{"id":345,"date":"2020-05-06T13:29:44","date_gmt":"2020-05-06T17:29:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/art-history-3570-spring-2020\/?page_id=345"},"modified":"2020-05-06T15:31:59","modified_gmt":"2020-05-06T19:31:59","slug":"dikran-khan-kelekian-gallery","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/art-history-3570-spring-2020\/gallery-bios\/dikran-khan-kelekian-gallery\/","title":{"rendered":"Kelekian Gallery"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Active Dates:<\/strong> c. 1893\u20131951<\/p>\n<p><strong>Gallerist:<\/strong> Dikran Khan Kelekian<\/p>\n<p><strong>Location:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>1893<sup class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote \" data-mfn=\"1\" data-mfn-post-scope=\"000000000000040f0000000000000000_345\"><a href=\"javascript:void(0)\"  role=\"button\" aria-pressed=\"false\" aria-describedby=\"mfn-content-000000000000040f0000000000000000_345-1\">1<\/a><\/sup><span id=\"mfn-content-000000000000040f0000000000000000_345-1\" role=\"tooltip\" class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote__note\" tabindex=\"0\" data-mfn=\"1\">Marilyn Jenkins-Medina, \u201cCollecting the \u2018Orient\u2019 at the Met: Early Tastemakers in America,\u201d Ars Orientalis 30 (2000): 73.<\/span>,\u00a0 1899<sup class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote \" data-mfn=\"2\" data-mfn-post-scope=\"000000000000040f0000000000000000_345\"><a href=\"javascript:void(0)\"  role=\"button\" aria-pressed=\"false\" aria-describedby=\"mfn-content-000000000000040f0000000000000000_345-2\">2<\/a><\/sup><span id=\"mfn-content-000000000000040f0000000000000000_345-2\" role=\"tooltip\" class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote__note\" tabindex=\"0\" data-mfn=\"2\">Advertisement in The Art Collector 9, no. 8 (February 15, 1899), 126.<\/span>: 303 Fifth Avenue<br \/>\n1903<sup class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote \" data-mfn=\"3\" data-mfn-post-scope=\"000000000000040f0000000000000000_345\"><a href=\"javascript:void(0)\"  role=\"button\" aria-pressed=\"false\" aria-describedby=\"mfn-content-000000000000040f0000000000000000_345-3\">3<\/a><\/sup><span id=\"mfn-content-000000000000040f0000000000000000_345-3\" role=\"tooltip\" class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote__note\" tabindex=\"0\" data-mfn=\"3\">American Art Directory 4 (1903), 188.<\/span>, 1905-1906<sup class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote \" data-mfn=\"4\" data-mfn-post-scope=\"000000000000040f0000000000000000_345\"><a href=\"javascript:void(0)\"  role=\"button\" aria-pressed=\"false\" aria-describedby=\"mfn-content-000000000000040f0000000000000000_345-4\">4<\/a><\/sup><span id=\"mfn-content-000000000000040f0000000000000000_345-4\" role=\"tooltip\" class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote__note\" tabindex=\"0\" data-mfn=\"4\">American Art Directory 5 (1905\/6), 575.<\/span>: 252 Fifth Avenue<br \/>\n1909-1910<sup class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote \" data-mfn=\"5\" data-mfn-post-scope=\"000000000000040f0000000000000000_345\"><a href=\"javascript:void(0)\"  role=\"button\" aria-pressed=\"false\" aria-describedby=\"mfn-content-000000000000040f0000000000000000_345-5\">5<\/a><\/sup><span id=\"mfn-content-000000000000040f0000000000000000_345-5\" role=\"tooltip\" class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote__note\" tabindex=\"0\" data-mfn=\"5\">American Art Directory 7 (1909\/10), 308.<\/span>: 275 Fifth Avenue<br \/>\n1914<sup class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote \" data-mfn=\"6\" data-mfn-post-scope=\"000000000000040f0000000000000000_345\"><a href=\"javascript:void(0)\"  role=\"button\" aria-pressed=\"false\" aria-describedby=\"mfn-content-000000000000040f0000000000000000_345-6\">6<\/a><\/sup><span id=\"mfn-content-000000000000040f0000000000000000_345-6\" role=\"tooltip\" class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote__note\" tabindex=\"0\" data-mfn=\"6\">American Art Directory 11 (1914), 516.<\/span>, 1916<sup class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote \" data-mfn=\"7\" data-mfn-post-scope=\"000000000000040f0000000000000000_345\"><a href=\"javascript:void(0)\"  role=\"button\" aria-pressed=\"false\" aria-describedby=\"mfn-content-000000000000040f0000000000000000_345-7\">7<\/a><\/sup><span id=\"mfn-content-000000000000040f0000000000000000_345-7\" role=\"tooltip\" class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote__note\" tabindex=\"0\" data-mfn=\"7\">American Art Directory 13 (1916), 459.<\/span>, 1918<sup class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote \" data-mfn=\"8\" data-mfn-post-scope=\"000000000000040f0000000000000000_345\"><a href=\"javascript:void(0)\"  role=\"button\" aria-pressed=\"false\" aria-describedby=\"mfn-content-000000000000040f0000000000000000_345-8\">8<\/a><\/sup><span id=\"mfn-content-000000000000040f0000000000000000_345-8\" role=\"tooltip\" class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote__note\" tabindex=\"0\" data-mfn=\"8\">American Art Directory, 15 (1918), 670.