Christie's | The Collection of Leslie Feely

Art dealer and gallerist Leslie Feely belonged to a lineage of pioneering women who helped transform New York into the epicenter of the art world. Following in a tradition begun by esteemed figures such as Peggy Guggenheim, Martha Jackson, and Betty Parsons, over the course of her five-decade long career Feely built an enviable roster of clients and artists and placed important works in art museums around the world. Central to her success was an understanding of the importance of developing longstanding relationships: relationships between her and her artists, between her and her clients, and between her and her friends.
After discovering a love of art during a semester abroad, Feely began a career in the male-dominated gallery world, rising up through the ranks due to her knowledge and passion, hard work, tenacity, and quick wit. She developed a particular interest in abstraction and Color Field painting, championing artists such as Frank Stella, Kenneth Noland, and Richard Diebenkorn. One of her closest friendships was with Stella, an artist whose work she championed for much of her career as he continually pushed at the boundaries of abstraction. From his iconic Concentric Squares to his later more organic abstract forms, Stella’s paintings, wall reliefs, and works on paper continually spoke to Feely’s artistic sensibilities. Similarly, she developed a close understanding of, and appreciation for, the work of Richard Diebenkorn. Rejecting the gestural qualities of the dominant New York School, the West Coast artist was highly influenced by the light and landscape of California. Feely appreciate Diebenkorn’s constant innovation but above all his painterly abilities as an artist who could switch effortlessly between figuration and abstraction during the course of his career. “She had a particular love for the work of Richard Diebenkorn,” her friend and now owner of the Leslie Feely Gallery, Dakota Sica, said, “and amassed an important group of works that featured as a mini retrospective in her home.” Cherished works by the artist in the collection include an exquisite Ocean Park work on paper, an evocative still life, and Jane, a 1961 portrait from the artist’s figurative period. Other highlights include six examples from Jazz, a vibrant set of prints produced to illustrate the groundbreaking 1947 book of the same name by Diebenkorn’s artistic hero Henri Matisse, and Palm Ridge, a 1979 Cityscape by Wayne Thiebaud.
After having spent over a decade working for others, in 1981 she launched her own business, Leslie Feely Fine Art, and began operating as a private dealer. She continued her trailblazing career, developing an impressive network of clients who valued her unique position in the industry. In 2007 she opened a public gallery on New York’s Upper East Side, in a space designed by the renowned architect Frank Gehry. It was here that she organized a series of influential exhibitions, often focusing on aspects of painting overlooked by other dealers. Openings were always a sophisticated and elegant affair, with Leslie ensuring that the artists and the art remained the focus of attention. “She was a self-made art dealer during a time when the rest of the art world was very much male dominated,” Sica recalls. “It was through her fearlessness and tenacity that she was able to build world-class art collections comprised of the same artists which she was also fortunate enough to call her friends.”
Feely assisted her clients in building collections of quality, veracity and sheer aesthetic beauty. She worked with individuals and institutions of the highest caliber, placing important works in prominent institutions, including the Museum of Modern Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, and the Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris. Leslie Feely was a dealer of impeccable standing, possessing an exemplary eye, and a having a gained a reputation for consummate professionalism. She had a profound effect on everyone she came in to contact with, and the wider art world in general, and leaves a legacy felt by her friends and colleagues and throughout the art world.
A portion of proceeds from Leslie Feely's estate is intended to benefit environmental causes such as Oceana, Tsavo Trust, and Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust.