Mary Boone

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American art dealer and collector

title: "Mary Boone" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["american-art-dealers", "american-women-art-dealers", "rhode-island-school-of-design-alumni", "living-people", "1951-births", "hunter-college-alumni", "people-from-erie,-pennsylvania", "businesspeople-from-pennsylvania", "20th-century-american-businesspeople", "20th-century-american-businesswomen", "21st-century-american-businesspeople", "21st-century-american-businesswomen"] description: "American art dealer and collector" topic_path: "geography/united-states" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Boone" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American art dealer and collector ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox person"]

FieldValue
nameMary Boone
altMary Boone with a punching bag by Jean Michel Basquiat
captionMary Boone admires Jean Michel Basquiat's punching bag in October 2025
birth_name
birth_datec.
birth_placeErie, Pennsylvania, U.S.
death_date
educationRhode Island School of Design
Hunter College
occupationArt dealer, collector
years_active1977–present
children1
::

| name = Mary Boone | image = | alt = Mary Boone with a punching bag by Jean Michel Basquiat | caption = Mary Boone admires Jean Michel Basquiat's punching bag in October 2025 | birth_name = | birth_date = c. | birth_place = Erie, Pennsylvania, U.S. | death_date = | death_place = | education = Rhode Island School of Design Hunter College | occupation = Art dealer, collector | years_active = 1977–present | known_for = | spouse = | children = 1 | parents = | relatives = | website =

Mary Boone (born 1952) is an American art dealer and collector. As the owner and director of the Mary Boone Gallery, she played an important role in the New York art market of the 1980s. Her first two artists, Julian Schnabel and David Salle, became internationally known, and, in 1982, she was featured in a cover story on New York magazine tagged: "The New Queen of the Art Scene".

Boone is credited with championing and fostering dozens of contemporary artists including Eric Fischl, Ai Weiwei, Barbara Kruger, Laurie Simmons, Peter Halley, Ross Bleckner, and Jean-Michel Basquiat. Originally based in SoHo, Boone operated two galleries, one on Fifth Avenue, the other in Chelsea.

Following her 2019 conviction for tax evasion, she indicated the intention to close both galleries. In 2025, Boone curated an exhibition with Dominique Levy featuring many artists of her 1980's roster. Responding to the question of where things were headed next, she told Artnet that, “at 73, I don’t really plan ahead in the same way that I did when I was young. I just wanna do what’s fun for me.”

Early life and education

Boone moved to New York City at the age of 19 from Erie, Pennsylvania. Her parents were working class Egyptian immigrants. She studied art history at Rhode Island School of Design and received her BFA in sculpture in 1973. Boone met sculptor Lynda Benglis at Hunter College and the artist introduced her to the director of Bykert Gallery, Klaus Kertess, where she would eventually work.

Career

In 1977, Boone opened the Mary Boone Gallery in SoHo, New York City. The gallery quickly rose to prominence by exhibiting new painters associated with neo-expressionism such as Eric Fischl, Julian Schnabel, and David Salle. Boone's gallery and presence throughout the 1980s offered a departure from conceptual and minimal approaches to art by supporting a revival in painting.

In 1982, Boone was named "The New Queen of the Art Scene" by New York magazine. A New York Times critic later described her gallery's 1979 exhibition of Julian Schnabel's work as perhaps being "the key launching pad" for neo-expressionism.

The Swiss art dealer and collector Bruno Bischofberger joined Boone's gallery in 1984 after his first solo show there; he partnered with the gallery and mounted early shows featuring the painter Jean Michel Basquiat. The two galleries shared a selection of artists. Boone successfully brought a neo-expressionist movement to Europe and Bischofberger situated these American painters alongside the post-war painters like Anselm Kiefer and Georg Baselitz.

In 1988, Barbara Kruger became the first woman to join the gallery.

The gallery played a significant role in the development of the art market in the 1980s. Boone was one of the first dealers to require waiting lists for collectors to buy works not yet produced.

The Mary Boone Gallery moved from SoHo to uptown New York in 1996. In the early 2000s, Will Cotton, Tom Sachs, and Inka Essenhigh joined the gallery's roster.

Artists

Artists who have been represented or shown by the Mary Boone Gallery include:

Personal life

Boone was married to fellow art dealer Michael Werner, with whom she has one son. The couple later divorced. In September 2018, Boone pleaded guilty to filing false income tax returns and "agreed to pay more than $3 million in restitution for taxes she owes for 2009, 2010, and 2011." During the trial proceedings, collectors, dealers, artists Wendy White and Sheila Pepe, and art critic Jerry Saltz gave testimony to Boone's character and her lifelong dedication to the art establishment. "Mary's been a target forEVER," Pepe tweeted, "Like all the boys aren't cooking the books." On February 14, 2019, Boone was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison. In a statement to ArtNews, Boone said "If I'm going to be the Martha Stewart of the art world, I would hope to do it with the same humility, humor, grace and intelligence that she did. I'm trying to be optimistic and see this as a learning experience." She was released from prison in 2020.

Representation in film and popular media

Boone was portrayed by Parker Posey in Julian Schnabel's 1996 biographical drama Basquiat, accompanied by Dennis Hopper as Bischofberger.