<\/span>: 709 Fifth Avenue<br \/>\n1931<sup class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote \" data-mfn=\"9\" data-mfn-post-scope=\"000000000000040f0000000000000000_345\"><a href=\"javascript:void(0)\"  role=\"button\" aria-pressed=\"false\" aria-describedby=\"mfn-content-000000000000040f0000000000000000_345-9\">9<\/a><\/sup><span id=\"mfn-content-000000000000040f0000000000000000_345-9\" role=\"tooltip\" class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote__note\" tabindex=\"0\" data-mfn=\"9\">\u201cCalendar of Current Art Exhibitions in New York,\u201d Parnassus 3, no. 2 (February 1931) 50.<\/span>, 1937<sup class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote \" data-mfn=\"10\" data-mfn-post-scope=\"000000000000040f0000000000000000_345\"><a href=\"javascript:void(0)\"  role=\"button\" aria-pressed=\"false\" aria-describedby=\"mfn-content-000000000000040f0000000000000000_345-10\">10<\/a><\/sup><span id=\"mfn-content-000000000000040f0000000000000000_345-10\" role=\"tooltip\" class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote__note\" tabindex=\"0\" data-mfn=\"10\">\u201cExhibitions in New York,\u201d Parnassus 9, no. 5 (October 1937), 40.<\/span> &#8211; April 1939: 598 Madison Avenue<br \/>\nopened May 1939<sup class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote \" data-mfn=\"11\" data-mfn-post-scope=\"000000000000040f0000000000000000_345\"><a href=\"javascript:void(0)\"  role=\"button\" aria-pressed=\"false\" aria-describedby=\"mfn-content-000000000000040f0000000000000000_345-11\">11<\/a><\/sup><span id=\"mfn-content-000000000000040f0000000000000000_345-11\" role=\"tooltip\" class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote__note\" tabindex=\"0\" data-mfn=\"11\">Advertisement announcing the opening of new galleries at 20 East 57th Street in Parnassus 11, no. 5 (May 1939), 2.<\/span>&#8211; 1945<sup class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote \" data-mfn=\"12\" data-mfn-post-scope=\"000000000000040f0000000000000000_345\"><a href=\"javascript:void(0)\"  role=\"button\" aria-pressed=\"false\" aria-describedby=\"mfn-content-000000000000040f0000000000000000_345-12\">12<\/a><\/sup><span id=\"mfn-content-000000000000040f0000000000000000_345-12\" role=\"tooltip\" class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote__note\" tabindex=\"0\" data-mfn=\"12\">New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division-First Department, \u201cIn the Matter of Proving the Last Will and Testament of Henry Altmayer,\u201d New York Court of Appeals, Records and Briefs, New York, 1945, 181.<\/span>: 20 E. 57th Street<br \/>\n1948<sup class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote \" data-mfn=\"13\" data-mfn-post-scope=\"000000000000040f0000000000000000_345\"><a href=\"javascript:void(0)\"  role=\"button\" aria-pressed=\"false\" aria-describedby=\"mfn-content-000000000000040f0000000000000000_345-13\">13<\/a><\/sup><span id=\"mfn-content-000000000000040f0000000000000000_345-13\" role=\"tooltip\" class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote__note\" tabindex=\"0\" data-mfn=\"13\">Arts Magazine 23 (1948), 26.<\/span>: 32 E. 69th Street<\/p>\n<p>Dikran Kelekian also had galleries located in Paris (10, rue Rossini, and later at 2, Place Vend\u00f4me) and Cairo (38 Kasr-el-nil or Opposite the American mission.<sup class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote \" data-mfn=\"14\" data-mfn-post-scope=\"000000000000040f0000000000000000_345\"><a href=\"javascript:void(0)\"  role=\"button\" aria-pressed=\"false\" aria-describedby=\"mfn-content-000000000000040f0000000000000000_345-14\">14<\/a><\/sup><span id=\"mfn-content-000000000000040f0000000000000000_345-14\" role=\"tooltip\" class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote__note\" tabindex=\"0\" data-mfn=\"14\">Per an advertisement for the gallery in American Art News 20, no. 29 (April 29, 1922): 10. This map of the American mission seems to suggest this is the same location as the Kasr-el-nil address which I found on google maps (it is spelled Kasr al Nile now). \u201cAmerican Mission in Egypt map,\u201d Presbyterian Historical Society, Pearl Digital Collections, <a href=\"https:\/\/digital.history.pcusa.org\/islandora\/object\/islandora%3A1799\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/digital.history.pcusa.org\/islandora\/object\/islandora%3A1799<\/a>, accessed April 22, 2020. <\/span>)<\/p>\n<p><strong>Specialty:<\/strong> Islamic art, Ancient Near Eastern art and artifacts. From the 1910s, Kelekian also presented modern French painting. [Areas of particular expertise: Coptic textiles, Persian ceramics]<\/p>\n<p><strong>Gallery History<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Dikran Kelekian was an important dealer of Islamic, Coptic, and ancient Near Eastern art, and modern French paintings from the 1910s forward. Kelekian was born into an Armenian family in Kayseri, Turkey, in 1868. After completing his education in Constantinople and Paris, Kelekian started his career working in his uncle\u2019s antiquities business\u2013the Magasin K\u00e9ork K\u00e9lekian\u2013located in the Grand Bazaar in Constantinople.<sup class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote \" data-mfn=\"15\" data-mfn-post-scope=\"000000000000040f0000000000000000_345\"><a href=\"javascript:void(0)\"  role=\"button\" aria-pressed=\"false\" aria-describedby=\"mfn-content-000000000000040f0000000000000000_345-15\">15<\/a><\/sup><span id=\"mfn-content-000000000000040f0000000000000000_345-15\" role=\"tooltip\" class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote__note\" tabindex=\"0\" data-mfn=\"15\">Luiza deCamargo, \u201cContent and Character: Dikran Kelekian and Eastern Decorative Art Objects in America,\u201d (MA Thesis, The Smithsonian Associates and the Corcoran College of Art and Design, 2012), 4.