United States New York The 12 Best Art Galleries in New York City By Devorah Lev-Tov Devorah Lev-Tov Instagram Brandeis University Devorah Lev-Tov is a Brooklyn-based journalist who focuses on luxury travel, family travel, food trends, and sustainable food and travel. TripSavvy's editorial guidelines Updated on 05/26/20 Andrew Toth / Contributor / Getty Images New York City’s art scene is legendary, and it’s not just relegated to the city's famous museums. New York's numerous art galleries are some of the best places to see the latest work from some of the world’s most creative artists, including many that are hard to find in a museum. Exhibiting a wide range of mediums, styles, and artists from around the world, art galleries in NYC are ideal for keeping up with the dynamic art and design worlds. Many galleries are concentrated in the Chelsea neighborhood, but Tribeca has recently become a hotbed for galleries, and there are also several on the Upper East Side and in Brooklyn. Best of all? Whether you’re browsing to buy or just want to see evocative art, nearly all galleries in NYC are free. 01 of 12 David Zwirner AndreaAstes / Getty Images View Map Address 525 W 19th St, New York, NY 10011-2808, USA Get directions Phone +1 212-727-2070 Web Visit website One of the best Blue Chip Chelsea galleries, David Zwirner is a must-visit for big-name artists like Ad Reinhardt, Donald Judd, Dan Flavin, Paul Klee, Diane Arbus, Bill Traylor, and Richard Serra. These days, it may best be known for bringing Yayoi Kusama’s Instagrammable infinity rooms to NYC, first in 2017. David Zwirner started in Soho in 1993 and has grown to two Chelsea locations, one on the Upper East Side, and outposts in Paris, London, and Hong Kong. 02 of 12 Gagosian Robert McKeever, Courtesy Gagosian View Map Address 555 W 24th St, New York, NY 10011, USA Get directions Phone +1 212-741-1111 Web Visit website A cornerstone of the Chelsea contemporary art gallery scene, Larry Gagosian started his namesake gallery there in 1985 after success in Los Angeles. He helped launch many modern artists’ careers, including John Currin, Willem De Kooning, Roy Lichtenstein, and Damien Hirst and is a stalwart of the modern art scene. Gagosian currently has two massive galleries in Chelsea, two uptown on Madison Avenue and another on Park Avenue. Outside of NYC, there are Gagosians in Los Angeles, London, San Francisco, Paris, Rome, Basel, Geneva, Athens, and Hong Kong. 03 of 12 Canada Joe DeNardo View Map Address 60 Lispenard St, New York, NY 10013, USA Get directions Phone +1 212-925-4631 Web Visit website Originally based in Chinatown, this out-of-the-box gallery recently moved to a new space in Tribeca, part of the recent influx of galleries to that neighborhood. Canada was founded in 1999 by Phil Grauer with his wife, Sarah Braman, along with Wallace Whitney and Suzanne Butler (all are artists which is somewhat of a rarity for gallery owners). A bit of a rebel on the gallery scene, Canada is known for championing lesser-known artists and bending the unspoken rules of the art world. Artists who have had previous exhibitions include Samara Golden, Jason Fox, and Lily Ludlow. 04 of 12 Lévy Gorvy Courtesy Lévy Gorvy View Map Address 19 E 64th St, New York, NY 10065, USA Get directions Phone +1 212-772-2004 Web Visit website Gallerist Dominique Lévy opened her gallery in 2012 and in 2017 teamed up with Brett Gorvy, former chair and head of post war and contemporary art at Christie’s, to form Lévy Gorvy, devoted to post-war, modern, and contemporary art. In addition to the Upper East Side space, there are locations in London and Hong Kong as well. The duo represents artists and artist estates like Alexander Calder, Chung Sang-Hwa, Frank Stella, and Karin Schneider. Continue to 5 of 12 below. 05 of 12 Gordon Robichaux Gregory Carideo View Map Address 22 E 17th St, New York, NY 10003-1901, USA Get directions Web Visit website This unique space on Union Square founded by artists Sam Gordon and Jacob Robichaux pushes the boundaries on what a gallery can be. It promotes emerging artists via exhibitions, performances, readings, shops, and publications. For example, in November 2019 they partnered with Alisa Grifo and Marco ter Haar Romeny to bring back a pop-up of their much-loved, hyper-curated shop/gallery KIOSK—a SoHo Icon until it closed in 2015. 