Acquavella Galleries

The story

William Acquavella's first real coup was buying 22 paintings from the estate of Pierre Bonnard — and selling 17 of them by mail before the show even opened. The gallery began in 1921 when Nicholas Acquavella, a Neapolitan who had arrived in the United States just two years earlier, opened at 598 Madison Avenue dealing in Italian paintings. He introduced American museums and collectors to Renaissance and Baroque masters. When his son William joined in 1960, the focus expanded to Impressionism, Post-Impressionism, Surrealism, and Cubism, drawing clients like Henry Ford II and Paul Mellon.