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>In 1893, Dikran Kelekian opened his first gallery in New York [Fig. 1]. He stocked Le Mus\u00e9e de Bosphore (later, he simplified the gallery\u2019s name to Kelekian) with \u201cPersian\u201d art and antiquities that he had presented in the World\u2019s Columbian Exposition held earlier that year in Chicago.<sup class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote \" data-mfn=\"16\" data-mfn-post-scope=\"000000000000040f0000000000000000_345\"><a href=\"javascript:void(0)\"  role=\"button\" aria-pressed=\"false\" aria-describedby=\"mfn-content-000000000000040f0000000000000000_345-16\">16<\/a><\/sup><span id=\"mfn-content-000000000000040f0000000000000000_345-16\" role=\"tooltip\" class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote__note\" tabindex=\"0\" data-mfn=\"16\">Marilyn Jenkins-Madina notes that \u201cPersian\u201d art in this context encompasses Arab and Turkish objects as well. Marilyn Jenkins-Medina, \u201cCollecting the \u2018Orient\u2019 at the Met: Early Tastemakers in America,\u201d Ars Orientalis 30 (2000): 73-75. <\/span> In a promotional publication for the gallery, Wellesley Davis vividly described visiting the gallery as an opportunity for \u201cthose, who with cultured taste, would traverse paths of beauty, opened by the Ancient Arts in the sunrise lands of the world.\u201d<sup class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote \" data-mfn=\"17\" data-mfn-post-scope=\"000000000000040f0000000000000000_345\"><a href=\"javascript:void(0)\"  role=\"button\" aria-pressed=\"false\" aria-describedby=\"mfn-content-000000000000040f0000000000000000_345-17\">17<\/a><\/sup><span id=\"mfn-content-000000000000040f0000000000000000_345-17\" role=\"tooltip\" class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote__note\" tabindex=\"0\" data-mfn=\"17\">Wellesley Reid Davis, Notes on Le Mus\u00e9e de Bosphore (New York: Published for D.G. Kelekian, 1898), 4.<\/span> Though the advertising for Le Mus\u00e9e de Bosphore drew upon Orientalist fantasy, Kelekian was a serious art dealer. In addition to the New York location, Kelekian operated galleries in Constantinople, London, Paris, and Cairo at varying points. The Cairo branch seems to have functioned primarily as a depot for storing and shipping objects purchased in Egypt, Iran, and Syria, while the other locations served as formal galleries.<sup class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote \" data-mfn=\"18\" data-mfn-post-scope=\"000000000000040f0000000000000000_345\"><a href=\"javascript:void(0)\"  role=\"button\" aria-pressed=\"false\" aria-describedby=\"mfn-content-000000000000040f0000000000000000_345-18\">18<\/a><\/sup><span id=\"mfn-content-000000000000040f0000000000000000_345-18\" role=\"tooltip\" class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote__note\" tabindex=\"0\" data-mfn=\"18\">deCamargo, 7-8.<\/span> He was widely respected in the art world for his expertise in Middle Eastern art and antiquities. Over the course of his career, he published books on topics including ancient Chinese pottery, Persian ceramics, and Coptic art.<sup class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote \" data-mfn=\"19\" data-mfn-post-scope=\"000000000000040f0000000000000000_345\"><a href=\"javascript:void(0)\"  role=\"button\" aria-pressed=\"false\" aria-describedby=\"mfn-content-000000000000040f0000000000000000_345-19\">19<\/a><\/sup><span id=\"mfn-content-000000000000040f0000000000000000_345-19\" role=\"tooltip\" class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote__note\" tabindex=\"0\" data-mfn=\"19\">See list of primary sources below.<\/span> The Shah of Iran recognized Kelekian for his efforts in promoting Persian culture, an honor that prompted Kelekian to add Khan to his name around 1904.<sup class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote \" data-mfn=\"20\" data-mfn-post-scope=\"000000000000040f0000000000000000_345\"><a href=\"javascript:void(0)\"  role=\"button\" aria-pressed=\"false\" aria-describedby=\"mfn-content-000000000000040f0000000000000000_345-20\">20<\/a><\/sup><span id=\"mfn-content-000000000000040f0000000000000000_345-20\" role=\"tooltip\" class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote__note\" tabindex=\"0\" data-mfn=\"20\">Marianna Shreve Simpson, \u201c\u2019A Gallant Era\u2019: Henry Walters, Islamic Art, and the Kelekian Connection,\u201d Ars Orientalis 30 (2000): 95.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>As a collector and dealer, Kelekian played an important role in shaping American collections of Islamic and Ancient Near Eastern art. The Metropolitan Museum of Art exhibited textiles, ceramics, and objets d\u2019art from Kelekian\u2019s collection long before it had a department dedicated to Islamic art.