October 2011: Gallery Night on 57th Street

Map of Gallery Night on 57th Street.

This year's Gallery Night on 57th Street event in New York City will be held on October 13th. The Merrin Gallery, having participated for years, will also be taking part. The Facebook event — where a map and list of attending galleries can be found — states that:

The Merrin Gallery will be open to the public, exhibiting "Masterpieces of Ancient Art" from ancient Greece, Rome and the Near East.

"Gallery Night on 57th Street" is an annual event where countless other galleries on Manhattan's 57th Street will be displaying their works on this same evening — whether modern or ancient art — Thursday, October 13th, 2011.

Samuel Merrin, the owner, posted on the wall "I look forward to seeing our guests on Gallery Night, October 2011".

The event is free, and a very nice experience — as New York's best galleries are on 57th Street in particular. The area is known for this.

Is it the Samuel or Edward Merrin Gallery?

The Edward H. Merrin Gallery at 643 Park Avenue listing on the Yellow Pages.

The Merrin Gallery of today sprouted from the previous, Edward H. Merrin Gallery, located on Park Avenue in New York. As mentioned on the gallery's listing on the Yellow Pages:

The Merrin Gallery has moved to 724 Fifth Avenue, New York.

Among detailing what antiquities this former version of the gallery offered, the listing also includes a brief history:

The Edward H. Merrin Gallery, or simply known as the Merrin Gallery, was founded by Edward Merrin in the 1960s. The gallery saw success in the decades to follow — where Edward would become a trusted dealer for major museums, collectors and investors. He also aided various institutions in authenticating works of art. Under his leadership, and later, that of his son's, Samuel Merrin, the gallery flourished and became known simply as the Merrin Gallery.

The phone number listed on the Yellow Pages is the same number as today's gallery (likely to avoid confusion): (212) 757-2884. That's all the research for this week, folks!

Samuel Merrin & The New York Times

The Merrins' apartment in the prewar building
at West End Avenue also features a gym.

Samuel Merrin, like his father Edward, is no stranger to appearing in the New York Times. Whenever hosting an exquisite exhibition at their NY Fifth Ave. gallery, the pair would be heavily quoted in the weeks piece on antiquities at the NYT.

No doubt this is because they are prime experts in the field.

Recently, however, Samuel's wife, Holly, was  featured in an article on New York property, titled "In New York, the Suddenly Buff Prewar Building".

The article discusses that there are many renovated, prewar buildings littered around New York, but only a portion have modern facilities, like a gym, etc.

Holly Merrin, who with her husband just bought two apartments in a prewar building at 845 West End Avenue, shares these sentiments [that a prewar building needs to be modern]. Early next year, the condominium will open a basement playroom with a window facing a new fitness room, “so you can watch your children when you’re in the gym,” said Ms. Merrin, who has three children, 4, 5 and 7.  

The Merrins, currently renters, had been apartment hunting for five years. “We wanted a prewar but one with great amenities,” Ms. Merrin said. “We wanted a combination of old and new — my husband, Sam, who’s an art dealer, especially cared about the old — and this was the perfect combination.”

It is true that many buildings in NY are already outdated, despite being a more modern city than, say, London — where the small streets and even smaller apartments still cost in the millions.

Samuel Merrin's Gift to Tufts Gallery's Collection

Funerary Sican mask at the Met Museum in
New York, dating back to about the 9th
to 11th century AD, newer than Samuel
Merrin's mask.

To compliment it's current permanent collection, boasting contemporary works of Andy Warhol and Joan Miro, Samuel Merrin and his wife presented the Tufts University Art Gallery with an ancient pre-Columbian piece from the northern coast of Peru.

Dating back to 750-1150AD, this ceremonial mask is the work of the Sican culture. Other prominent masks of this culture remain, such as the one on the right that can be seen in the Met Museum.

The mask that Samuel Merrin presented to Tufts is as unique in it's appearance as the combination of materials that were used to make it, including silver and copper for the base, cinnabar paint to coat certain parts, and for decoration, as well as cotton.

Sican ceremonial mask, a gift
to Tufts' Permanent Collection
courtesy of Samuel Merrin.

Update: Merrin Gallery on Facebook

The Merrin Gallery's Official Facebook Page.

In December, we announced the Merrin Gallery's Facebook page, today we have a small announcement that the Facebook page has somewhat grown, and also appears to have a new URL/username, in place of the old one.

The new Merrin Gallery's Facebook page can now be found at simply: facebook.com/MerrinGallery. You can learn more about the Merrin Gallery there, and get updates directly from the owners on new happenings, and online resources concerning the ancient art business.

One particular update we noticed from last time, is that the different types of art offered at the NYC Merrin Gallery is in a list-form, which really adds to the effect of showing-off their vast antiquities collections on offer:

The Merrin Gallery offers exceptional antiquities that represent more than 7,000 years of history. Highly esteemed as the top gallery for pre-Columbian art, The Merrin Gallery specializes in the finest art from the cultures of:

• ancient Greece,
• ancient Rome,
• the Near East,
• ancient Egypt,
• Meso-America,
• South America.

Stay tuned for more news on the Merrin Gallery.

Reviews on the Merrin Gallery

In addition to hosting information about Samuel Merrin - such as his early years with ancient art, his work, internships, experiences, friends - the Yelp listing of the Merrin Gallery also provides space for reviews.

Showing a map, and transport information (i.e. how to get there), the gallery's page also lists the history of the Merrin Gallery, going into specifics such as when it was established, how, and where the idea came from (a honeymoon). It also lists recommendations of the Merrin Gallery, including but not limited to former client museums and friends. A particularly interesting excerpt is on the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York:

A renowned client of the Merrin Gallery, the Met Museum cultivated Samuel Merrin's early interest in ancient art, through an internship at the museum.

A very beautiful silver amphora
(a type of jar) which actually
doesn't come from Greece or Rome
as usual - but the older tradition
of the ancient Near East.

The Merrin Gallery's specialities are also listed, which gives readers an idea of what's available (and it seems - art from any and every ancient civilization). Reviewers have listed the gallery as accepting credit cards, being wheelchair accessible, and "good for kids", which seems to be something to do with a later comment I found: "Ask to see the secret cabinet behind the revolving wall".

It also shows some images of ancient art-works, although more can be seen on their own official website. I investigated, and these images are mostly from the "Sold" collection, but are very beautiful indeed. However, there's a huge selection of works at the Merrin Gallery's disposal as can be seen on their website, so it's not like they're limiting your options. But take do take a look at the gallery's images on Yelp.

Overall, a good page, and an interesting read - although very similar to the many other resources of the Merrin Gallery that are out there (as listed on this blog). Which, is not a bad thing - as they're all very good, but I'll be looking out for some new information.

Samuel Merrin's Favorite Art

The Merrin Gallery's official YouTube channel has just come out with a video featuring an ancient Maya war vase, one of the owner's, Samuel Merrin's favorite pieces of art. The video provides an all-around view of the object, and features a map showing the location where it was found - Nebaj in Guatemala, South America. The vase is 3000 years old, and shows a battle scene, which is supposedly "a rare subject matter in works of the ancient Maya civilization".



In case you haven't been caught up to speed:

Samuel Merrin is the owner and president of The Merrin Gallery, an ancient art gallery in New York founded by Sam's father, Edward Merrin, in the 1960s.