Almine Rech
Almine Rech Ruiz-Picasso (née Rech) is a French art dealer and owner of the eponymous contemporary art gallery. Founded in Paris in 1989 with an exhibition of James Turrell’s 'Space Division' work, Almine Rech has grown into an internationally recognized gallery known for its commitment to minimal, perceptual, and conceptual practices. Over the following decades, the gallery expanded strategically to Brussels, London, New York, and Shanghai, while maintaining its strong Parisian foundation.[1]
Early life and education
[edit | edit source]Almine Rech was born in Paris to a Vietnamese-French mother and a French father, Georges Rech,[2] who founded one of France's first ready-to-wear labels in the 1960s. She took up painting and drawing in high school and while at boarding school in Switzerland[3] before studying art, cinema and literature at Faculté des lettres de Paris and the École du Louvre.
Career
[edit | edit source]Early beginnings
[edit | edit source]Early in her career, Rech did provenance research for Parisian auction houses. By the mid-1980s she was married to her first husband, businessman Xavier de Froment, for six years[4] and had started selling art, helping friends and clients part with modernist artworks from the likes of Pierre Bonnard, Kurt Schwitters, and Félix Vallotton.[5]
Rech began her career as a gallerist in partnership for 5 years with Cyrille Putman, the son of Andrée Putman, opening a gallery in the Marais in 1989 where they presented a single work by James Turrell, who did not have a European dealer at the time;[6] Robert R. Littman, the director of Centro Cultural Arte Contemporaneo, a private museum in Mexico City, bought the work.[7]
Almine Rech, 1997–present
[edit | edit source]Alongside other galleries including Air de Paris and Galerie Perrotin, Rech opened her own gallery on Rue Louise Weiss in the 13th arrondissement in 1997, as part of a city-sponsored initiative.[8] At the time, she worked with artists Ugo Rondinone, Joseph Kosuth, and other artists with minimalist and conceptual leanings,[9] including James Turrell and John McCracken.[10]
In 2006, the gallery moved to a larger, two-story space in the Marais district, before launching its current space in rue de Turenne in 2013. In 2008, Rech opened a second gallery in Brussels.[11] From 2014 to 2025, the gallery operated a 225 m2 (2,420 sq ft) space in London.[12][13][14]
In 2016, the gallery added a 280 m2 (3,000 sq ft) space [15] – in New York.[16][17] In 2019, the gallery expanded to Shanghai, where it operates a 370 m2 (4,000 sq ft) space in the Amber Building — a three-story former People's Bank of China warehouse at 27 Hu Qiu Road –, sharing the floor with Lisson Gallery.[18][19] On the gallery's expansion, Rech has noted, 'Each step in expanding our platform has increased our ability to support and invest in a new generation of artists, which is a consideration at the very core of our gallery's DNA.'[20]
In 2021, amid the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, the gallery opened a 84 m2 (900 sq ft) space next door to the Aspen Art Museum in Aspen.[21]
A second space opened in Paris on Avenue Matignon (with a further expansion of the space in 2022),[22] and a second New York gallery in Tribeca opened in October 2023.[23][24][25] In 2024, the gallery expanded in Monaco with the opening of a new space in the Carré d'Or district.[26][27] In addition to exhibitions hosted in the various gallery locations, Almine Rech participates in numerous art fairs including Art Basel, TEFAF, Art Basel Paris, and Frieze.
Through Almine Rech Editions, the gallery also produces prints, catalogues, and monographs, contributing to the preservation and dissemination of critical artistic discourse.
