Every art announcement card is unique.  Each promotes a specific exhibition taking place at a particular place and time. An important decision is made about which image to include: A work in the exhibition? A detail of a work? Or maybe a portrait of the artist? The fun of collecting these cards lies in…

There are many reasons to be interested in art ephemera — a type of collectible that has the advantage of being small, easy to store, and modestly priced. Many collectors follow specific artists, while others appreciate catchy images that they can casually display on a bookcase or coffee tape.

Remembering performance artist William Pope.L (1955 – 2023) who passed last week at the age of 68.

The 1988 announcement card from a Metro Pictures exhibition featuring eleven successful women artists illustrates the gender diversification that was slowly taking hold in the art world in the 1980s. This demographic shift was especially noticeable amongst the artists associated with the then still unnamed “Pictures Generation” art movement which…

See all of Gallery 98’s newsletters on our Newsletter Archive page A lot has happened at Gallery 98 over the last year. Most significantly, we have introduced a redesigned website that not only looks and functions better, but also includes a cart that makes purchasing…

There are many reasons to treasure art ephemera. It can be an item of art historical significance; maybe it’s an announcement card for a favorite artist; or perhaps it touches on a theme that’s personally important to you. All of Gallery 98’s holiday suggestions fall into one or more of these categories.

Selling Polaroids is a picture book for many audiences. Drinkers and dive-bar aficionados will certainly be pleased. But it is also for fans of Amsterdam and the libertine spirit that the city continues to embody today.  Mostly though, it is a book celebrating the freewheeling lifestyle that artists enjoyed in the late 1970s and early 80s, a…

Alice Denney enjoyed nothing more than causing a ruckus by exhibiting challenging new art in “boring old  Washington.” We first met in 1974 when I moved to Washington for a year, and art-world acquaintances suggested I contact her. Alice loved action — giving parties, collecting art by young artists, and…

Last week’s opening of the Brooklyn Museum’s exhibition Copy Machine Manifestos: Artists Who Make Zines (closing March 31, 2024) is a reminder of the important role that the photocopy machine played in the creation of new modes of art and art ephemera. While the technology used in copy machines dates back to…

This week’s newsletter features an eclectic group of items. The artists created in a range of styles — expressionism, pop, no wave, cartoon satire, and photo journalism. There is also a wide range in what we identify as art ephemera, including familiar formats like announcement cards and press releases, as well as artist books, artist-designed advertisements, an…

Thanks in part to our new high-visibility website, Gallery 98 is increasingly being approached by artists and galleries who want their history to be part of our ever-expanding collection of art ephemera. Recently, we were fortunate to obtain a large collection of announcement cards from the Texas Gallery, courtesy of its principal owner Fredericka…

There is no shortage of treasures buried in Gallery 98’s extensive inventory of close to 7,000 items.  Each one of these four items captures a different moment and direction in art. All have stories to tell. Richard Lippold, Sculpture for Four Seasons Restaurant, Signed Card, 1961 Richard Lippold, The Four Seasons,…

Whether you’re interested in a specific artist, an art movement like graffiti, or how art reflects political and social issues, you can quickly find what you are looking for on Gallery 98’s swift new website. Our inventory of art ephemera keeps growing — currently there are 6,961 items posted, and we…

Gallery 98 is fortunate to have recently acquired a collection of early Jenny Holzer items from 1979-82, a fertile period when Holzer first developed important aspects of her art. These were also the years when Holzer was an active participant in Collaborative Projects Inc. (COLAB), an artist’s group, that like Holzer, shared an interest in…

For those interested in the history of art, the cards, posters and catalogs created in conjunction with past exhibitions provide a way to relive the art experience as it originally unfolded. These vintage collectibles not only provide documentation of specific art-world events, they also contextualize art in the social and commercial structure that gives art its fullest…

New York’s nightclub scene in the 1970s and 1980s is legendary today for its creativity, as well, its hedonism and debauchery. Studio 54 (1977), the Mudd Club (1978), Club 57 (1979), Danceteria (1979), and the Limelight (1983) were the early clubs that set the tone. AREA opened in September 1983 and was part of a second wave, yet…

Jean-Michel Basquiat and AREA owner Eric Goode from the book Area: 1983–1987 authored by Eric Goode & Jennifer Goode, photograph by Valerie Shaff, published by Abrams, 2013 For the talented and prolific Jean-Michel Basquiat, 1985 shaped up to be a banner year. In February, his portrait was on the cover of The…

Gallery 98 is happy to announce the launch of our new website. It has been obvious for quite a while that vintage art ephemera is a growing market, and that people enjoy looking through our vast collection of old cards and posters. It has also been clear that websites grow…

Every example of art ephemera tells a story, and sometimes, when two items connect, the story can get very interesting. That’s certainly the case with two items currently in Gallery 98’s inventory:  a poster featuring a photo of Richard Serra’s public sculpture TWU (the initials for the Transit Workers Union), and a copy of Franklin Furnaces’ magazine Flue with…

Expanding our inventory of vintage posters by top artists from the last decades of the 20th Century is an ongoing process here at Gallery 98. We are currently photographing and processing a large collection of posters. As a taste of what is to come, here are three favorites. Each is…

During its ten-year run as a gallery from 1986–1995, Psychedelic Solution provided a populist alternative to art styles found in other galleries. It specialized in works by Rick Griffin, Robert Williams, Robert Crumb and the many other accomplished artists who can be credited with pioneering what is now known as psychedelic…

When Stefan Eins opened the art space Fashion Moda in the South Bronx in 1978, he hoped that the unlikely setting, one of the country’s most devastated neighborhoods, would stir the creativity of his Downtown peers.

