This art dealer paved the way for Picasso, Matisse and Modigliani. So why haven’t you heard of her?

Art dealer Berthe Weill helped establish artists such as Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso during the first half of the 20th century. But by the end of her life, the struggling businesswoman was virtually unknown.

Now Weill (pronounced “vay”) is finally getting her own exhibition at New York University Gray Art Museum. The new show features more than 100 works by artists who became famous thanks to Weill’s support.

“There are so many aspects of what it means to be a female dealer in a male-dominated profession and the realities of trying to promote unproven artists that still ring true,” Lynn Gumpertthe director of the museum, says the New York Times‘ Hilarie M. Lakens.

Weill was born to a Jewish family in Paris in 1865 and opened her own gallery, Galerie B. Weill, in her mid-30s. From the start, she decided to only present emerging artists instead of established names.

On her business card she wrote: “Place aux Jeunes”, or “make way for the young” in English. The title of the show, “Make way for Berthe Weill: art dealer of the Parisian avant-garde”, reflects this motto.

“This exhibition highlights the remarkable story of an indomitable woman who ran a gallery in Paris, the art capital of the world, from 1901 to 1941,” Gumpert said in a statement. statement. “Weill looked for unproven artists, some of whom became household names and some of whom did not. But everyone benefited from her creativity, ingenuity and passion.”

Weill’s gallery was open for four decades in four different locations in Paris. During that time she developed an amazing artistic eye. She organized Amedeo Modigliani‘s only solo exhibition during his lifetime, which was closed by the police because his paintings were considered “indecent.” She showed it Fauve painters (before they were ever called the Fauves) and was the first art dealer to buy Picasso’s artwork in 1901. She also gave Diego Rivera his first solo exhibition in Paris and was an early promoter of Matisse.

Today, art historians recognize that Weill’s taste was groundbreaking. But at the time, she was a risk taker who gambled on obscure names. She pushed these artists to her high-profile clients, including Gertrude Stein and her brothers.

“’Trust me, you should buy Matisses,’ I told them,” Weill wrote in her memoir, Pow! Right in the eye!according to the Times. “They weren’t ready yet.” She adds, “However, they quickly came to a decision and started buying by hand (not from me).”

In addition to Picasso and Matisse, the new exhibition also includes works by Marc Chagall, Aristide Maillol, Fernand Leger And Raoul Dufy. It will feature numerous female artists that Weill promoted, including Suzanne Valadón, Emilie Charmy And Alice Halicka. The exhibition also includes photographs, magazines, letters and exhibition catalogues.

“Make Way for Berthe Weill” asks why Weill’s name has been erased from history. In addition to her impressive influence, the exhibition explores “the sexism, anti-Semitism and economic struggles she faced as she championed groundbreaking contemporary art in a competitive Parisian art market,” the museum said. She eventually closed her gallery during the Nazi occupation of France.

“The importance of this dealer that you have probably never heard of may also be determined by the works of art that are not in the exhibition,” writes Artnetby Karen Chernick. “Several paintings that no one wanted to show when Weill did are now too expensive to borrow for an exhibition about her.”

“Make way for Berthe Weill: art dealer of the Parisian avant-garde‘ is on display at the Gray Art Museum in New York until March 1, 2025.