Wittels and Donald Johnson Montenegro.
Augustine is a trustee of Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York, where he is actively involved with the Bard Prison Initiative, the Program for International Education and Social Change at Bard Berlin, and the Center for Curatorial Studies, the school’s industry-leading exhibition and research center.
“I’m retiring from the gallery, but I’m not retiring,” Augustine told ARTnews recently. “Luhring Augustine has put together a great program, and I’m super proud of it. There’s nothing that would please me more than to perpetuate its success going forward, and I will do everything I can to do so. I leave on very good terms and with a sense of immense gratitude.”
Luhring told ARTnews that he bought out Augustine’s share of the gallery at the end of last year. Throughout 2026, he added, the gallery will restructure, converting Wittels and Johnson Montenegro from limited partners to equity partners.
According to the agreement with Augustine, the gallery can retain its name for three years; Luhring said he anticipates a name change sooner than that, but did not specify when. He characterized Augustine’s departure as “bittersweet,” adding that he is “really excited [to continue the gallery with] Donald and Lauren. They’re super passionate people, and they’ve brought really terrific artists into the gallery.”
Wittels worked at the gallery from 1989, when she was its only full-time employee, until 1995. She left then to start her own gallery before returning in 2011, and was named a partner in 2019. Johnson Montenegro joined the gallery in 2012.
“Roland had an enormous part in the gallery being so focused on artists and on long-term relationships—ongoing relationships with curators, with collectors,” Wittels said. “That’s something that I’m very proud to have had such a long-term footing in, and that will be the focus of continuing the gallery, especially in these times when business is so difficult and so many people who got into it for the flashy reasons are getting out of it.”
“Roland has been a mentor to me in a huge way,” Johnson Montenegro said. “He’s going to remain a close friend of the gallery and involved with some of the artists with whom he has particularly close relationships. This is something that we’ve really discussed and that we feel is exciting for everyone involved.”
Luhring and Augustine opened Luhring Augustine on 57th Street in 1985 and became known for shepherding artists such as Janine Antoni, Pipilotti Rist, and Christopher Wool. Augustine has also served as president of the Art Dealers Association of America (ADAA).
The gallery has moved alongside shifts in the art market and New York real estate, from Midtown to SoHo, then to Chelsea and Bushwick. It currently operates spaces in Chelsea and Tribeca. Unlike some of its peers, the gallery did not expand to multiple locations around the world—aside from a short-lived space in Los Angeles in the late 1980s, in collaboration with Germany’s Galerie Max Hetzler—and has kept its roster to around 25 artists.
“I believe there is still room for this kind of very personalized, boutique approach to the art world,” Luhring said. “And I think there are certain artists who still favor it.”
