Jan 26, 2026
3 min read
Marian Goodman, an art dealer admired for her fierce loyalty to artists and her lifelong refusal to pursue aesthetics or commercial fashion, died Thursday in a Los Angeles hospital.She was 97 years old.
Marian Goodman, an art dealer known for her deep devotion to artists and reluctance to follow trends, died Thursday at a Los Angeles hospital.He was 97. His lab reported his death, and no cause was given.
Vudman was not dealer, who only replets the market;She helped form it, often ignore it entirely.In 1977, in the age of 49, she opened the Marian Goodman gallery in mid-manhant with an exhibition of the bodies artist and Poet Marcel Brodhers.There was a successful beginning.Broodthaters' intentionally demanding, conceptually thorny work perfectly reflected Goodman's instincts: accurate, severe and quiet radical.
In the next five decades, he championed and continued the work of many of the most important artists of his time, especially Europeans who were not fully recognized in the U.S. He opened the Marian Goodman Gallery in London, which operated from 2014 to 2020. It is located in Soho's Golden Square and was designed by David Adjaye. The space was closed due to the effects of COVID-19 and Brexit.However, his Paris office is thriving, as is his Los Angeles outpost.
“In a statement, the gallery announced: “It is with great sadness that the Goodman family and Marian Goodman Gallery announce the passing of Marian Goodman, who passed away peacefully of natural causes on Thursday, January 22, 2026.”
For his artist, Goodman was more than a representative.She was an advocate in a big sense, persistent, focused, and willing to invest time and devotion where others hesitated.He was instrumental in introducing a generation of European avant-garde artists to American audiences, helping to reshape the intellectual landscape of contemporary art.However, what really set him apart was his understanding of what a gallerist should do.
With an interest in nature and pluralism in approach, Goodman resisted narrow definitions of success, supporting her artists not only through sales but also through ongoing collaborations with museums, institutions, and non-profit spaces.
He once made his affinity clear: "I found in the artists whose work I admired the qualities that I admire from my own experience: a humanistic interest, a culturally critical understanding of our way of life, a dialectical approach to reality, and an artistic vision of civic life."This was less a manifesto than a statement of lived principle.
When Goodman opened her gallery in New York in the late 1970s, the art world was still largely male. In the 1960s, she founded Multiples, Inc., which founded the gallery from this experience - partly out of a desire to build a truly transatlantic program as an ongoing dialogue between American and European artists.Europe was central to her thinking, and in 1995 she opened a Paris space in the Marais, strengthening the gallery's international footprint.
As the gallery developed, Goodman managed its progress by hiring a collaborative team, Rose Lord, Junette Teng, Emily-Jane Kirwan and Leslie Nolen, who had worked closely with him for decades.Together, it has pushed established values forward, with the gallery opening its Tribeca flagship in 2024 and Los Angeles the year before.The gels take care of important events including the opening of the venue
A statement from the gallery said: "A celebration of Goodman's life is being planned. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Andrew Goodman Foundation or the Humane Society of America."
Goodman leaves behind the serious principles of the gallery model.With dedication, both patient and professional.
Marian Goodman Gallery's catalog includes:
Gerhard Richter: Famous German painter.
Anselm Kiefer: An important contemporary German artist known for his monumental, highly textured paintings, sculptures, and installations.
John Baldessari, a conceptual artist who mixes illustrations, text, and pop culture imagery
Pierre Huyghe: Known for his complex environmental installations.
Steve McQueen: artist and filmmaker winner of the Turner Prize
Tacita Dean: Celebrated for her work in film and photography.
William Kentridge: Known for animated drawings and films.
Maurizio Cattelan: Known for his provocative sculptures.
John Baldessari: A Major Figure in Conceptual Art.
Thomas Strrhoth: Most known for his large-scale, detailed photography.
Giuseppe Penone: Key figure in the Arte Povera movement.
Julie Meretu: Famous for her large-scale abstract paintings.
Robert Rauschenberg: the great American artist of the 20th century.