<sup class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote \" data-mfn=\"21\" data-mfn-post-scope=\"000000000000040f0000000000000000_345\"><a href=\"javascript:void(0)\"  role=\"button\" aria-pressed=\"false\" aria-describedby=\"mfn-content-000000000000040f0000000000000000_345-21\">21<\/a><\/sup><span id=\"mfn-content-000000000000040f0000000000000000_345-21\" role=\"tooltip\" class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote__note\" tabindex=\"0\" data-mfn=\"21\">1895, 1898, 1911. Thelma K. Thomas, \u201cFrom Curiosities to Objects of Art: Modern Reception of Late Antique Egyptian Textiles as Reflected in Dikran Kelekian\u2019s Textile Album of ca. 1910,\u201d in Anath\u0113mata heortika: studies in honor of Thomas F. Mathews, ed. Joseph D. Alchermes, Helen C. Evans, and Thelma K. Thomas (Mainz: Philipp von Zabern, 2009), 310.<\/span> The trustees of this institution also turned to Kelekian for advice, for example, by asking him to assess a proposed gift of Ottoman ceramics in 1902.<sup class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote \" data-mfn=\"22\" data-mfn-post-scope=\"000000000000040f0000000000000000_345\"><a href=\"javascript:void(0)\"  role=\"button\" aria-pressed=\"false\" aria-describedby=\"mfn-content-000000000000040f0000000000000000_345-22\">22<\/a><\/sup><span id=\"mfn-content-000000000000040f0000000000000000_345-22\" role=\"tooltip\" class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote__note\" tabindex=\"0\" data-mfn=\"22\">Rebecca Lindsey, \u201cDisplaying Islamic Art at the Metropolitan: A Retrospective Look,\u201d Blogs: Now at the Met, Feb. 2, 2012. Accessed April 17, 2020. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.metmuseum.org\/blogs\/now-at-the-met\/features\/2012\/displaying-islamic-art-at-the-metropolitan#!#_ftn14\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/www.metmuseum.org\/blogs\/now-at-the-met\/features\/2012\/displaying-islamic-art-at-the-metropolitan#!#_ftn14<\/a>.<\/span> Kelekian enriched the Met\u2019s collections both through direct sales\u2014including the museum\u2019s beloved faience hippopotamus \u201cWilliam\u201d in 1917\u2014and by encouraging others to purchase antiquities on the museum\u2019s behalf.<sup class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote \" data-mfn=\"23\" data-mfn-post-scope=\"000000000000040f0000000000000000_345\"><a href=\"javascript:void(0)\"  role=\"button\" aria-pressed=\"false\" aria-describedby=\"mfn-content-000000000000040f0000000000000000_345-23\">23<\/a><\/sup><span id=\"mfn-content-000000000000040f0000000000000000_345-23\" role=\"tooltip\" class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote__note\" tabindex=\"0\" data-mfn=\"23\">\u201cProvenance,\u201d Hippopotamus (\u201cWilliam\u201d), accessed April 22, 2020, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.metmuseum.org\/art\/collection\/search\/544227?searchField=All&amp;sortBy=Relevance&amp;where=Egypt&amp;high=on&amp;ao=on&amp;ft=*&amp;offset=0&amp;rpp=80&amp;pos=44\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/www.metmuseum.org\/art\/collection\/search\/544227?searchField=All&amp;sortBy=Relevance&amp;where=Egypt&amp;high=on&amp;ao=on&amp;ft=*&amp;offset=0&amp;rpp=80&amp;pos=44<\/a><\/span> For example, Kelekian orchestrated the sale of the monumental friezes from the palace of Ashurnasirpal II at Nimrud to John D. Rockefeller, who in turn donated them to the Metropolitan Museum.<sup class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote \" data-mfn=\"24\" data-mfn-post-scope=\"000000000000040f0000000000000000_345\"><a href=\"javascript:void(0)\"  role=\"button\" aria-pressed=\"false\" aria-describedby=\"mfn-content-000000000000040f0000000000000000_345-24\">24<\/a><\/sup><span id=\"mfn-content-000000000000040f0000000000000000_345-24\" role=\"tooltip\" class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote__note\" tabindex=\"0\" data-mfn=\"24\">John Malcolm Russell, From Nineveh to New York: The Strange Story of the Metropolitan Museum\u2019s Assyrian Collection and the Hidden Masterpiece at Canford Manor (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1997).<\/span> Of course, Kelekian sold art and antiquities to many other institutions as well including the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and the Freer Gallery.<sup class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote \" data-mfn=\"25\" data-mfn-post-scope=\"000000000000040f0000000000000000_345\"><a href=\"javascript:void(0)\"  role=\"button\" aria-pressed=\"false\" aria-describedby=\"mfn-content-000000000000040f0000000000000000_345-25\">25<\/a><\/sup><span id=\"mfn-content-000000000000040f0000000000000000_345-25\" role=\"tooltip\" class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote__note\" tabindex=\"0\" data-mfn=\"25\">Simpson, 93.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Kelekian\u2019s cultivation of private collectors further enriched American institutions. In the early 20th century, he helped Henry Walters, George Blumenthal, and Henry and Louisine Havemeyer build their collections of Islamic art\u2013all of which are accessible to the public today.<sup class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote \" data-mfn=\"26\" data-mfn-post-scope=\"000000000000040f0000000000000000_345\"><a href=\"javascript:void(0)\"  role=\"button\" aria-pressed=\"false\" aria-describedby=\"mfn-content-000000000000040f0000000000000000_345-26\">26<\/a><\/sup><span id=\"mfn-content-000000000000040f0000000000000000_345-26\" role=\"tooltip\" class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote__note\" tabindex=\"0\" data-mfn=\"26\">de Camargo.