Make Way for Berthe Weill: Art Dealer of the Parisian Avant-Garde surveys the groundbreaking career of the first woman modern art dealer. Berthe Weill (1865–1951) championed many fledgling masters of modern art early on—such as Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, and Amedeo Modigliani—as well as numerous others who did not achieve wide acclaim. Yet her role in early 20th century modernism has been omitted from most historical accounts.

The exhibition will feature some 110 paintings, drawings, prints, and sculpture—many of which were shown at her gallery during the first four decades of the 20th century. The exhibition also includes archival documents—such as letters, exhibition catalogs, photographs, and journals—that reveal her deep relationships with a range of artists. Examining Weill’s contributions to the history of modernism as a gallerist, a passionate advocate of contemporary art, and a Jewish woman, it brings to light the remarkable achievements of a singular figure who overcame sexism, antisemitism, and economic struggles in her quest to promote emerging artists.

Co-organized by NYU’s Grey Art Museum, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, and the Musée de l’Orangerie, the exhibition’s curatorial team includes Grey Director Lynn Gumpert, Marianne Le Morvan, founder of the Berthe Weill Archives in Paris, Anne Grace, curator of modern art at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, and Sophie Eloy, collections administrator and coordinator of the Contrepoints installations at the Musée de l’Orangerie.

The exhibition will tour to the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts May 10–September 7, 2025, and the Musée de l’Orangerie in Paris October 8, 2025–January 25, 2026.

Header image: Detail of Georges Kars, Dans le salon de peinture, 1933. Oil on plywood, 22 x 18 1/8 in. (56 x 46 cm). Private collection.

RELATED PUBLICATION

An illustrated publication, Berthe Weill: Art Dealer of the Parisian Avant-Garde, accompanies the exhibition. Published by Flammarion, it illuminates the rich artistic period by spotlighting recently rediscovered artists and offering new insights into the era’s central figures. It includes an introductory essay by Le Morvan, a discussion of portraits of Weill by Grace, an essay on antisemitism in late 19th-century France by historian Charles Dellheim, an overview of collectors who frequented the Galerie B. Weill by researcher Robert McD. Parker, and entries on works by Eloy. It also features a chronology and selected bibliography. The publication is available for purchase in-person at the Grey Art Museum, NYU, and through our online bookstore.
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Also available is Weill’s recently translated 1933 memoir, Pow! Right in the Eye! Thirty Years Behind the Scenes of Modern French Painting (University of Chicago Press, 2022), which offers rare insights into the Parisian avant-garde and a lively inside account of the development of the modern art market. The volume is edited by Lynn Gumpert and translated by William Rodarmor, with an introduction by Marianne Le Morvan and foreword by Julie Saul and Lynn Gumpert.
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