About the Gallery
Michael Goedhuis opened Goedhuis Contemporary in London in 1995 and inaugurated the New York space in January 2002, after spending two decades specializing in early Asian art. His principal activity today is the promotion of the best Chinese contemporary art and artists throughout the world. He believes that China is currently undergoing a true "cultural revolution" which is not confined to art but is manifest in film, music, theatre, design, dance and literature.Continue Reading
Goedhuis Contemporary's artists come from China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Paris, Hawaii, New York and London. The only criterion for inclusion in the gallery's exhibition network is the quality of work and its capacity to be relevant to and significant for the modern world. The policy of the gallery is to give intensive exposure to its artists in one-person exhibitions in London and New York and also through its network of art fairs in America, Europe and Asia.
Goedhuis Contemporary strongly believes that contemporary Chinese art is still at an early stage of recognition both in Asia and the West. It therefore offers exceptionally productive opportunities for collectors and museums in terms of price levels as well as access to one of the most creative areas of the current art world. In particular, Chinese artists have gained self-confidence in the last few years and are now less interested in emulating Western styles than in creating a new language, which takes account of China's rich cultural past, while at the same time expressing their unique experience of the world.
Recent shows have confirmed a gathering momentum of interest from western institutions and prominent collectors as well as an acceleration of buying in Asia.
Michael Goedhuis
Michael Goedhuis was born in Holland. He attended school at Eton College and then spent some years at European universities in France and Germany before completing his MBA at the European Institute for Business Administration (INSEAD) in Fontainebleau.Continue Reading
Trained as an economist, he became an investment banker with First Boston Corporation in New York before returning to London to earn a degree in Art History under Anthony Blunt at the Courtauld Institute.
He then joined Jacob Rothschild (now Lord Rothschild) working with the Rothschild art investment companies and was later instrumental in establishing the Oriental Department at Colnaghi starting with the famous sale of Baron Edmond de Rothschild's famous collection of Persian manuscripts and miniatures.
By 1982 he established his own company dealing in Islamic paintings and works of art and Indian, Japanese, and Chinese art. In 1986 he discovered and sold (to the Sackler Gallery at the Smithsonian) the Vever Collection of paintings and manuscripts, which had been lost since the 1930's.
His career in the art world both as an investment advisor and as a dealer has been based on a policy of identifying commercially neglected areas that are of investment potential and are therefore appropriate for market development.
His work in the past was focused on building major collections over a period of two to five years while concurrently stimulating interest in the area. He has done this in many fields: Islamic Metalwork (he acquired Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan's collection), Persian and Indian paintings and manuscripts (the Rothschild and Vever collections), classical 16th and 17th Persian and Mughal carpets (Rockefeller and Rothschild collections) and ancient Chinese and Ming bronzes.
Over the last ten years, Mr. Goedhuis has established himself as a pioneer in the field of modern and contemporary Chinese art, carefully identifying the best and most original artists working today. He now represents many of the most promising emerging artists as well as the most established masters from China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Europe, and the United States. He believes that Chinese contemporary culture is currently passing through a particularly creative historical phase.
The culmination of these early pioneering years was the comprehensive exhibition organized by Michael Goedhuis with Sotheby's New York in 2001.
In 2002 he expanded his activities by opening a gallery in New York to appeal to the accelerating interest in this field amongst institutions and private collectors in the U.S. Recently he opened an office in Beijing to help him more rapidly identify emerging talents in China and advise the new rapidly expanding clientele on the Mainland.
New York
Goedhuis Contemporary
42 East 76th St.
New York, NY 10021
Tel: (212) 535-6954
Fax:(212) 535 0256
E-mail:
newyork@goedhuiscontemporary.com
London
Goedhuis Contemporary
Flat 3, 61 Cadogan Square
London SW1X 0HZ
Tel: 020 7823 1395
Fax: 020 7823 2794
E-mail:
london@goedhuiscontemporary.com
Beijing
E-mail:
beijing@goedhuiscontemporary.com