The World's Best Art Galleries

Defining what makes an art gallery one of the world's "best" is difficult. Often, those that inevitably rise to the top represent now well-known artists and their estates, and have a global presence through brick and mortar locations and regular attendance at art fairs. But beyond commercial success, a great gallery has the ability to continually challenge the way things have been done in the past, whether through a reinvention of what's done within gallery walls or what's created outside of them, supporting new, young, and/or political work, and embracing the expansion of existing and new mediums.

Many of the people behind these galleries began with the optimism that accompanied new chapters in the art world. A gallerist like Emmanuel Perrotin started his gallery in his Paris apartment. Domonique Lévy staged her first artwork exhibition at the age of 16 in Switzerland. Sadie Coles was at the forefront of the YBA movement in London, and Paula Cooper was the first gallerist to open a space in SoHo.

Art is experiencing an incredible commercial boom right now, and many of the galleries on this list were founded in the '80s and '90s. This means that they are not only relatively young and adapting to this ever-fertile contemporary climate—there’s also room for more galleries to start today and discover the next generation of artists who will change culture forever.

Location: New York and Venice Beach

Artists Represented: Ryan McGinley, Parker Ito, Tabor Robak, Sam McKinniss, Banks Violette

Founded by José Freire and Lisa Ruyter in 1996, Team Gallery has become known for representing strong artists focused on counterculture and radical politics. They have been instrumental in the continually exciting career of photographer Ryan McGinley. In addition to their space in New York's SoHo neighborhood, they have an appointment-only Team Bungalow space in Venice Beach, California.

Location: New York

Artists Represented: FriendsWithYou, Matthew Stone, JIM JOE, Vanessa Prager, Holton Rower

Founded by Kathy Grayson in 2010, The Hole has solidified itself as a bold exhibitor of young, ambitious art and well-curated group exhibitions and fair appearances. An art fair booth by The Hole is unmissable, usually covered in eye-catching wallpaper or tiled with art top to bottom. The gallery, located on Bowery Street in New York, where many now famous artists lived and worked in the ‘80s (also now home to the New Museum and Bowery Wall), is known for often hosting two exhibitions at once.

Location: Los Angeles

Artists Represented: Diana al-Hadid, Daniel Arsham, Lucien Smith, David Benjamin Sherry, Terence Koh

Originally named OHWOW gallery, Alberto Moran, Aaron Bondaroff, and Mills Moran founded the L.A. gallery in 2008. Since then, Moran Bondaroff has made a big impact in the art world in a relatively short amount of time. They exhibit work in a variety of mediums and are often at the forefront of challenging gallery norms. Recently, the artist Terence Koh lived in and hosted workshops at the gallery space, creating a beehive and garden on the gallery's roof. The gallery also founded the international community platform, Know Wave, in 2012.

Location: New York and London

Artists Represented: Nate Lowman, Devin Troy Strother, Agathe Snow, Andrew Kuo, Robert Lazzarini

Founded in London in 1946 by Frank Lloyd and Harry Fischer, Marlborough Fine Art was the precursor to Marlborough Contemporary, which was officially founded in 2007. They are also accompanied by Marlborough Graphics, which publishes editions with both gallery and non-gallery artists in various media such as etching, photogravure, silkscreen and woodcut.

Location: New York

Artists Represented: Ai Weiwei, Barbara Kruger, Will Cotton, KAWS, Ryan McNamara

Mary Boone opened her gallery in SoHo in the '80s and featured her first two artists, Julian Schnabel and David Salle. Her gallery quickly became successful through neo-expressionist art, later expanding to include artists like Barbara Kruger and Eric Fischl. Though the Mary Boone Gallery, along with the rest of the art market, went through a rough patch in the '90s, Boone continues to represent and develop the careers of some of the world's best artists.

Location: London

Artists Represented: Richard Prince, Carl Andre, Ugo Rondinone, Sarah Lucas, Martine Syms

Sadie Coles HQ started as a platform for Young British Artists (YBAS) in the late '90s, but has since grown into a major player in the international art scene. In addition to seeking out new talent and showcasing known artists like Carl Andre and Sam Durant, every summer Sadie Coles organizes a "Gallery Swap," where he exchanges shows with a space in another country.

Location: New York and London

Artists Represented: Pierre Soulages, Pat Steir, Frank Stella, Günther Uecker, Dan Colen

Dominique Lévy organized her first exhibition at the age of 16 in Switzerland. After working at auction houses, she founded a boutique advisory service that eventually became her namesake gallery, and now Lévy Gorvy. Beyond a number of exciting contemporary minimal, abstract, and conceptual artists, Lévy Gorvy also represents the estates of Yves Klein, Frank Stella, and others.

Location: Paris, Pantin, Salzburg, and London

Artists Represented: Robert Longo, Alex Katz, Gilbert & George, Imran Qureshi, Cory Arcangel

Founded in Austria in 1983, Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac now has a real international impact representing around 60 artists and a number of renowned estates. Their gallery spaces alone are works of art, including a Paris space with a Drawings Department, a former 20th century ironworks factory in Pantin, and a mansion in London's Mayfair district.

