On January 22, eminent art dealer Marian Goodman passed away of natural causes at the age of 97. A defining figure in the postwar and contemporary art landscape for over 50 years, Goodman was esteemed for her discerning eye and dedication to artists whose practices redefined the parameters of art.

Goodman was born in 1928 in New York, the city where she would anchor her life and career. After completing graduate studies at Columbia University in 1963 as the only woman in her class, she co-founded the art publishing company Multiples, Inc., a venture committed to making art more widely accessible through the production of affordable editioned works by trailblazing artists including Robert Indiana, Roy Lichtenstein, Richard Hamilton, and Andy Warhol, among others.

In 1977, she established the eponymous Marian Goodman Gallery in New York with an exhibition by Belgian conceptual artist Marcel Broodhaers, whose work at the time had yet to find representation in the city. The gallery became a vital bridge between European artists and American audiences, championing practices that challenged social, conceptual, and formal conventions, and fostering a space for international dialogue and intellectual exchange.

Goodman’s international roster of artists includes Steve McQueen, Julie Mehretu, An-My Lê, and Yang Fudong, among others. The gallery previously represented influential artists such as Gerhard Richter, William Kentridge, and Anselm Kiefer, introducing their work to American audiences and establishing their prominence globally. Goodman was known for her intentional, sustainable approach to artists’ careers–one that prioritized long-term commitment in a city defined by its fast-paced sense of flux. “I saw dealers running after artists, then throwing them out and going on to the next,” she once told The New Yorker, reflecting on the SoHo art scene. “I was afraid it was contagious.”

The gallery expanded to Paris in 1995, operated a space in London from 2014 to 2022, opened a permanent location in Los Angeles in 2023, and inaugurated a new flagship in Manhattan’s Tribeca in October 2024. Goodman received the Légion of Honor from the French government in 2013, the Leo Award from Independent Curators International in 2016, and was appointed Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters by the French Ministry of Culture in 2023.

Goodman once described her artistic values as rooted in “a humanistic concern, a culture-critical sense of our way of life, a dialectical approach to reality, and an artistic vision about civil life.” This ethos will be carried forth by the gallery’s four partners, who now comprise its leadership. In a statement in 2021, Goodman said: “[they] will carry forward the mission that I have worked so hard to achieve. The artists have put trust in me for over 40 years, and I have chosen a team that experiences the same intellectual and emotional response to the artists that I do.”

She is survived by her daughter, Amy Goodman-Kiefer, her son, Michael Goodman, and their families.

Aisha Traub Chan is an editorial intern at ArtAsiaPacific.