By Sade Ortuzar
While purchasing a famous 19th century painting is out of the reach for most people, for Robert Kashey, obtaining art pieces from this period is exactly what he does for a living. As owner of the Shepherd and Derom Gallery, he collects and distributes European paintings, sculptures, drawings, and photographs from the 19th and early 20th centuries.
Having already collected large amounts of art, 43 years ago Kashey figured he might as well open a gallery and deal in art pieces for a living. The gallery, located on New York City’s Upper East Side, is a friendly place where visitors feel welcome. According to Kashey, every piece of art tells a unique story about a certain period in history. When a visitor enters the gallery, while he or she would see many sculptures and paintings on display, one of the first pieces of work is a sculpture called Hylas Surprised, by the artist John Gibson. It is a sculpture of a young boy with two women near him that was made in 1826 and was sold in an all girls-school in England. It was carefully wrapped and shipped to New York where it arrived safely at the gallery. This sculpture, unlike many others in the gallery made out of one type of igneous rock, marble or bronze, is made out of plaster. And, unlike other galleries, pieces do not have price tags affixed; Kashey prefers to negotiate with a potential buyer, which could often involve some traditional haggling, until they both agree on a price. In the gallery are other interesting art pieces, such as the first New York City Transit train photos showing how it made and who were going inside the train and a sculpture of Eve eating a fruit, and more.
Most of the galleries visitors come from several European countries, such as Spain and Italy, to see the many famous paintings, which include works by Man Ray such as the photograph of Le Violon, a portrait of a young woman’s back that looks like a violin. Much of Ray’s artwork is distributed throughout the gallery including photographs of him and his previous wives and photographs depicting older and younger versions of him. Another of his famous works is called Noire et Blanche, a photograph of a woman holding an African sculpture..
While Man Ray’s style is often associated with the Dadaist artistic school, the gallery consists of pieces that are mostly of European origin, where Rashey and his co-dealer, David Wojciechowski travels regularly to buy original artwork and display it in the gallery. One striking theme in the gallery is how many of the pieces illustrate depict the evolutions of the human form from decade to decade.
Kashey has also tried breaking the boundary by displaying 20th century art, including work by noted American artist Andy Warhol, which even though was on display, did not attract interest.
Wojciechowski and Kashey enjoy their occupation and are happy when people from other countries visit the museum. Kashey, raised in New Jersey, admits that he doesn’t have a particular gallery he could call his favorite, and even though he has visited many galleries in Europe, he also cannot say which he finds most exciting. Both he and his co-dealer believe and encourage the younger generation to visit museums and galleries.
However, the age ranges of those who visit the gallery range between 20-years and 90-years old. Kashey feels that it is a pity that more young people don’t visit galleries nowadays. He loves interacting with art lovers and is troubled that at other museums, workers don’t really want to explain much to visitors. He enjoys when visitors come into his gallery, because then he could share his treasures and knowledge with them.
The Shepherd and Derom Gallery at 58 East 79th Street is open on Tuesdays through Saturdays from 10:00am to 6:00pm or by appointment.
