Virginia M. Zabriskie
Gallerist who ran Zabriskie Gallery for over five decades.
Virginia M. Zabriskie was an American art dealer and gallerist who owned New York's Zabriskie Gallery from 1954 to 2010. She was known for presenting both contemporary and historical art, and for her preference for the title 'gallerist' over art dealer.
Quick Facts
- Birth name
- Virginia Ione Marshall
- Born
- July 15, 1927
- Birthplace
- New York City
- Died
- May 7, 2019
- Occupation
- Art dealer, gallerist
Facts from the source article.
Early life and education
Virginia Ione Marshall was born in New York City to Arthur Albert Marshall, a restaurant owner, and Agnes Ione Watters Marshall, a former actress. She earned a bachelor's degree in art history from New York University in 1949, writing her senior thesis on Marcel Duchamp, Jacques Villon, and Raymond Duchamp-Villon. While a student she met modern art promoter Walter Pach, through whom she encountered Marcel Duchamp, Edward Hopper, and other contemporary artists. She later studied art in Paris and became the first American to serve as an English-language docent at the Louvre.
Career
Virginia M. Zabriskie ran her New York gallery from 1954 to 2010 and a Paris outpost from 1977 to 1998. She championed sculptors like Elie Nadelman and Mary Frank, and painters including Pat Adams, Lester Johnson, Nell Blaine, and Miyoko Ito. A 1986 historical exhibition at her New York space was titled "Surrealism 1936: Objects, Photographs, Collages and Documents." In Paris, her gallery focused on photography and housed a bookstore. She was the first to exhibit a cache of Richard Stankiewicz's abstract ink drawings uncovered in the 1980s. Preferring the term "gallerist," she saw her role as presenting an artist's work rather than simply selling it. Paris awarded her La Medaille de la Ville de Paris in 1999, and a 2004 essay collection, "Zabriskie: Fifty Years," marked her career.
Personal life
Virginia M. Zabriskie, born Virginia Marshall, was married twice: first to George Zabriskie in 1952, then to Arthur Cohen in 1970. Both marriages ended in divorce. She lived with dystonia, a neurological disorder that impaired her speech and hand coordination. Zabriskie passed away in 2019 at age 91 in her New York City home. She gave the Zabriskie Gallery records to the Smithsonian’s Archives of American Art and other materials to the University of Delaware. In November 2019, the Tribeca gallery CHART mounted After Virginia, a show revisiting her 1999 exhibition Abstraction in Photography.
Frequently Asked Questions
When and where was Virginia M. Zabriskie born?
Virginia M. Zabriskie was born on July 15, 1927 in New York City.
When did Virginia M. Zabriskie die?
Virginia M. Zabriskie died on May 7, 2019.
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