Berthe Weill Art Dealer of the Parisian Avant-Garde

This book offers a rich introduction to the life and work of art dealer Berthe Weill—the risk-taking, rule-breaking facilitator of the modernist art movement in Paris.

This book and the accompanying traveling exhibition survey the groundbreaking career of Berthe Weill (1865–1951), the first female modern art dealer. She championed many fledgling masters of modern art from early in their careers—including Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, and Amedeo Modigliani—as well as numerous other talented artists. Examining Weill’s contributions to the history of modernism as a gallerist, a passionate advocate of contemporary art, and a Jew, this book brings to light the remarkable achievements of a singular figure who overcame sexism and anti-Semitism in her quest to promote emerging artists.

The exhibition, co-organized by New York University’s Grey Art Museum, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, and the Musée de l’Orangerie, features some eighty artworks that were originally displayed at her gallery during the first four decades of the twentieth century.

Lynn Gumpert is director of New York University’s Grey Art Gallery. Marianne Le Morvan is director and founder of the Berthe Weill archives. Anne Grace is curator of modern art at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. Stéphane Aquin is director of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. Claire Bernardi is director of the Musée de l’Orangerie in Paris. Robert Parker is an independent art scholar. Charles Dellheim, professor of history and Jewish studies at Boston University, is author of Belonging and Betrayal: How Jews Made the Art World Modern. Sophie Eloy is assistant director of the Musée de la Vie Romantique in Paris. Kirsten Pai Buick is director of Africana studies at the University of New Mexico. Ambre Gauthier is an art historian and independent curator.