Larry Gagosian Quotes

“The more people who look at great art, the better for our culture.”

“The way you present your work has a lot to do with how people receive and regard it.”

“I never really took a proper art class in college. I just started reading art magazines and going to galleries. I was really drawn to it.”

“I've never been what they call a 'pure gallerist.' I find that somewhat pretentious, honestly - I'm an art dealer. I like to show great artists of our time, but I also like dealing. And I think they reinforce each other.”

“When a great artist gets my attention, I pursue it. If I don't, someone else will, you know what I'm saying?”

“My journey is different from some other major galleries because I started from scratch. I didn't have family in the business. I never worked for another gallery. I never worked for an auction house.”

“I love the challenge. I love winning.”

“It's very easy to open a gallery. To open a small gallery—which I did, I started with nothing—it doesn't take a ton of capital, and you can find insane capital to open a bootstrap gallery.”

“Auctions are a necessary evil. I think they've helped, because auctions create confidence in the market—I'm speaking as a dealer here.”

“In a larger sense, I think it's a unique economy. The less you fiddle with it, the healthier it'll be.”

“I saw that and I said, 'Jeez, I could do that.”

“Sadly, I sold them all. Wish I still owned them!”