The Robert Elkon Gallery opened with its first exhibition in 1961, under the ownership and directorship of Robert Elkon. Mr. Elkon was born in Belgium, but moved to New York City at the beginning of the Second World War, and made New York his home from that time forth, continuing to always keep his communication with Europe alive and well.
The gallery was an immediate success and in 1962 was one of the founding members of the Art Dealers Association of America (ADAA). The gallery also exhibited at the first Basel Art Fair (organized by Ernst Beyeler) in 1970.
In the two decades preceding his untimely death in 1983, Mr. Elkon represented a wide array of prominent artists including Agnes Martin, Sam Francis, John McCracken, John Wesley and William Tucker. The gallery also presented two Modern Masters exhibitions each year, including works by such world-class artists as Matisse, Dubuffet, Pollock, Rothko, Miró, Balthus, Giacometti and Magritte. During these two decades important works were placed in prestigious private collections and major museums worldwide.
After the death of her husband in 1983, Dorothea McKenna Elkon continued the gallery (as The Elkon Gallery), in the spirit of the gallery’s earlier heritage.
During the past three decades, the gallery has presented a continual program of important exhibitions: Dubuffet, Max Ernst, Sam Francis, Françoise Gilot, Matisse/Balthus, John McCracken, John Wesley and Tàpies supplemented with a continuation of the Modern Masters exhibitions initiated by the gallery in its earlier incarnation.
At the present time, the gallery is integrating the presentation of living artists with the previous generation of Modern Masters and continues to work closely with private collectors and museums alike.