By Carol Vogel, March 22, 2013
Galleries have become especially nimble at presenting nonselling exhibitions. But generally it is the larger, well-established (and richer) dealers who organize these shows because they are expensive to assemble and, despite being a good way to garner attention, they often generate little immediate return.
But in the case of Blain Di Donna, whose New York space is in the Carlyle Hotel, it’s all about establishing a leading reputation in the field of Surrealist art. When the gallery opened in October 2011 its inaugural show was devoted to Magritte. Its second exhibition was about another Surrealist master, André Masson. And on May 6 it will open a show of about 20 paintings and works on paper by a third Surrealist, Paul Delvaux. (The New York show closes on June 1, then goes to its sister gallery, Blain Southern in London, where it will run from June 18 to July 17.) “This will be the first full comprehensive showing of Delvaux’s art in New York since 1959,” said Emmanuel Di Donna, one of the gallery’s partners. “He’s one of the great Surrealists who is not as well represented in museums in the United States as, say, Magritte.”
Many of the works, Mr. Di Donna said, will be on loan from the Paul Delvaux Foundation in St. Idesbald, Belgium. Others will be from private European and American collections as well as European museums.