For several years, Gallery 98 has been puzzled by a piece of mail art in our inventory, originally sent to the offices of Artforum in 1974. The piece consists of the front page of the LA Times of February 28, 1974, with a lead story on Tony Shafrazi’s vandalism of Pablo Picasso’s…

Some art ephemera ages especially well. One example is this vintage 1980 poster for “Dubbed in Glamour” advertising three nights of performances at the Kitchen in Soho.

As Gallery 98 continues creating new online exhibitions, our old exhibitions remain online for viewing. From our newsletter archive we have resurrected here an August 9, 2017 newsletter promoting the most popular of our early online exhibitions.

MoMA’s 1984 blockbuster exhibition “Primitivism” in 20th Century Art proudly boasted that the exhibition was the first to “juxtapose modern and tribal objects in the light of informed art history.” While the organizers thought of themselves as being scholarly and objective, the fact that they put quotation marks around the…

In 1982 the idea of the DIY artist store went mainstream when the upscale German exhibition documenta 7 asked Stefan Eins & Jenny Holzer to create a Fashion Moda Store.

“Selling Polaroids in the Bars of Amsterdam, 1980” a book of photographs by Bettie Ringma and Gallery 98’s Marc H Miller had a successful launch last week in Amsterdam.

Gallery 98 presents Toyo Tsuchiya’s Rivington School Sculpture Garden portfolio. The portfolio includes a panoramic view of the now destroyed sculpture garden, as well as eleven additional prints signed and annotated by Toyo.

Vintage art ephemera by Audrey Flack, including hand-signed offset prints of her vanitas still-life paintings, available for purchase at Gallery 98.

The Amsterdam City Archives will host the launch of “Selling Polaroids in the Bars of Amsterdam, 1980” on June 15th. Copies can be purchased directly from Lecturis NL.

This newsletter showcases counterculture ephemera from the 1960s, including items related to Jimi Hendrix, Woodstock, the Black Panther Party, the Chicago Eight trial, Abbie Hoffman, Allen Ginsberg, Tuli Kupferberg, and the Cannabis Cup.

Works by Fluxus artists Jean Dupuy and William Stone using old New York Phonebooks showcase the movement’s freedom, experimentation, recycling, and humor.

Gallery 98 showcases selected issues of Süddeutsche Zeitung (SZ) magazine from the 1990s, featuring cover designs and picture spreads created by artists Jenny Holzer, Jeff Koons, and Richard Prince.

A rare catalog for 9 Evenings: Theatre and Engineering, a 1966 performance series organized by Billy Kluver that combined art and technology, and featured artists like Robert Rauschenberg, Yvonne Rainer, and John Cage.

Acconci’s work was influential in the art world, opening the way for performance and video art, and reconfiguring conceptual art into something more personal and expressive.

Hager’s books document the early history of hip-hop culture and the intersection of nightlife and art in the East Village scene, featuring interviews with key artists.

Highlights include a rare collection of collaborative posters from COLAB’s Talk is Cheap exhibition and Lady Pink’s poster from Your House is Mine. Visit Gallery 98’s Poster Page for additional items.

Vintage art posters from the 1970s and 80s, including iconic works by Warhol, Basquiat, Haring, and the Guerrilla Girls, now available at Gallery 98.

Leonard Abrams, founder of East Village Eye, has died unexpectedly. He started the Eye in 1979 and it remains a primary resource for 1980s culture.

Celebrate Amsterdam’s vibrant nightlife with the book “Selling Polaroids in the Bars of Amsterdam, 1980.” Support the crowdfunding campaign and receive a copy of the book.

Marlene Dumas: Fifty Years of Art Ephemera is an online exhibition showcasing a collection of gallery cards, brochures, posters, and other promotional materials tracking Dumas’s long career.

The Times Square bar Tin Pan Alley, was a popular hangout for downtown women artists. It was also the inspiration for the fictional bar in the recent television serial “The Deuce.”…

With over 200 photos and scholarly essays by Mark Bergsma and Leonor Faber-Jonker, “Selling Polaroids in the Bars of Amsterdam, 1980” captures both the city’s nightlife and it’s changing demographics.

In honor of Women’s History Month, Gallery 98 showcases six women artists who have overcome the odds and risen to the top of the art world.

Gallery 98 highlights three popular categories of art ephemera: Artist Portraits, Performance Art, and Nudes & Pinups.

This collection of art ephemera showcases Duchamp’s influence on artists such as Mike Bidlo, Hannah Wilke, Elaine Sturtevant, and others.

The map and walking tour booklet highlight various sites associated with notable figures in Harlem’s history, including artists, writers, musicians, athletes, and political activists such as Duke Ellington, Langston Hughes, and Malcolm X.