A new gallery opening in New York’s Chelsea district this autumn will place historical research at the centre of its programme, beginning with an exhibition that reconsiders one of Impressionism’s most celebrated figures through a contemporary lens.
Founded by art advisor, curator and researcher Victoria Mouraux Durand-Ruel, Mouraux Durand-Ruel Gallery will open on September 22 at 555 West 25th Street, directly opposite Pace Gallery. Its inaugural season will be followed by Mary Cassatt, opening October 29 to coincide with the centenary of the American artist’s death.
Rather than presenting Cassatt solely as the painter of intimate domestic scenes for which she is best known, the exhibition examines how her work engaged with questions of women’s independence, education and identity that continue to resonate today.
Bringing together original prints and archival material, the show draws on recent scholarship to position Cassatt as both an artistic innovator and a figure whose work anticipated many of today’s conversations surrounding gender and representation.
Among the exhibition’s highlights is Woman with a Sunflower No. 2, a rare drypoint linked to Cassatt’s celebrated painting Woman with a Sunflower, now in the National Gallery of Art. Recent research has associated the sunflower motif with the American women’s suffrage movement, offering fresh context for one of the artist’s most recognisable images.
The exhibition also revisits Cassatt’s pioneering experiments in colour printmaking, inspired by Japanese ukiyo-e prints she encountered in Paris, which remain among the most technically ambitious works produced by an Impressionist artist.
“We hope readers come away with a new appreciation for Mary Cassatt as an artist whose work remains deeply relevant today, while also introducing them to Mouraux Durand-Ruel Gallery and its mission of connecting historical scholarship with contemporary conversations,” the gallery said in a statement.
Victoria Mouraux Durand-Ruel, a descendant of influential Impressionist dealer Paul Durand-Ruel, previously held roles at Christie’s, Phillips, Opera Gallery, The Metropolitan Museum of Art and TEFAF.
Through exhibitions, publications and public programming, the gallery plans to build a dialogue between historical art scholarship and contemporary cultural debate, while strengthening connections between New York and Europe.
(Image Credit: Copyright: Archives Durand-Ruel; Image 1: Woman with a Sunflower n2, c. 1905, dry point, 18,5 x 12,5 cm; Image 2: By the Pond, c. 1896, color print, 33 x 42,5 cm)
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