<\/span> Kelekian befriended his clients, even accompanying them on trips as he did on an expedition to Egypt with the Havemeyers in 1906 [Fig. 2].<\/p>\n<p>Living in Paris much of the time, Kelekian also associated with practicing artists. He counted painters like Mary Cassatt, Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Marsden Hartley, and John Singer Sargent among his friends.<sup class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote \" data-mfn=\"27\" data-mfn-post-scope=\"000000000000040f0000000000000000_345\"><a href=\"javascript:void(0)\"  role=\"button\" aria-pressed=\"false\" aria-describedby=\"mfn-content-000000000000040f0000000000000000_345-27\">27<\/a><\/sup><span id=\"mfn-content-000000000000040f0000000000000000_345-27\" role=\"tooltip\" class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote__note\" tabindex=\"0\" data-mfn=\"27\">Exhibition Overview for \u201cCoptic Art, Dikran Kelekian, and Milton Avery\u201d at the Met Fifth Avenue, August 11, 2014-September 7, 2015, accessed April 22, 2020, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.metmuseum.org\/exhibitions\/listings\/2014\/coptic-art\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/www.metmuseum.org\/exhibitions\/listings\/2014\/coptic-art<\/a>.<\/span> In the 1910s, Kelekian had developed a passion for French modern art. He began collecting in this area\u2014acquiring works by C\u00e9zanne, Toulouse-Lautrec, Bonnard, Derain, Matisse, Picasso, Vuillard, Courbet, Daumier, and van Gogh among others.<sup class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote \" data-mfn=\"28\" data-mfn-post-scope=\"000000000000040f0000000000000000_345\"><a href=\"javascript:void(0)\"  role=\"button\" aria-pressed=\"false\" aria-describedby=\"mfn-content-000000000000040f0000000000000000_345-28\">28<\/a><\/sup><span id=\"mfn-content-000000000000040f0000000000000000_345-28\" role=\"tooltip\" class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote__note\" tabindex=\"0\" data-mfn=\"28\">Simpson, 104.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Kelekian encouraged artists of his day to engage with ancient art. In particular, he perceived a resonance between the work of modern painters and the rhythms of Coptic textiles\u2014an interest Milton Avery acknowledged when he depicted the dealer before a background of Coptic patterns in his portrait.<sup class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote \" data-mfn=\"29\" data-mfn-post-scope=\"000000000000040f0000000000000000_345\"><a href=\"javascript:void(0)\"  role=\"button\" aria-pressed=\"false\" aria-describedby=\"mfn-content-000000000000040f0000000000000000_345-29\">29<\/a><\/sup><span id=\"mfn-content-000000000000040f0000000000000000_345-29\" role=\"tooltip\" class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote__note\" tabindex=\"0\" data-mfn=\"29\">\u201cCoptic Art, Dikran Kelekian, and Milton Avery.\u201d<\/span> In 1942, Kelekian aimed to demonstrate the artistic connection between the past and present with the exhibition, Artists of the Remote Past and Their Grandchildren: An Exhibition of Modern Paintings in an Antique Background.<sup class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote \" data-mfn=\"30\" data-mfn-post-scope=\"000000000000040f0000000000000000_345\"><a href=\"javascript:void(0)\"  role=\"button\" aria-pressed=\"false\" aria-describedby=\"mfn-content-000000000000040f0000000000000000_345-30\">30<\/a><\/sup><span id=\"mfn-content-000000000000040f0000000000000000_345-30\" role=\"tooltip\" class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote__note\" tabindex=\"0\" data-mfn=\"30\">Artists of the Remote Past and Their Grandchildren: An Exhibition of Modern American and French Paintings in an Antique Background, exhibition catalogue, January 5-31, 1942 (New York: Dikran G. Kelekian, Inc., 1942.)<\/span> Two years later, Durand-Ruel Gallery paid tribute to Kelekian\u2019s close relationship with contemporary artists with the exhibition, Kelekian as the Artist Sees Him.<sup class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote \" data-mfn=\"31\" data-mfn-post-scope=\"000000000000040f0000000000000000_345\"><a href=\"javascript:void(0)\"  role=\"button\" aria-pressed=\"false\" aria-describedby=\"mfn-content-000000000000040f0000000000000000_345-31\">31<\/a><\/sup><span id=\"mfn-content-000000000000040f0000000000000000_345-31\" role=\"tooltip\" class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote__note\" tabindex=\"0\" data-mfn=\"31\">Frank Crowninshield, Kelekian as the Artist Sees Him, exhibition catalogue, 17 October\u20134 November (New York: Durand-Ruel Galleries, 1944).<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Kelekian remained a prominent figure in the art world for the rest of his life. His obituary in the New York Times mourned the loss of a \u201clegendary\u2014almost a fantastic\u2014figure\u201d in the art world when he died in 1951.<sup class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote \" data-mfn=\"32\" data-mfn-post-scope=\"000000000000040f0000000000000000_345\"><a href=\"javascript:void(0)\"  role=\"button\" aria-pressed=\"false\" aria-describedby=\"mfn-content-000000000000040f0000000000000000_345-32\">32<\/a><\/sup><span id=\"mfn-content-000000000000040f0000000000000000_345-32\" role=\"tooltip\" class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote__note\" tabindex=\"0\" data-mfn=\"32\">Meyer Berger, \u201cKelekian Plunges 21 Floors to Death,\u201d New York Times, January 31, 1951, 23.