Larry Gagosian Recalls Misstep With Early Gallery: ‘Nobody Showed Up’
Larry Gagosian doesn’t do a lot of interviews, but one supposes when Elle Decor asks to do a glossy profile on the rocket-ship trajectory of his eponymous gallery, you say yes. Speaking on the occasion of a new gallery opening at 980 Madison Avenue on the Upper East Side this spring, Gagosian reflected on his many successes—and two notable failures. His short-lived San Francisco gallery, which opened in 2016 near SFMoMA and closed in 2021, was one such failure. At the time, a spokesperson framed the closing as an effort to “consolidate and strengthen Gagosian’s presence in California.” In the interview with Elle Decor, the mega-dealer was quite a bit blunter. Related Articles “It just failed,” Gagosian said. “I mean, nobody showed up. It was so depressing. I’d fly up there for an opening, and there’s nobody there. I’d go, What the f— am I doing here?” While the Bay Area is home to many ARTnews Top 200 collectors, including Laurene Powell Jobs, billionaire venture capitalist Marc Andreesen and Laura Arillaga-Andreesen, Oracle founder Larry Ellison, former Gap Inc. chairman Robert Fisher, and …