Location: Paris

Artists Rep’d: Joan Jonas, Anselm Kiefer, Shilpa Gupta, Lawrence Weiner, Nan Goldin

In the mid-1960s, collector Yvon Lambert founded a gallery to present Paris' most innovative artists. By the 1970s, Americans like Sol LeWitt, Robert Ryman, and Jean Michel Basquiat were added to the program. This exclusive and intellectual space continues to be driven by the experimental spirit of the '70s.

Location: New York

Artists Represented: Cecily Brown, Bruce Conner, Christian Marclay, Hans Haacke, Sam Durant

The gold standard of galleries dedicated to conceptual and minimal art, Paula Cooper was the first art gallery to open in New York’s Soho district, premiering an exhibition to benefit the Student Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam. Never one to shy away from the political or the difficult, Paula Cooper continues to present challenging contemporary art to a range of audiences.

Location: New York and Hong Kong

Artists Represented: Os Gemeos, Gilbert & George, Mr., Mickalene Thomas, Alex Prager

Founded by David Maupin and Rachel Lehmann in SoHo in 1996, Lehmann Maupin is known for giving many now-renowned artists their first shows in the city, including Tracey Emin, Do Ho Suh, Do Ho Suh, Juergen Teller, and Anya Gallaccio. Today, they work with a range of international artists, including Liu Wei, MR., Os Gemeos and Juergen Teller, whose individual practices are furthering their mediums.

Location: New York Artists Represented: Ai Weiwei, Paul McCarthy

Jeffrey Deitch's Deitch Projects began after he had already established himself a successful art dealer in New York City. From its first exhibition, a performance by Vanessa Beecroft, the gallery has become synonymous with breaking new names in art and expanding the possibility of what can be done within a gallery's walls. Some of these exhibitions have included a 1997 performance, where the artist Oleg Kulik lived in the gallery as a dog, live music events by Fischerspooner, and a "Shopping Exhibition," where 26 artists had installations at 26 shops in SoHo. Even after a five-year break, during which Deitch went to Los Angeles to lead the Museum of Contemporary Art Los Angeles, Deitch Projects is still going strong through exhibitions with Ai Weiwei, Paul McCarthy, and others.

Location: New York

Artists Represented: Marina Abramović, Antony Gormley, Mariko Mori, Hugo McCloud, Kehinde Wiley

After a career in the British museum world, Sean Kelly founded his gallery in New York in 1991 with a focus on installation and performance art. His gallery in SoHo, which officially opened in 1995, was the site of early exhibitions by Marina Abramović and Robert Mapplethorpe, among others. Today, Sean Kelly represents a wide range of artists working in multiple mediums and publishes artist monologues.

Location: London, New York, and Milan

Artists Represented: Ai Weiwei, Sol Lewitt, Laure Prouvost, Marina Abramović, Cory Arcangel

Lisson Gallery was one of the first galleries in the UK to champion minimalist and conceptual artists. It introduced some of the most important sculptors of the 20th-century, such as Richard Deacon and Anish Kapoor, and other Turner Prize-winning (Kapoor, Deacon, Tony Cragg) and nominated artists. The newest editions to their roster include innovative artists like Haroon Mirza, who uses sculptural installations to produce sound compositions.

Location: Los Angeles, New York, and Tokyo

Artists Represented: Kishio Suga, Takashi Murakami, Lee Ufan, Julian Schnabel, Sam Durant

Since its founding in 1994 by Tim Blum and Jeff Poe, Blum & Poe has continued to be a major player in the Los Angeles art scene and beyond. Though the gallery began in Santa Monica, its relocation to a warehouse in Culver City inspired others to move and populate what is now a popular arts district. The gallery has never shied away from forward-thinking, untraditional exhibitions; their first show was an installation by Anya Gallaccio, where the artist smeared chocolate all over the gallery walls. More recently, they held an exhibition where Kanye West displayed the wax figures from his "Famous" music video.

Location: New York

Artists Rep’d: Joan Jonas, Alex Katz, Latoya Ruby Frazier, Bjaarne Melgaard, Urs Fischer

Gavin Brown's Enterprise is a true "enterprise" in the sense that it’s not limited by gallery walls. Since its founding, their projects have included an Elizabeth Peyton exhibition hung at the Chelsea Hotel, a hole dug into the gallery floor by Urs Fischer, and a site-specific Jonathan Horowitz show in the former space of LaFreida meats. This hilarious and smart gallery knows no boundaries and has moved from spaces in SoHo to the Meatpacking District, the West Village, and most recently, Harlem.

Location: Berlin, London, and Los Angeles

Artists Represented: Barbara Kruger, Ryan Trecartin, John Baldessari, Cindy Sherman, Thomas Demand

In 1983, Monika Sprüth couldn't ignore the fact that Cologne, Germany was "over-run by male artists." As a result, she founded her gallery with a focus on female artists and showed the work of now-legendary figures, such as Jenny Holzer, Barbara Kruger, and Cindy Sherman. After merging with Philomene Magers in 1998, the duo opened spaces in Berlin, London, and Los Angeles, where they continue to contribute to artistic discourse through museum-quality exhibitions, publications, and their artist-designed film and record store.

