Felix Henry Landau (1924 – February 17, 2003) was an American art dealer whose

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' ...

gallery was a showcase for modern and contemporary art in the 1960s. Landau was born in

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, the son of musician Fritz Landau. His family fled the Nazis and moved to New York City in 1938. He served in the U.S. Army in the Pacific Theater, where he met

Pete Seeger Peter Seeger (May 3, 1919 – January 27, 2014) was an American folk singer and social activist. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, Seeger also had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of the Weavers, notably ...

and, after the war, became the folk singer's first manager. He moved to Los Angeles in 1948, and in 1951 opened the Felix Landau Gallery on

La Cienega Boulevard La Cienega Boulevard is a major north–south arterial road that runs between El Segundo Boulevard in Hawthorne, California on the south and the Sunset Strip/Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood to the north. It was named for Rancho Las Cienegas, ...

, which would become a central location for art galleries in the city. He introduced

Egon Schiele Egon Leo Adolf Ludwig Schiele (; 12 June 1890 – 31 October 1918) was an Austrian Expressionist painter. His work is noted for its intensity and its raw sexuality, and for the many self-portraits the artist produced, including nude self-portr ...

and

Gustav Klimt Gustav Klimt (July 14, 1862 – February 6, 1918) was an Austrian symbolist painter and one of the most prominent members of the Vienna Secession movement. Klimt is noted for his paintings, murals, sketches, and other objets d'art. Klimt's prim ...

to Los Angeles, and featured California abstract painter

John McLaughlin John or Jon McLaughlin may refer to: Arts and entertainment * John McLaughlin (musician) (born 1942), English jazz fusion guitarist, member of Mahavishnu Orchestra * Jon McLaughlin (musician) (born 1982), American singer-songwriter * John McLaug ...

. He presented

Francis Bacon Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Alban (; 22 January 1561 – 9 April 1626), also known as Lord Verulam, was an English philosopher and statesman who served as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England. Bacon led the advancement of both ...

's first show in Los Angeles, and held an exhibition of

Peter Voulkos Peter Voulkos (born Panagiotis Harry Voulkos; 29 January 1924 – 16 February 2002) was an American artist of Greek descent. He is known for his abstract expressionist ceramic sculptures, which crossed the traditional divide between ceramic ...

' work. Other artists featured in his gallery included

Henry Moore Henry Spencer Moore (30 July 1898 – 31 August 1986) was an English artist. He is best known for his semi- abstract monumental bronze sculptures which are located around the world as public works of art. As well as sculpture, Moore produced ...

Sam Francis Samuel Lewis Francis (June 25, 1923 – November 4, 1994) was an American painter and printmaker. Early life Sam Francis was born in San Mateo, California,

John Levee John Levee (April 10, 1924 – January 18, 2017) was an American abstract expressionist painter who had worked in Paris since 1949. His father was M. C. Levee. Background John Harrison Levee received a master's degree in philosophy from U ...

Paul Wonner Paul John Wonner (April 24, 1920April 23, 2008) was an American artist best known for his still-life paintings done in an abstract expressionist style. Born in Tucson, Arizona, he received a B.A. in 1952, an M.A. in 1953, and an M.L.S. in 1955� ...

, James Jarvaise,

Richard Diebenkorn Richard Diebenkorn (April 22, 1922 – March 30, 1993) was an American painter and printmaker. His early work is associated with abstract expressionism and the Bay Area Figurative Movement of the 1950s and 1960s. In the late 1960s he bega ...

William Dole William Dole (died 1403) was a Canon of Windsor from 1377 to 1403.''Fasti Wyndesorienses'', May 1950. S.L. Ollard. Published by the Dean and Canons of St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle Career He was appointed: *Vicar of Exning, Suffolk 1371 *Vi ...

John Rosenbaum John Rosenbaum (September 3, 1934 in Brigantine, New Jersey – September 30, 2003 in Alameda, California), was an American physicist, educator and kinetic sculptor, associated with the San Francisco Renaissance and the counterculture of the 19 ...

Jack Zajac Jack Zajac (born December 13, 1929) is a Californian West Coast artist who has been concerned with the “Romanticism, Romantic Surrealist tradition”. :”To have a message or an emotional stimulation soaked up by an uncertainty of the Art ...

, Giacomo Benevelli,

Giò Pomodoro Giò Pomodoro (; 17 November 1930 – 21 December 2002) was an Italian sculptor, printmaker, and stage designer. His brother is the sculptor Arnaldo Pomodoro. In 1954 he moved to Milan, where he associated with leading avant-garde artists and st ...

Gaston Lachaise Gaston Lachaise (March 19, 1882 – October 18, 1935) was a French-born sculptor, active in the early 20th century. A native of Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 re ...

and James Gill as one of the representatives of the early " Pop art". A 1967

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

interview called him "the tastemaker of La Cienega." His clientele included Hollywood celebrities such as

Billy Wilder Billy Wilder (; ; born Samuel Wilder; June 22, 1906 – March 27, 2002) was an Austrian-American filmmaker. His career in Hollywood spanned five decades, and he is regarded as one of the most brilliant and versatile filmmakers of Classic Holl ...

Jack Lemmon John Uhler Lemmon III (February 8, 1925 – June 27, 2001) was an American actor. Considered equally proficient in both dramatic and comic roles, Lemmon was known for his anxious, middle-class everyman screen persona in dramedy pictures, leadin ...

Julie Andrews Dame Julie Andrews (born Julia Elizabeth Wells; 1 October 1935) is an English actress, singer, and author. She has garnered numerous accolades throughout her career spanning over seven decades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Fi ...

and

Marlo Thomas Margaret Julia "Marlo" Thomas (born November 21, 1937) is an American actress, producer, author, and social activist. She is best known for starring on the sitcom ''That Girl'' (1966–1971) and her children's franchise '' Free to Be... You and ...

. In 1966 he also began operating the Landau-Alan (later Felix Landau) Gallery in New York City, which introduced

David Hockney David Hockney (born 9 July 1937) is an English painter, draftsman, printmaker, stage designer, and photographer. As an important contributor to the pop art movement of the 1960s, he is considered one of the most influential British artists o ...

to the U.S. In 1971 he closed his galleries and moved to Europe, working as a private dealer in Paris until his death.

References

External links

Landau at the Getty Center Los Angeles art history website
American art dealers Emigrants from Austria after the Anschluss Art in Greater Los Angeles 1924 births 2003 deaths 20th-century American businesspeople United States Army personnel of World War II {{US-art-display-stub