<\/span> His son, Charles Kelekian (1900\u20131982), continued the family business accompanied by his daughter, Nanette Kelekian. After Charles passed away in 1982, Nanette and her mother Beatrice donated works of art and archival records related to the Kelekian Gallery to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.<sup class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote \" data-mfn=\"33\" data-mfn-post-scope=\"000000000000040f0000000000000000_345\"><a href=\"javascript:void(0)\"  role=\"button\" aria-pressed=\"false\" aria-describedby=\"mfn-content-000000000000040f0000000000000000_345-33\">33<\/a><\/sup><span id=\"mfn-content-000000000000040f0000000000000000_345-33\" role=\"tooltip\" class=\"modern-footnotes-footnote__note\" tabindex=\"0\" data-mfn=\"33\">deCamargo, 52-53.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Illustrations<\/strong><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_350\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-350\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/art-history-3570-spring-2020\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/368\/2020\/05\/Screenshot-2020-05-06-09.58.12.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-350\" src=\"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/art-history-3570-spring-2020\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/368\/2020\/05\/Screenshot-2020-05-06-09.58.12-300x269.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"269\" srcset=\"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/art-history-3570-spring-2020\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/368\/2020\/05\/Screenshot-2020-05-06-09.58.12-300x269.png 300w, https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/art-history-3570-spring-2020\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/368\/2020\/05\/Screenshot-2020-05-06-09.58.12.png 533w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-350\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Le Mus\u00e9e de Bosphore, New York City, 1899. Note: the man in the picture is not Kelekian. Image is from Jenkins-Medina, 74.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_351\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-351\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/art-history-3570-spring-2020\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/368\/2020\/05\/Screenshot-2020-05-06-09.57.42.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-351\" src=\"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/art-history-3570-spring-2020\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/368\/2020\/05\/Screenshot-2020-05-06-09.57.42-300x232.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"232\" srcset=\"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/art-history-3570-spring-2020\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/368\/2020\/05\/Screenshot-2020-05-06-09.57.42-300x232.png 300w, https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/art-history-3570-spring-2020\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/368\/2020\/05\/Screenshot-2020-05-06-09.57.42.png 452w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-351\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Havemeyer party and Dikran Kelekian in Giza, Egypt, 1906.<br \/>Image is from Jenkins-Medina, 84.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_352\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-352\" style=\"width: 231px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/art-history-3570-spring-2020\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/368\/2020\/05\/Screenshot-2020-05-06-09.57.04.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-352\" src=\"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/art-history-3570-spring-2020\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/368\/2020\/05\/Screenshot-2020-05-06-09.57.04-231x300.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"231\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/art-history-3570-spring-2020\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/368\/2020\/05\/Screenshot-2020-05-06-09.57.04-231x300.png 231w, https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/art-history-3570-spring-2020\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/368\/2020\/05\/Screenshot-2020-05-06-09.57.04.png 481w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 231px) 100vw, 231px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-352\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Milton Avery, Dikran G. Kelekian, 1943, oil on canvas, 36 \u00bc x 28 1\/8 in., Gift of Nanette B. Kelekian, 1998, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (accession no. 1998.400.1, Rights and Reproductions: \u00a9 2020 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong>Date written:<\/strong> April, 2020<\/p>\n<p><strong>Contributors:<\/strong> LND<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/art-history-3570-spring-2020\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/368\/2020\/05\/Kelekian-Gallery-Bio.