Ephemera Tells the Story: Gallery Owner David Zwirner

With art ephemera we are able not only to follow the careers of favorite artists, but we can also trace history from the perspective of art galleries. Grandly located on West 19th Street in New York City, the David Zwirner Gallery is among the handful of galleries that have real art-world sway. From Gallery 98’s inventory of art ephemera, we can learn about the gallery’s roots in Germany, and its connections with the many world-class artists it currently represents.

The story starts with David Zwirner’s father, Rudolf Zwirner, who, as a founder of the Cologne Art Fair in 1967, helped to reconnect postwar Germany to the international art world. After learning the art trade from his father, David Zwirner opened his own gallery in New York City’s Soho district in 1993. A bigger space on West 19th Street in Chelsea followed in 2002. Along the way there was a partnership with the Swiss art dealer Iwan Wirth who later opened the Hauser & Wirth gallery.

Rudolf Zwirner & The Cologne Art Fair

Upon its opening in 1967 the Kölner Kunstmarkt was the first commercial art fair for galleries specializing in modern and contemporary art. By 1974 the fair had become international, featured hundred of galleries, and transformed Cologne into a major art center. As the son of Rudolf Zwirner, one of the fairs first organizers, David Zwirner had the international connections to assure his own success as a gallery owner.

Stan Douglas at the David Zwirner Gallery, Greene Street, New York City, 1996

David Zwirner, who was still in his 20’s when he opened a gallery on Greene Street in Soho in 1993, gravitated to younger, more experimental artists like Canadian-born Stan Douglas. Zwirner was the first to show Douglas’ film and photography works in the United States.

Gordon Matta-Clark at the David Zwirner Gallery, Greene Street, New York City, 1999

In 1998 Zwirner began representing the estate of conceptual artist Gordon Matta-Clark (1943–1978). His first exhibition at the gallery spotlighted Matta-Clark’s interest in the concept of recycling. The portrait of Matta-Clark on the card is a detail from a work about recycling hair.

New York c. 1975 at the David Zwirner Gallery, Greene Street, New York City, 2001

This exhibition about art in New York around 1975 included a wide range of artists whose work addressed social and political issues. The unusual announcement card featured Lynda Benglis’ famous Artforum advertisement where she challenged sexual stereotypes by posing nude holding a dildo. View our collection of other Artforum advertisements.

Marlene Dumas at Zwirner & Wirth Gallery, East 69th Street, New York City, 2005

From 2000 to 2009  David Zwirner collaborated with the Swiss art dealer Iwan Wirth in the Upper East Side gallery Zwirner and Wirth. This 2005 exhibition featured Marlene Dumas, a successful painter in Europe who was then still little known in the United States. Gallery 98 recently featured the online exhibition Marlene Dumas: Fifty Years of Art Ephemera.

Ruth Asawa at the David Zwirner Gallery, West 19th Street, New York City, 2017

Since it opened in 2002, Zwirner’s West 19th Street gallery in Chelsea has hosted hundreds of exhibitions featuring acclaimed artists. This announcement is for the gallery’s first exhibition for sculptor Ruth Asawa (1926 – 2013), whose estate the gallery now represents.

For more items check out our Zwirner Gallery page.