On March 28, 2024, Vampire Weekend released a single titled "Mary Boone" from their album Only God Was Above Us. An alternate video for the single features footage of Boone from a 1986 documentary.

References

References

  1. Fischl, Eric. (October 22, 2014). "Mary Boone". [[Interview (magazine).
  2. (1982-04-19),"The New Queen of the Art Scene". ''New York''
  3. (2018-09-05). "Art Dealer Mary Boone Pleads Guilty to Federal Tax Crimes - BNN Bloomberg". BNN.
  4. (February 23, 2019). "Dealer Mary Boone to Close Her New York Gallery".
  5. (April 18, 2019). "From Art World Superstar to Felon: What Happened to Mary Boone?".
  6. (2025-09-26). "Mary Boone Stages a Return With the Art Titans of 1980s New York".
  8. Freeman, Nate. (2019-02-14). "The Rise and Fall of the Queen of the New York Art World".
  9. (Spring 2012). "RISD XYZ Spring/Summer 2012".
  10. (March 21, 2019). "'I feel like a pariah' – how art dealer Mary Boone fell from grace".
  11. McGuigan, Cathleen (1985-02-85),"New Art, New Money". ''The New York Times'', [https://www.nytimes.com/books/98/08/09/specials/basquiat-mag.html New Art, New Money]
  12. Raynor, Vivien (1984-05-11),"Art: Paintings by Jean-Michel Basquiat at Boone". ''The New York Times'', [https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9804E7DC1E38F932A25756C0A962948260]
  13. Cottington, David, ''Modern Art: A Very Short Introduction'', 2005, p35. Oxford University Press, {{ISBN. 0-19-280364-6
  14. Finke, Nikki (2005-11-17),"Blame Ovitz: When Art Started Imitating Hollywood", ''LA Weekly'', [http://www.laweekly.com/2005-11-17/news/blame-ovitz-when-art-started-imitating-hollywood/1]
  15. Brenson, Michael. (January 5, 1986). "ART VIEW; IS NEO-EXPRESSIONISM AN IDEA WHOSE TIME HAS PASSED?".
  16. "Basquiat Chronology". Galerie Bruno Bischoffberger.
  17. Spears, Dorothy (August 24, 2010). [https://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/29/arts/design/29kruger.html "Resurgent Agitprop in Capital Letters"]. ''The New York Times''.
  18. "Cornelius Tittel: And then it went boom - signandsight".
  19. David Rimanelli. (September 1, 1997). "Uptown girl: Mary Boone's new art gallery in uptown SoHo". Interior Design.
  20. Hass, Nancy. (March 5, 2000). "Stirring Up the Art World Again". The New York Times.
  21. (October 22, 2014). "Interview Magazine". Interview Magazine.
  22. Geers, David (2017-06-20),"Judith Barry, Mary Boone Gallery". ''Frieze Magazine'', [https://frieze.com/article/judith-barry] Retrieved February 14, 2019.
  23. Black, Hannah (2015-06-03),"Ericka Beckman, at Mary Boone." ''Art in America Magazine'', [https://www.artinamericamagazine.com/reviews/ericka-beckman/] Retrieved February 14, 2019.
  24. Bleckner, Ross. (July 1, 2001). "Inka Essenhigh by Ross Bleckner". [[Bomb (magazine).
  25. (September 2011). "The Process: Hilary Harkness".
  26. (July 15, 2019). "Hilary Harkness Joins P.P.O.W. Gallery in New York".
  27. "artnet.com Magazine Features - Mary Boone's Chelsea Triumph".
  28. Stamler, Hannah (2017-03), "Allan McCollum, Mary Boone Gallery. Chelsea." ''Artforum'', [https://www.artforum.com/picks/mary-boone-gallery-chelsea-67606/] Retrieved February 14, 2019.
  29. Knoblauch, Loring (2018-07-9),"Laurie Simmons, Clothes Make the Man: Works from 1990-1994 @Mary Boone." ''Collector Daily'', [https://collectordaily.com/laurie-simmons-clothes-make-the-man-works-from-1990-1994-mary-boone/] Retrieved February 14, 2019.
  30. Patricia Hurtado and Katya Kazakina. (6 September 2018). "Art Dealer Mary Boone Pleads Guilty to Federal Tax Crimes". Daily Tax Report.
  31. (February 15, 2019). "Gallerist Mary Boone Has Been Sentenced to 30 Months in Prison".
  32. (February 23, 2019). "Recently Sentenced New York Art Dealer Mary Boone Will Close Her Gallery".
  33. Holmes, Helen. (June 6, 2020). "Incarcerated Art Dealer Mary Boone Has Been Released From Prison Early".
  34. (March 28, 2024). "Vampire Weekend Share Video for New Song "Mary Boone": Watch".
  35. "Vampire Weekend "Mary Boone" video collage: Official Underground Alternate Edition".

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american-art-dealersamerican-women-art-dealersrhode-island-school-of-design-alumniliving-people1951-birthshunter-college-alumnipeople-from-erie,-pennsylvaniabusinesspeople-from-pennsylvania20th-century-american-businesspeople20th-century-american-businesswomen21st-century-american-businesspeople21st-century-american-businesswomen