Profile

Some may remember the late Leo Castelli as the first to sell Andy Warhol’s Campbell Soup can paintings, or the man who presented one of Jasper Johns’s American flags to JFK one July Fourth in the ‘60s. But his role in the art world ran much deeper than any publicity stunt. Born to a Jewish Hungarian banker in Trieste, Castelli opened his first gallery here in the ‘50s on the Upper East Side. Within a year, he was exhibiting the works of Johns and Robert Rauschenberg, and he took the extra step of giving his artists monthly stipends (needless to say, this practice remains an extravagant exception). Cy Twombly and Frank Stella soon signed up, followed by ‘60s Pop giants Roy Lichtenstein and Warhol, rounding out what would become a stable of American giants. He also worked extensively with legendary pioneer Bruce Nauman and uber-Minimalist Donald Judd. With Castelli's death in 1999, one has to wonder how long the gallery will last. But visitors should still keep an eye out for the occasional wonder, like Johns’ latest prints. — Alex Mar