Margo Leavin (1936–2021) was an American

art dealer An art dealer is a person or company that buys and sells works of art, or acts as the intermediary between the buyers and sellers of art. An art dealer in contemporary art typically seeks out various artists to represent, and builds relationshi ...

. She was born in New York, but spent her career in Los Angeles. In 1970, she opened the Margo Leavin Gallery in

West Hollywood, CA West Hollywood is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Incorporated in 1984, it is home to the Sunset Strip. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 U.S. Census, its population was 35,757. It is considered one of the most ...

, which she operated until it closed in 2013.

Career and reputation

Leavin was known for her wit, her relationships with her artists, and business savvy. The longevity of her career is a testament to these attributes. The Gallery closed in 2013 but it promoted itself as specializing in contemporary photography, sculpture, paintings and drawings. Artist and art dealer

Nicholas Wilder Nicholas Walter George Wilder (1937May 12, 1989) was an American art dealer and owner of an eponymous contemporary art gallery in Los Angeles in the 1960s and 1970s. He later closed his gallery, returned to his native New York, and developed ...

is quoted as saying about Leavin and her gallery, "She works very hard and it's run as a business. It's not a thing that's there for some lifestyle change or for a tax write-off or something. She's a very good dealer."

Margo Leavin Gallery

The Margo Leavin Gallery was a contemporary

art gallery An art gallery is a room or a building in which visual art is displayed. In Western cultures from the mid-15th century, a gallery was any long, narrow covered passage along a wall, first used in the sense of a place for art in the 1590s. The lon ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, United States. The gallery was opened in 1970 by Leavin at what was then the studio of designer Tony Duquette. Leavin later expanded to adjacent buildings along the block, including a former post office, which served as an exhibition space. Wendy Brandow, who joined in 1976, became a partner in 1989. While the gallery began with exhibitions of mostly editioned work, it grew to become renowned for its program of

modern Modern may refer to: History * Modern history ** Early Modern period ** Late Modern period *** 18th century *** 19th century *** 20th century ** Contemporary history * Moderns, a faction of Freemasonry that existed in the 18th century Phil ...

and

contemporary art Contemporary art is the art of today, produced in the second half of the 20th century or in the 21st century. Contemporary artists work in a globally influenced, culturally diverse, and technologically advancing world. Their art is a dynamic com ...

and its work with a wide variety of artists from emerging to established ones. The gallery closed in 2013, after producing over 400 solo exhibitions. In 2015, it was announced that the

Getty Research Institute The Getty Research Institute (GRI), located at the Getty Center in Los Angeles, California, is "dedicated to furthering knowledge and advancing understanding of the visual arts".

would acquire the complete archives of the Margo Leavin Gallery. The gallery property was sold in May 2016 to movie producer

Megan Ellison Margaret Elizabeth Ellison (born January 31, 1986) is an American film producer and entrepreneur. She is the founder of Annapurna Pictures, established in 2011. She produced the films ''Zero Dark Thirty'' (2012), '' Her'' (2013), '' American Hu ...

, daughter of billionaire

Larry Ellison Lawrence Joseph Ellison (born August 17, 1944) is an American business magnate and investor who is the co-founder, executive chairman, chief technology officer (CTO) and former chief executive officer (CEO) of the American computer technology ...

, for $40 million. In June 2016, Leavin made a $20 million donation to the

UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture The UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture (UCLA Arts) is a professional school at the University of California, Los Angeles. Through its four degree-granting departments, it provides a range of course offerings and programs. Additionally, th ...

to rebuild and expand its aging graduate art studio facilities in

Culver City Culver City is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 40,779. Founded in 1917 as a "whites only" sundown town, it is now an ethnically diverse city with what was called the "third-most ...

; the complex was renamed the UCLA Margo Leavin Graduate Art Studios.

Exhibitions

The following is a partial list: *

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* Ed Moses * John Chamberlain *

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* Charles Gaines *

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* Albert Oehlen *

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* Mel Kendrick *

Sherrie Levine Sherrie Levine (born 1947) is an American photographer, painter, and Conceptual art, conceptual artist. Some of her work consists of exact photographic reproductions of the work of other photographers such as Walker Evans, Eliot Porter and Edward ...

* Larry Johnson *

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* William Leavitt *

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* Gary SimmonsAlex Greenberger (March 25, 2021)
Gary Simmons, Artist Focused on Erasure and Racist Stereotypes, Heads to Hauser & Wirth
''

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''. *

Jeffrey Vallance Jeffrey Karl Reese Vallance (born January 25, 1955, in Redondo Beach, California) is an American contemporary artist who lives and works in Los Angeles, California. He is best known for projects that blur the lines between object-making, install ...

* Christopher Williams

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leavin, Margo 1936 births 2021 deaths People from New York (state) People from Los Angeles American art dealers Women art dealers 20th-century American businesswomen 20th-century American businesspeople 21st-century American businesswomen 21st-century American businesspeople