Kamel Mennour Acquires Galerie Malingue, Expanding Presence in Paris Art Scene

Parisian art dealer Kamel Mennour has acquired Galerie Malingue, a prominent gallery founded over five decades ago by Daniel Malingue. The acquisition expands Mennour’s footprint in the Matignon district of Paris and signals a continued focus on both historical and contemporary art.

Expanding a Legacy Space

Mennour will take over Galerie Malingue’s 4,300-square-foot showroom at 26 Avenue Matignon. ARTnews reports that the space has a long history in modern art. The gallery’s program will showcase significant works by modern, post-war, and contemporary artists from private collections, complementing Mennour’s existing primary market activity and work with artist estates.

A Focus on Historical Works

The acquisition reinforces Mennour’s increasing focus on historical works, with recent exhibitions featuring masterpieces by artists such as Alberto Giacometti, Francis Picabia, Pablo Picasso, Joan Mitchell, Henri Matisse, Tsuguharu Foujita, and Yayoi Kusama. Chaukasmaal.com highlights this shift in focus.

Galerie Malingue’s History

Daniel Malingue founded his gallery with a focus on Impressionism, Surrealism, and modern and postwar art. The gallery’s roster of artists included prominent figures like Georges Braque, Gustave Caillebotte, Paul Cézanne, Eugéne Delacroix, Paul Gauguin, Juan Gris, René Magritte, Édouard Manet, Henri Matisse, Claude Monet, Picasso, Mark Rothko, Dorothea Tanning, and Vincent van Gogh. Galerie Malingue was also known for lending works to prestigious museum exhibitions and publishing comprehensive catalogues raisonné of individual artists’ work.

Mennour’s Growing Influence

Kamel Mennour opened his gallery in Paris in 1999 and currently represents over forty artists, including Daniel Buren, Douglas Gordon, Camille Henrot, Alicja Kwade, Ugo Rondinone, and Lee Ufan. Mennour’s website details the gallery’s current artist roster. In 2023, the gallery launched the Mennour Institute, dedicated to research and education in modern and contemporary art through doctoral fellowships, education programs, and philanthropic initiatives.

A Passing of the Baton

Mennour expressed his admiration for Malingue, describing him as “like a god to my generation” in a recent conversation at the TEFAF Maastricht art fair. EuropeSays.com notes that the acquisition represents a transition from an older generation of French art dealers to a younger one, continuing the growth and evolution of the art scene in Paris’s Golden Triangle.