NEW YORK, NY.- Cavalier Galleries is marking its 40th anniversary this year, celebrating four decades of growth from a small Stamford, Connecticut gallery into an independent enterprise with exhibition spaces in New York, Greenwich, Nantucket, and Palm Beach.
Founded in 1986 by Ronald Cavalier Jr., the gallery began modestly, at a time when establishing credibility in the competitive art market required patience, persistence, and a clear point of view. Over the years, Cavalier built its reputation through scholarship, connoisseurship, and close relationships with artists, collectors, institutions, and the communities in which it operates.
Hans Hofmann, Mosaic for Apartment House Sketch No. 4., 1956.
Today, the gallery is known for museum-quality exhibitions, the representation of leading contemporary artists, and a long commitment to public art. That public-facing mission has been central to Cavalier’s identity for decades, beginning with the founding of the Stamford Sculpture Walk in 1993 and continuing through the gallery’s presentation of large-scale installations in New York City and other locations. For Cavalier, bringing art beyond the walls of the gallery has become part of the broader program.
The anniversary comes at a moment when much of the art market has consolidated around large international mega-galleries. Against that backdrop, Cavalier’s 40-year trajectory offers another kind of story: one of steady expansion, regional strength, and a gallery culture rooted in long-term engagement rather than rapid reinvention.
Shane Couch, Rainbow Shows Endeavor the Way 1934 Americas Cup, 2025.
As part of its anniversary programming, Cavalier is presenting “Modern Marine Masters,” a juried exhibition of works by members of the American Society of Marine Artists. The exhibition, on view through July 10 at the gallery’s New York flagship at 3 West 57th Street, coincides with the nation’s 250th birthday and its maritime history, placing contemporary marine painting in dialogue with American memory, public celebration, and the city’s own identity as a historic port.
The exhibition also coincides with Sail4th 250, adding a timely civic dimension to the presentation. In this context, the sea is not treated simply as a subject for nostalgia, but as a stage for stories of trade, migration, military history, leisure, labor, and national imagination.
Works in the exhibition range from dramatic historical scenes to quiet coastal views and studies of modern maritime life. Patrick O’Brien’s paintings revisit defining moments in early American naval history, including “In Defense of Liberty: USS Constitution vs HMS Guerriere” and “Defending the Republic: USS Constellation vs La Vengeance – The Quasi War, 1800.” Other works broaden the exhibition’s scope, from Donald Demers’ “On the Tides of New York, The pilot schooner Joseph Pulitzer running outbound” to Russ Kramer’s “Miss New York,” a scene centered on the historic Staten Island ferryboat christened in 1938 and retired in 1975.
Laura Cooper, Working a Set, Mackerel Seiners off the N. E. Coast, 1920, 2026.
The show also includes works by Shane Couch, John Stobart, Richard Loud, Laura Cooper, Brechin Morgan, Kathleen Hudson, Sergio Roffo, and others, demonstrating the breadth of contemporary marine art today. Together, the paintings capture the genre’s enduring appeal: technical precision, atmospheric drama, and a fascination with the cultural meaning of ships, harbors, coastlines, and open water.
For Cavalier Galleries, “Modern Marine Masters” serves as both an anniversary exhibition and a statement of continuity. It connects the gallery’s long interest in representational excellence with its broader public-facing mission, while also placing contemporary artists within a historical tradition that remains deeply tied to American visual culture.
Frank Corso, Evenings Splendor, 2025.
Four decades after its founding, Cavalier continues to occupy a distinctive position in the art world. Its story is one of expansion without losing focus, of connoisseurship matched with accessibility, and of a belief that galleries can remain independent while still reaching audiences beyond the traditional art market.