06 of 12 James Cohan Phoebe d'Heurle View Map Address 48, 52 Walker St 2nd Fl, New York, NY 10013, USA Get directions Phone +1 212-714-9500 Web Visit website James Cohan opened his first gallery in 1999 on West 57th Street, featuring the early works of London artists, Gilbert & George. In 2002, the gallery moved to Chelsea and in 2015 it opened a second location on the Lower East Side. Twenty years later in 2019, Cohan moved from Chelsea into Walker Street in Tribeca, which is quickly becoming a new gallery hub in NYC. Stop by to see work by artists like Grace Weaver, Yun-Fei Ji, and Firelei Báez, who recently had a solo exhibit at the Studio Museum in Harlem. 07 of 12 A.I.R. Gallery View Map Address 155 Plymouth St, Brooklyn, NY 11201, USA Get directions Phone +1 212-255-6651 Web Visit website The first all-female co-op gallery in the U.S. and one of the first galleries in Soho, A.I.R. Gallery was launched in 1972 by 20 co-founders as a nonprofit art organization supporting women artists. While it has had many homes, today the gallery is in DUMBO, Brooklyn, and exhibits the work of hundreds of women artists each year, and also hosts events, lectures, and symposia on feminism, art, and more. Helene Brandt, Kadie Salfi, and Joan Snitzer are just a few of the women who have shown their work there. 08 of 12 Pioneer Works Walter Wlodarczyk/Courtesy of Pioneer Works View Map Address 159 Pioneer St, Brooklyn, NY 11231, USA Get directions Phone +1 718-596-3001 Web Visit website An artist-run cultural center in Red Hook, Brooklyn, Pioneer Works was founded by artist Dustin Yellin in 2012 as a nonprofit. More than just a gallery (although it is that, too), the red-brick building where Pioneer Works resides dates back to 1866, when it was a factory. Today, visitors will find a technology lab with 3D printing, a virtual environment lab for VR and AR production, a recording studio, a media lab for content creation and dissemination, a darkroom, gardens, a ceramics studio, a press, a bookshop, and multiple galleries. Pioneer Works hosts a rotating schedule of exhibitions, science talks, music performances, workshops, and other free public programming. Continue to 9 of 12 below. 09 of 12 Miles McEnery Gallery Courtesy of David Huffman and Miles McEnery Gallery, New York, NY View Map Address 520 W 21st St, New York, NY 10011, USA Get directions Phone +1 212-445-0051 Web Visit website Specializing in post-war contemporary art, Miles McEnery Gallery grew out of Ameringer | McEnery | Yohe, which launched in 1999. Miles McEnery was a partner and managing director. That gallery moved from 57th Street to Chelsea in 2009 and today it operates as Miles McEnery Gallery. In 2017, the gallery was renovated and in 2018 a second location was opened nearby. It represents about 30 artists, including David Huffman, Emily Mason, Guy Yanai, and Ryan McGinnis. 10 of 12 Perrotin Joel Saget/Getty Images View Map Address 130 Orchard St, New York, NY 10002, USA Get directions Phone +1 212-812-2902 Web Visit website At the tender age of 21, Emmanuel Perrotin founded his first gallery in Paris, where is from. Since then, he has opened 18 spaces, including an NYC outpost. First launched on the Upper East Side in 2013, in 2017 the gallery moved to its current, larger location on the Lower East Side. With 25,000 square feet to play with, Perrotin exhibits boundary-pushing art in a light-filled space from contemporary artists like Chen Fei, Emiyl Mae Smith, and Paola Pivi. 11 of 12 Gladstone Gallery Courtesy of Andro Wekua and Gladstone Gallery View Map Address 515 W 24th St, New York, NY 10011-1104, USA Get directions Phone +1 212-206-9300 Web Visit website Founded by art dealer Barbara Gladstone when she was 40 years old, Gladstone Gallery currently has two Chelsea galleries—one featuring a massive skylight with excellent natural light—as well as one in Brussels. Representing more than 50 artists, visitors might see work by the likes of Richard Prince, Robert Mappelthorpe, Matthew Barney, and Elizabeth Peyton. Gladstone is also known for producing several of Barney’s films. 12 of 12 Kasmin Gallery Roland Halbe View Map Address 509 W 27th St, New York, NY 10001, USA Get directions Phone +1 212-563-4474 Web Visit website Founded in Soho in 1989 by Paul Kasmin, Kasmin Gallery moved to Chelsea in 2000, ahead of the curve. Today, its flagship gallery is in a striking building with a 3,000-square-foot gallery space and a 5,000-square-foot rooftop sculpture garden visible to passersby on the High Line. It also has two smaller spaces nearby. Max Ernst, Robert Motherwell, Roxy Paine, Lee Krasner, David Hockney, and Robert Indiana are just a few of the artists who have had works displayed there. Was this page helpful? Thanks for letting us know! Share Pin Email Tell us why! Submit Share Pin Email