Holly Solomon, Art Dealer
Bill Schenley
Holly Solomon, a Manhattan art dealer famous for
championing the untried _ and being the subject of a
nine-panel portrait by Andy Warhol _ died Thursday
at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. She was 68.
The cause was complications from pneumonia, according
to her son Thomas Solomon.
The Holly Solomon Gallery represented artists as diverse
as video artist Nam June Paik and painter and draftsman
William Wegman, best known for his photographs of
Weimaraners. Her gallery closed three years ago, and
Solomon most recently worked out of an appointment-only
gallery in Chelsea.
Wegman, who was a close friend of hers since the 1970s
and whose work she represented since 1979, said "Holly
had an amazing eye for visual art, especially painting,
which she loved passionately. She was more passionate
_ certainly more colorful _ than the passionate and colorful
artists she represented. She was a beautiful and glamorous
queen who loved her subjects and the artwork we created
for her."
Glenn Lowry, director of the Museum of Modern Art, called
her "a real force in the art world, a dynamic presence. Her
deep passion for artists resonated in her gallery as well as
in her love for life."
In 1969, before becoming art dealers, Solomon and her
husband, Horace, opened 98 Greene Street Loft, one of the
early "alternative" spaces for the arts in New York, where
poetry readings, dance performances, concerts and art
shows were held. It gave exposure to artists like musician
Laurie Anderson and photographer Robert Mapplethorpe,
well before they became famous.
Solomon was an early collector of Pop art, and sometimes
referred to herself as a "Pop princess." Her portrait was
done by Mapplethorpe, Roy Lichtenstein, Christo, Robert
Rauschenberg and, most famously, Warhol.
For the Warhol, she took $25 in quarters into a photo booth
and spent hours doing facial exercises in front of the
snapping camera. The nine-panel portrait, recently sold at
auction for $2 million, was produced two years later.
"We met in 1964 and she became like a sister to us," Christo
said of the relationship he and his wife and collaborator,
Jeanne-Claude, had with Solomon. Christo did a wrapped
portrait of her in 1966 which he said Solomon kept in her
home the rest of her life.
"In the early years she and Horace helped us very much,
" said Christo. "Holly had a very strong interest in our
work even before she opened the gallery. She was really
devoted to art. Just collecting was not sufficient for her
energy."
Solomon was born Hollis Dworken in Bridgeport, Conn.,
where her Russian-born father ran a store selling liquor
and groceries. She studied art and acting at Sarah
Lawrence College before marrying Horace Solomon, who
was her partner in the gallery until their separation in 1988.
In addition to her son, Thomas, Solomon is survived by
another son, John, and a brother, Donald Dworken. A
small private funeral was held in Bridgeport on Sunday
and a larger memorial service is planned for late September,
said Thomas Solomon.