Art gallery Quotes

Art galleries are not just venues for displaying art. Gallerists and curators are crucial in this process, often specializing in specific genres, styles, or periods.

This page lists nuanced perspectives from these people, offering recent insights.

Explore quotes and captions from gallery owners and about galleries:

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Adrian Ghenie

Gallerist
"If you feel that you are totally disconnected, that the world is far, that you have no chance and so on and so, organize something. Organize a church, a party, a gallery. Put people together in a group with a name or something, and then try to build a program and send messages. And sooner or later, somebody will receive them and will be curious to visit you, and then you have a connection. And you have to explore that connection, and then in few years, if you do something interesting - then you have a root."
✒ Interview Sfmoma • Photo Sebastian Kim

Christine Pfister

Gallerist
"The issue that there is, there was and there will be is that you need somebody to credit your work to bring value to it. The galleries and museums are playing that role. You need to have somebody who says, trust me, it’s creative work and it’s good quality work so that people feel that they can invest their money- from 50 dollars to millions of dollars, it doesn’t matter. You need somebody who is going to tell you that yes, you should consider that, and that’s what we do as galleries. We actually credit the work of the artists. It is possible to work without a gallery, but it’s much slower and difficult, you need to be in a certain circle. I don’t see that role of the galleries changing."
✒ Art Joan Belmar - Photo @bmoreart - Interview Gogonzogogo

David Zwirner

Gallerist
“Just selling is one thing, But strategically building a collection is completely different. It’s great when you’re one of the biggest buyers. Great work finds you.”
✒ "Dealer’s Hand" By Nick Paumgarten on the NewYorker mag November 25, 2013

Dina Mitrani

Gallerist
"The artist’s intention must come through the work. For me, art must have some element of the emotional; it should be moving."
✒ Interview Lensculture -  Photo @sominkangphoto

Elena Soboleva

Director of Online Sales, David Zwirner
“The higher value works we tend to sell online actually are sculpture. It's partially because of the video and ability to really capture the texture and in the round quality of the object in a much stronger way than just a pdf or jpg can.”

✒ "Selling Art Online: Are Galleries Prepared?" | Barcelona Symposium

Graham Wilson

Gallerist
“The visibility of the fairs is 20 times more than an artist can get at a solo exhibition at a gallery.”

✒ Hyperallergic, “Art Dealers Get Candid Ahead of the Armory Show” (2025)

Jonathan LeVine

Gallerist
"The gallery may become more of a creative agency involved in multiple types of projects as well as focusing on artist management and sales. We are all still figuring it out as social media and the world rapidly changes."
✒ Interview My Modern Met • Photo Joe Russo and Maud Frisenfeldt

Jose Freire

"You cannot take an Amazon approach to contemporary art, because it doesn’t protect the artist or the value—and you need to protect the artist, and a dealer needs to protect the value of the art they’re selling to their collectors"
✒ Art Sam McKinniss - Interview Artnet - Photo Andrew Goldstein

Kate Werble

Gallerist
"I think initially what I looked for in artists was this juncture between work that had a very physical presence and also had a lot of thought behind it, or it had a very heavy conceptual presence, but neither one was more important than the other. (...) I’ve worked with artists who are really into the media that they work within and that successfully translate their ideas to an audience, whatever they might be."
✒ Interview on Artnet Kate Werble Gallery

Marcel Katz

“There must be a strong presence of ambition, drive, dedication, and work ethic in the artist. I need to know the artist is self-motivated. I am an agent and a dealer, not a babysitter. An artist needs to be resourceful on his own so I can efficiently do what I need to do.”
✒ Marcel Katz, agent and art dealer The Art Plug

Marian Goodman

Gallerist
"It’s a mixed bag but I think women
are maybe more attuned to the qualities
that a gallerist needs in a relationship with her client."
✒ Photographer Richard Saker - Interview The Guardian

Sadie Coles

Gallerist
“In order to retain your artists you need to continue to represent them in a really good way and make sales for them so it is a very competitive business.”
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“I rely on the strength of my relationship with the artists and hopefully I am providing a useful function in their life you know that they like a dialogue with me and I'm selling to good places I try to place the work really well so it doesn't come back at auction”
✒ Sadie Coles - owner and director of Sadie Coles HQ -Source : Artload 

Scott Ogden

Gallerist
"Art is a relatively safe bet: you get to look at something wonderful, that you like; but it’s also a commodity. Having a gallery has reminded me that art is a commodity. That’s not a bad thing, it’s just what it is."
✒ Interview and photo Artzealous Peter Dreux / Alice Oh."

Simon Lee

Gallerist
"My artists still consider art fairs as a necessary evil, but it is by far from a satisfactory means of presenting work and interacting with a public. And one doesn’t want to lose sight of the fact that it’s not just about sales for the artists; it’s about communication and platforms for disseminating ideas. Certainly, the world is a smaller place, and information travels much quicker because of email and telephone and electronic media, but there is still no substitute for direct engagement with a work of art."
✒ Interview Randian Magazine - Photo Ocula art

Wilfried Lentz

Gallerist
"Gallerists who have decided to do more than 6 fairs a year have to present art that is more easily sellable just in order to cover the costs"