Almine Rech represents numerous living artists, including:
- James Turrell (since 1995)[28]
- Allen Jones (since 2019)[29]
- Jeff Koons (since 2009)[30]
In addition, the gallery has managed various artist estates, including:
- Tom Wesselmann[31]
- Günther Förg (until 2018)[32]
- Antoni Tàpies (since 2019)[33]
- Karel Appel[34]
- Serge Poliakoff[35]
Other activities
[edit | edit source]- Drawing Center, Member of the Board of Directors (since 2019)[36]
Recognition
[edit | edit source]Rech is an Officier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.[37]
Rech is co-president of the Fundación Almine Y Bernard Ruiz-Picasso Para El Arte (FABA) and member of The International Council of The Metropolitan Museum of Art (The Met).[38]
Personal life
[edit | edit source]Since 1997, Rech has been married to Bernard Ruiz-Picasso.[39] They lived in Brussels since 2006[40] but have since moved to Monaco, and also maintain a French country estate inherited from Picasso called Boisgeloup.[41]
Since 2002,[42] Rech and Ruiz-Picasso have been serving as co-chairs of the Madrid-based Fundación Almine Y Bernard Ruiz-Picasso Para El Arte (FABA), which holds a collection of works by Pablo Picasso.[43] FABA also supports institutions, including Le Consortium in Dijon, France, Serpentine Galleries in London and the New Museum in New York.[44] In 2012, Ruiz-Picasso and Rech opened up Boisgeloup, inviting artists to exhibit on its grounds.[45]
Major artists represented by the gallery
[edit | edit source]- James Turrell
- Allen Jones
- Jeff Koons
- Joe Andoe
- Joël Andrianomearisoa
- The estate of Karel Appel
- John M Armleder
- Farah Atassi
- Miquel Barceló
- Oliver Beer
- Jean-Baptiste Bernadet
- Matthias Bitzer
- Jenny Brosinski
- Alexander Calder
- Javier Calleja
- Brian Calvin
- Alejandro Cardenas
- Ali Cherri
- Ha Chong-Hyun
- Johan Creten
- Sasha Ferré
- Genieve Figgis
- Paul de Flers
- Gerasimos Floratos
- Günther Förg
- Mehdi Ghadyanloo
- Daniel Gibson
- The estate of John Giorno
- Jameson Green
- Peter Halley
- Gregor Hildebrandt
- Ryoji Ikeda
- Alex Israel
- Carlos Jacanamijoy
- Haley Josephs
- Youngju Joung
- Ewa Juszkiewicz
- Michael Kagan
- Minjung Kim
- Leelee Kimmel
- Joseph Kosuth
- Christopher Le Brun
- Alexandre Lenoir
- Erik Lindman
- Inès Longevial
- Markus Lüpertz
- Heinz Mack
- Tomokazu Matsuyama
- John McAllister
- Sam McKinniss
- The estate of Jean Miotte
- Keita Morimoto
- Tia-Thuy Nguyen
- Hans Op de Beeck
- Pablo Picasso
- The estate of Serge Poliakoff
- Larry Poons
- Richard Prince
- Li Qing
- Nathaniel Mary Quinn
- Umar Rashid
- Kenny Scharf
- Ryan Schneider
- Laurie Simmons
- Taryn Simon
- Vaughn Spann
- Vivian Springford
- Claire Tabouret
- Genesis Tramaine
- Thu Van Tran
- The estate of Kim Tschang-yeul
- The estate of De Wain Valentine
- Jess Valice
- Francesco Vezzoli
- Brent Wadden
- Amanda Wall
- The estate of Tom Wesselmann
- Chloe Wise
- Ji Xin
- Huang Yuxing
- Zio Ziegler
References
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- ^ Christopher Bagley (March 1, 2013), The Mixologist W.
- ^ Christopher Bagley (March 1, 2013), The Mixologist W.
- ^ James Tarmy (October 27, 2016), Gallery Owner Almine Ruiz-Picasso, and Her Blockbuster Art Shows, Are Taking New York Bloomberg News.
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Anna Sansom (July 29, 2019), ‘Grand Paris’: new art complex to open in Parisian suburb The Art Newspaper.
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- ^ Georgina Adam (June 10, 2016), The Art Market: A dealer with staying power Financial Times.
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Melanie Gerlis (3 October 2025), Almine Rech shuts London gallery and puts UK business into liquidation The Art Newspaper.
- ^ Nate Freeman (October 26, 2016), Almine Rech Discusses Expansion of Her Gallery Empire, as Upper East Side Space Opens ARTnews.
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
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- ^ Annie Armstrong (June 19, 2019), Almine Rech Heads to Shanghai ARTnews.
- ^ Melanie Gerlis (February 8, 2019), The art market’s move to the east Financial Times.
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Sarah Douglas (March 24, 2021), Almine Rech Joins Growing Mass of Galleries with Aspen Pop-Ups: ‘We’re Going Where the Collectors Are’ ARTnews.
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
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- ^ Claire Selvin (6 June 2019), Almine Rech Now Represents Allen Jones in France, Belgium, and China ARTnews.
- ^ Georgina Adam (June 10, 2016), The Art Market: A dealer with staying power Financial Times.
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Alex Greenberger (1 June 2018), Hauser & Wirth Now Represents the Estate of Günther Förg ARTnews.
- ^ Annie Armstrong (1 March 2019), Almine Rech Gallery Now Represents the Estate of Antoni Tàpies ARTnews.
- ^ Karel Appel [1] Artnet.
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ The Drawing Center Welcomes New Board Members Artforum, April 3, 2019.
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Alexa Brazilian (February 11, 2015), Gallerist Almine Rech’s Eclectic and Elegant Paris Apartment The Wall Street Journal.
- ^ Christopher Bagley (March 1, 2013), The Mixologist W.
- ^ Alexa Brazilian (February 11, 2015), Gallerist Almine Rech’s Eclectic and Elegant Paris Apartment The Wall Street Journal.
- ^ Christopher Bagley (March 1, 2013), The Mixologist W.
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Alexa Brazilian (February 11, 2015), Gallerist Almine Rech’s Eclectic and Elegant Paris Apartment The Wall Street Journal.
- ^ Annie Shaw (10 September 2019) Sean Scully to take over Picasso’s Château de Boisgeloup The Art Newspaper.