Donald Young Patron Of Jeff Koons & Richard Serra Dies

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The influential gallerist, Donald Young, who represented major artists such as Jeff Koons and Richard Serra has died aged 69

‘Donald was a trusted dealer and friend and I will miss him’, said Richard Serra. ‘I have known Donald Young since the late 1980’s … [and he] was instrumental in opening doors for me to work at Finkl forge in Chicago … resulting in what I consider to me one of my most important landscape pieces, ‘Snake Eyes and Boxcars’.’

He was a major player on the international art scene. According to the dean of the College of Architecture and the Arts at the University of Illinois in Chicago – long-time friend Judith Kirshner – Young ‘could go between Paris and Berlin and Chicago and Seattle and speak to all the most important protagonists in whatever artistic scene he chose’.

She added: ‘He would support a project that might not otherwise have been done … and his familiarity with a higher level of cultural leadership at museums and galleries meant he was able to place that work in the important institutions, and therefore reinforce the careers of artists over a long period of time. So it wasn’t a one-off. He stayed with an artist and stayed with their vision.’

In the words of his one-time business partner Rhona Hoffman, ‘Donald became one of the most well-known, best-liked–if not loved — elegant and ethical dealers in the world today,”

Photo: © Artlyst

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