Galerie Gmurzynska Marks 60 Years With Bold New York Expansion
This fall, the storied Galerie Gmurzynska celebrates a milestone that few family-run institutions in the art world achieve: its 60th anniversary. To mark the occasion, the international gallery is opening a new flagship in Manhattan’s Fuller Building — an address steeped in cultural history and once home to the legendary Pierre Matisse Gallery. For Isabelle Bscher, the third-generation head of the gallery, the timing and location feel like destiny.
“Yeah, we’re celebrating,” Isabelle says with a laugh. “The gallery was founded in 1965 by my grandmother, so this year is our sixtieth anniversary, plus it’s the opening of the new space in the Fuller Building. We are celebrating both things, and so it will be a great opening.”
Founded in Cologne, Germany, by Antonina Gmurzynska in 1965, Galerie Gmurzynska quickly carved out a reputation for its scholarly approach to curating. Its early exhibitions spotlighted Surrealism, Constructivism, and avant-garde pioneers, often paired with rigorously documented catalogues. Over the decades, the program expanded to include Modern masters such as Picasso, Kurt Schwitters, Fernand Léger, Lyonel Feininger, and the Delaunays, as well as major estates including Yves Klein, Wifredo Lam, and Louise Nevelson.
Now headquartered between Zurich and Zug, Switzerland, the gallery has hosted more than 200 exhibitions and published over 300 catalogues. Its participation in international fairs — from Art Basel to TEFAF — has helped maintain its reputation as a serious, museum-quality player.
When the family decided to bring the gallery to North America, Isabelle says there was only one choice. “I think New York is still like the capital of the art market,” she explains. “A lot of our estates wanted to show here, and we always had collectors and museums we worked with—like the Met and all the big museums. It felt like a natural progression to open here.”
The gallery first debuted in New York in 2018 with a smaller space, but the new Fuller Building location — 7,000 square feet with expansive windows and a custom library designed by Jil Sander — signals a deeper commitment.
“We are very lucky,” Isabelle says. “We get these large walls and a lot of natural light coming in. The art looks great.”
For its inaugural exhibition in the new space, Galerie Gmurzynska chose Miro/Matta, a first-of-its-kind dialogue between two titans of 20th-century painting: Joan Miró (1893–1983) and Roberto Matta (1911–2002).
Both artists were introduced to American audiences by Pierre Matisse, who staged 35 Miró solo shows and seven for Matta between 1932 and 1948. Yet, despite their overlapping histories, their works have never been exhibited together in a dedicated conversation.
Isabelle explains that the idea had been percolating for some time. “We’ve worked with both estates for a while, and we thought their paintings would look very interesting together, juxtaposed. It has never been done, so we did a lot of research and brought in great curators to write essays. We were excited to do this show because New York has had so many incredible exhibitions, and it felt important to bring something special.”
The show underscores the artists’ shared backgrounds: both were Hispanic émigrés in pre-war Paris, loosely associated with Surrealism yet resistant to André Breton’s strict orthodoxy. Both found renewed energy in New York after World War II, influencing younger Abstract Expressionists like Jackson Pollock and Robert Motherwell. And both developed unique visual languages that balanced abstraction and figuration, cosmic reverie and biomorphic form.
“Miro loved poetry,” Isabelle says, “so I love those very lyrical works. And Matta — what I love is the great sci-fi element in his paintings. He was very into futuristic ideas. It depends on the artist, but I think you always look for the strength of what speaks to you.”
The decision to mount Miro/Matta in the Fuller Building is more than symbolic. It brings the two artists back to the very spot where Matisse once championed them. In doing so, the gallery continues a lineage of promoting European avant-garde art in New York — a role Pierre Matisse played for more than six decades.
“Sometimes we travel shows between our galleries,” Isabelle says, “but here, with these walls and this natural light, the space just felt right for this exhibition.”
Though Galerie Gmurzynska is rooted in Modernism, it has never shied from contemporary collaborations that blur boundaries. Over the years, the gallery has worked with cultural figures ranging from Baz Luhrmann to Sylvester Stallone.
Isabelle recalls staging a show with Luhrmann during Art Basel Miami Beach in 2014. The concept, conceived with music producer Nellee Hooper, was inspired by Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet. “The idea was when people stand in front of a great piece of abstract art and say, ‘My kid could have done that,’” she says. The gallery recreated a classroom environment, hanging major works in that context. “It was very, very cool,” Isabelle laughs.
Stallone’s involvement came later, beginning as a collector. “He came to a show of ours because he loves Botero’s work,” Isabelle explains. “Then he told us about his own artwork. He’s been painting for an incredibly long time —he even had a painting of Rocky before he wrote the script. We went to see him in LA, and he was always painting in his garage.”
The gallery also forged a long relationship with photographer Karl Lagerfeld, beginning in the late 1980s. “We were the first gallery to show his photography,” Isabelle says. “People just saw his fashion, but in the end, he was widely exhibited in museums.”
These stories speak to the gallery’s ability to straddle the worlds of art, fashion, film, and celebrity culture while still honoring its scholarly roots.
As the gallery enters its seventh decade, Isabelle sees continuity as the key. “I think it’s important to stay true to the roots of the gallery — modernism, Surrealism, the avant-garde,” she reflects. “But also, to put in younger talents or even actors or musicians. We once did a show with James Franco, for instance. My mother did one with Donald Judd and Andy Warhol in the ’80s. So, it’s about staying close to the roots but also keeping it fresh.”
When asked how she manages high-profile personalities, Isabelle is pragmatic. “I think you treat them like any other artist. Just professionally. That’s the trick.”
As for the next generation of artists, she’s optimistic. “I think there’s always something exciting going on. There’s always great work being created,” she says, promising to share a few names privately that she’s keeping an eye on.
What does the future hold for Galerie Gmurzynska? Isabelle’s answer is disarmingly simple. “Somebody once asked an oil man, what’s the secret of being in the oil business? And he said, ‘Staying around.’ I feel like it’s the same with the art market. That’s my goal—to still be around.”
With its bold New York expansion, pioneering exhibition, and a legacy of family stewardship, Galerie Gmurzynska is positioned not just to stay around, but to thrive. As Isabelle prepares for the gallery’s opening night—cocktails included—she exudes both pride and humility.
“Sixty years is not nothing,” she says with a smile.