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kelekian Gallery Bio PDF<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Primary Sources<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Archives: Archives of American Art (Elsa Schmid paper, 1910\u20131917), (Alfred Valente Papers, 1941\u00ac\u20131978), (Albert Duveen art reference files [c. 1831\u20131950]); Cleveland Museum of Art (Records of the Director\u2019s office: Frederic Allen Whiting, 1913\u20131930); Dumbarton Oaks (Bliss-Tyler Correspondence [https:\/\/www.doaks.org\/resources\/bliss-tyler-correspondence]); Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives, Smithsonian Institution (Charles Lang Freer papers, 1876\u20131931); Getty Research Institute (Duveen Brothers records, 1876\u20131981); Harvard Art Museums Archives (Papers of Paul J. Sachs, 1903\u20132005); Walters Art Museum Archives; The Metropolitan Museum of Art (Kelekian Archives), (Robert Lehman papers, c. 1880s\u20131977).<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA Connoisseur\u2019s Advice.\u201d Chicago Daily Tribune. September 3, 1983.<\/p>\n<p>A Cross-cut of Art in America: An Exhibition of Some of the Leading Painters and Sculptors in the United States. Exhibition catalogue, 21 November\u201319 December, 1942. New York: Dikran G. Kelekian, Inc., 1942.<\/p>\n<p>Artists of the Remote Past and Their Grandchildren: An Exhibition of Modern American and French Paintings in an Antique Background. Exhibition catalogue, January 5\u201331, 1942. New York Dikran G. Kelekian, Inc., 1942.<\/p>\n<p>Catalogue of Rare and Beautiful Greek, Egyptian, Byzantine and other Glass, Persian and Other Pottery, Old Enamels, Sumptuous Textiles, and many of the Ancient Objects of Extraordinary Interest to be sold at unrestricted Public Sale by order of Dikran Khan Kelekian. New York: American Art Association, 1903.<\/p>\n<p>Davis, Wellesley Reid. Notes on Le Mus\u00e9e de Bosphore. New York: Published for D.G. Kelekian, 1898.<\/p>\n<p>Kelekian, Dikran. Additional Documents of Coptic Art in the Collection of Dikran G. Kelekian, Inc. New York: Delphic Press, 1941.<\/p>\n<p>Kelekian, Dikran. Catalog of an Exhibition of Persian and Indian Miniature Paintings forming the Private Collection of Dikran Khan Kelekian. New York: The Gotchnag Press, 1933.<\/p>\n<p>Kelekian, Dikran. Collection K\u00e9l\u00e9kian: Tableaux de l\u2019\u00e9cole fran\u00e7aise moderne. Paris: [Kelekian], 1920.<\/p>\n<p>Kelekian, Dikran. Important Documents of Coptic Art in the Collection of Dikran G. Kelekian. New York: Harbor Press, 1935.<\/p>\n<p>Kelekian, Dikran. The Kelekian Collection of Persian and Analogous Potteries 1885\u20131910. Paris: H. Clarke, 1910.<\/p>\n<p>Kelekian, Dikran. Paintings, Watercolors and Drawings of the Moderns: The Private Collection of Dikran G. Kelekian. Sale catalogue no. 427, 18 January 1935. New York: Rains Galleries, 1935.<\/p>\n<p>Kelekian, Dikran. The Potteries of Persia. Paris: H. Clarke, 1909.<\/p>\n<p>Kelekian, Dikran and John Getz. The K\u00e9l\u00e9kian Collection of Ancient Chinese Potteries. Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 1917.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Secondary Sources<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cAmerica to have Its First Great Auction of Modernist Art in Dispersal of Superb Collection formed by D.K. Kelekian.\u201d American Art News 20, no. 15 (1922): 7.<\/p>\n<p>Armstrong, Meg. \u201cNovelties and Curiosities: \u2018A Jumble of Foreignness\u2019: The Sublime Musayums of Nineteenth-Century Fairs and Exhibitions.\u201d Cultural Critique 23 (1992): 199\u2013250.<br \/>\nBerger, Meyer. \u201cKelekian Plunges 21 Floors to Death.\u201d New York Times January 31, 1951, 23.<\/p>\n<p>Catalogue of Ceramics, Textiles, Rare Rugs, Jewelry and Manuscripts from the Private Collection of Dikran Khan Kelekian, Commissioner-General for Persia, Exhibited at the Imperial Persian Pavilion, Louisiana Purchase Exposition, Saint Louis, 1904. New York and Paris, n.p., 1904.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Collector.\u201d The Art Amateur 43, no. 5 (1900), 121.<br \/>\nCrowninshield, Frank. Kelekian as the Artist Sees Him. Exhibition catalogue, 17 October\u20134 November, 1944. New York: Durand-Ruel Galleries, 1944.<\/p>\n<p>deCamargo, Luiza. \u201cContent and Character: Dikran Kelekian and Eastern Decorative Art Objects in America.\u201d MA Thesis, The Smithsonian Associates and the Corcoran College of Art and Design, 2012.<\/p>\n<p>The Dikran Kelekian Collection, Part I. Near Eastern Art. Sale catalogue, 21\u201323 October 1953. New York: Parke-Bernet Galleries, Inc., 1953.<\/p>\n<p>The Dikran Kelekian Collection. Part II. Final. Near Eastern Art. Sale catalogue, 16\u201317 December 1953. Parke-Bernet Galleries, Inc.<br \/>\nFrelinghuysen, Alice Cooney, Gary Tinterow, et al. Splendid Legacy: The Havemeyer Collection. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1993.<\/p>\n<p>French Paintings from the Collection of Dikran Kelekian. Exhibition catalogue, January 5\u00ac\u201329, 1938. New York: Marie Harriman Gallery, 1938.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFrom the Collection of Dikran Kelekian.\u201d The Art Digest 12 (January 15, 1938): 17.<\/p>\n<p>Fry, Roger. \u201cModern Paintings in a Collection of Ancient Art.\u201d Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs 37, no. 213 (December 1920), 302-305, 308-309.