Location: London and Venice

Artists Represented: Chris Ofili, Do Ho Suh, Kara Walker, Andreas Gursky, Cecily Brown

Since its founding in London in 1985, Victoria Miro gallery has created a strong presence internationally and catapulted the careers of multiple artists, including many Turner Prize winners. Miro was the first to exhibit the work of Chris Ofili and the Chapman Brothers and has experienced notable, headline-grabbing success at art fairs globally.

Location: New York

Artists Represented: Marilyn Minter, Rick Owens, David Benjamin Sherry, Tom Sachs, Wangechi Mutu

Founded in 2003, Salon 94 began in the Upper East Side home of founder Jeanne Greenberg Rohatyn. The gallery expanded to include two locations in downtown New York City, in Freeman's Alley and on Bowery, two doors down from the New Museum. In March 2017, the gallery announced Salon 94 Design, a new design program and partnership with Johnson Trading Co., expanding the gallery's footprint beyond the art world alone.

Location: New York, London, and Paris

Artists Represented: John Baldessari, Dan Graham, Giuseppe Penone, Lawrence Weiner, Adrián Villar Rojas

Before she had a gallery, Marian Goodman founded Multiples, which published prints and books by American artists such as John Baldessari, Dan Graham, and Andy Warhol. Goodman opened her brick-and-mortar space in 1977, and her galleries in New York and Paris continue to open artistic communication between the European and American art worlds.

Location: New York, London, Beijing, Menlo Park, Hong Kong, Paris, Palo Alto, and Seoul

Artists Represented: Chuck Close, Donald Judd, Maya Lin, Yoshitomo Nara, James Turrell

Since its founding by Arne Glimcher in 1960, Pace Gallery has produced hundreds of top-notch catalogues and even more exhibitions, loomed large at art fairs, and maintained lasting relevance in the art world. In addition to representing some of the most important modern and contemporary artists of the 20th and 21st centuries, Pace has spaces dedicated specifically to photography and tech-focused art.

Location: New York and London

Artists Represented: Yayoi Kusama, Oscar Murillo, Kerry Marshall, Jeff Koons, Richard Serra

Since 1993, David Zwirner has set a high standard for showing contemporary art, from important minimalist works to time-based media. The gallery, originally founded by Zwirner in New York's SoHo neighborhood, has fostered the careers of some of the most important artists working today, such as Luc Tuymans and Neo Rauch. Although this blue-chip gallery carries big names that demand big prices, they also participate in and have launched multiple philanthropic efforts, including the I Love NY Art Benefit, Artists for Haiti, and the Acria Unframed Auction.

Location: Paris, New York, Hong Kong, Seoul, and Tokyo

Artists Represented: Takashi Murakami, Daniel Arsham, KAWS, Elmgreen & Dragset, JR

Emmanuel Perrotin began his career as an art dealer at the age of 21, first showing work at his apartment in Paris. From the start, he had a keen eye for recognizing the potential of emerging artists and introduced much of the world to now-renowned artists like Takashi Murakami and Maurizio Cattelan. Since officially founding his gallery in 1990, he represents numerous French artists, such as Sophie Calle, Tatiana Trouve, and Xavier Veilhan, as well as newer names like JR and Daniel Arsham. The gallery is also known for branching outside of the art world and has partnered with Pharrell and Massive Attack, among others.

Location: New York, Los Angeles, Zürich, Somerset, and Gstaad

Artists Represented: Paul McCarthy, Jenny Holzer, Pipilotti Rist, Martin Creed, Louise Bourgeois

Since 1992, the Hauser & Wirth gallery has challenged our ideas of what a “show” can be. Founded by Manuela Wirth and Ursula Hauser in Switzerland, the gallery has created exciting exhibitions, performances, happenings, environments, and more. They’ve also invested in multiple arts education efforts, including an Arthaus program for teenagers at their Somerset location and Mark Bradford's Art + Practice youth program in Los Angeles, as well as published over 100 titles. It’s no wonder that the New York art scene could not wait for Hauser & Wirth's first American location to open in 2009.

Location: New York, London, Paris, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Rome, Athens, Geneva, and Hong Kong

Artists Represented: Jean-Michel Basquiat, Nam June Paik, Damien Hirst, Anish Kapoor, Ed Ruscha

Gagosian Gallery was founded in 1980, initially in partnership with the dealer, Leo Castelli, in SoHo. Since then, the gallery has produced museum-quality shows using its unprecedented global presence—16 exhibition spaces designed by world-renowned architects, including Caruso St John, Richard Meier, and Jean Nouvel. In addition to a vibrant contemporary program, the gallery often presents historical exhibitions focusing on artists like Andy Warhol and Picasso. Gagosian is also known for its publishing arm, which produces artist monologues and exhibition catalogues, and its quarterly magazine.