<\/p>\n<p>Guiffrey, Jeffrey and Gaston Migeon. La Collection K\u00e9l\u00e9kian: Etoffes et Tapis d\u2019Orient et de Venise. Paris: Librarie Centrale des Beaux-Arts, 1908.<\/p>\n<p>Hahnloser-Ingold, Margrit. \u201cCollecting Matisses of the 1920s in the 1920s.\u201d In Matisse: The Early Years in Nice. Pages 239\u2013248. Washington, D.C.: National Gallery of Art, 1986.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe Likes the Americans: Dikran Khan Kelekian is Visiting Detroit.\u201d Detroit Free Press. June 19, 1904, 16.<br \/>\nIllustrated Catalogue of the Notable Private Collection of Modern French Pictures and a Group of the Works of the Noted American Artist Arthur B. Davies formed by and belonging to the Widely Known Antiquarian Dikran Khan Kelekian of Paris and New York. Sale Catalogue, January 24, 1922. New York: The American Art Association, 1922.<\/p>\n<p>Jenkins-Madina, Marilyn. \u201cCollecting the \u201cOrient\u201d at the Met: Early Tastemakers in America.\u201d Ars Orientalis 30 (2000): 69\u201389.<br \/>\n\u201cKelekian\u2019s Orientalia. Marvels of Old Persia\u2019s Looms \u2013 Bronzes, Church Textiles, and Antique Keramics Coming to the Hammer.\u201d New York Times (April 12, 1903), 7.<\/p>\n<p>Kevorkian, Annie. Collection K\u00e9l\u00e9kian: Deuxi\u00e9me Vente, H\u00f4tel Drouot, Paris, 22 October 2001. Paris, 2001.<\/p>\n<p>Komaroff, Linda. \u201cExhibiting the Middle East: Collections and Perceptions of Islamic Art.\u201d Ars Orientalis, vol. 30 (2000): 1\u20138.<br \/>\nRiefstahl, Rudolf Meyer. Catalog of an Exhibition of Persian and Indian Miniature Paintings forming the Private Collection of Dikran Khan Kelekian: Special Loan Exhibition held at the Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, Michigan, February 6th to March 3rd, 1934. Detroit, MI: Detroit Institute of Arts, 1934.<br \/>\n\u201cRow over Persian Consul.\u201d New York World July 29, 1922.<\/p>\n<p>Russell, John Malcolm. From Nineveh to New York: The Strange Story of the Metropolitan Museum\u2019s Assyrian Collection and the Hidden Masterpiece at Canford Manor. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1997.<\/p>\n<p>A Selected Group of Modern Paintings Belonging to Dikran Khan Kelekian. Exhibition catalogue, November 6\u201319, 1938. New York: American Art Association, Anderson Galleries, Inc., 1938.<\/p>\n<p>Simpson, Marianna Shreve. \u201c\u201dA Gallant Era\u201d: Henry Walters, Islamic Art, and the Kelekian Connection.\u201d Ars Orientalis vol. 30 (2000): 91\u2013112.<\/p>\n<p>Thomas, Thelma K. \u201cFrom Curiosities to Objects of Art: Modern Reception of Late Antique Egyptian Textiles as Reflected in Dikran Kelekian\u2019s Textile Album of ca. 1910.\u201d In Anath\u0113mata heortika: Studies in Honor of Thomas F. Mathews. Edited by Joseph D. Alchermes, Helen C. Evans, and Thelma K. Thomas, 300\u2013312. Mainz: Philipp von Zabern, 2009.<\/p>\n<p>Ventura, Alison Field. \u201cThe Khan of American Collecting: How Dikran Kelekian Created a Market for Islamic Arts.\u201d MA Thesis, Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, Smithsonian Institution; and Parsons The New School for Design, 2011.<\/p>\n<p>Vernoit, Stephen, ed. Discovering Islamic Art: Scholars, Collectors, and Collections, 1850\u20131950. London: I.B. Taurus, 2000.<br \/>\nVillard, Mariquita. \u201cCoptic Textiles from the Kelekian Collection.\u201d Parnassus 3, no. 4 (April 1931): 31\u201332.<\/p>\n<p>Welch, S. Cary. Surveyors of Persian Art: A Documentary Biography of Arthur Upham Pope &amp; Phyllis Ackerman. Edited by J. Gluck and N. Siver. Ashiya, Japan: SoPA, 1996.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Active Dates: c. 1893\u20131951 Gallerist: Dikran Khan Kelekian Location: 1893,\u00a0 1899: 303 Fifth Avenue 1903, 1905-1906: 252 Fifth Avenue 1909-1910: 275 Fifth Avenue 1914, 1916, 1918: 709 Fifth Avenue 1931, 1937 &#8211; April 1939: 598 Madison Avenue opened May 1939- 1945: 20 E. 57th Street 1948: 32 E. 69th Street Dikran Kelekian also had galleries [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1063,"featured_media":350,"parent":40,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-345","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/art-history-3570-spring-2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/345","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/art-history-3570-spring-2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/art-history-3570-spring-2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/art-history-3570-spring-2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1063"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/art-history-3570-spring-2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=345"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/art-history-3570-spring-2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/345\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/art-history-3570-spring-2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/40"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/art-history-3570-spring-2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/350"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/art-history-3570-spring-2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=345"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}