For 26 years, Cavalier Galleries has been a destination for art enthusiasts and collectors. But gallery co-owners Ron Cavalier and Lindsay Ebanks have decided to trade their 405 Greenwich Avenue location for a new one.
The gallery, with its iconic bronze sculpture of a commuter presumably waiting for a train to NYC, won’t be moving far.
On Monday, with packing in progress, Cavalier said he was excited about the gallery’s move to 175 Greenwich Avenue, next to Hoagland’s and across the street from St Mary Church.
“The middle of the Avenue is the heart of the Avenue,” he said, adding that the new location offers parking both on the street and in the large municipal lot behind the building.
“We had a nice run here,” Cavalier added. “After being at 405 Greenwich Ave for 26 years, we’re probably one of the older mom and pops on the Avenue.”
Cavalier lamented the closing of his block of Greenwich Ave to both traffic and parking to create space for outdoor dining during the pandemic.
“There was enough room to have outdoor tables without closing the road. The vision is more about bringing in people from outside Greenwich than taking care of the people from this community,” he continued. “Maybe the plan is to have it as an outdoor area where younger people come and stores sell novelties. The higher end retailers won’t succeed. The only reason other (merchants) aren’t moving is they’re locked into their leases.”
Cavalier said his lease at 405 Greenwich Ave expires at the end of December, and he will remain open there on weekends and by appointment.
“We’re inviting our clients to preview the space this weekend,” he said, adding, “We expect to be extremely happy at 175. The quality of the foot traffic is world class. And our clients won’t have to walk through unmasked people who are dining.”
Cavalier, who lives in Weston, has multiple galleries, with locations in Nantucket, Palm Beach, and in New York City on 57th street.
His experiences with artwork in Greenwich trace back to his teen years in the 1970s when his father did the restoration of outdoor sculptures belonging to Joseph Hirshhorn, whose art collection is now housed in Washington, DC.
“I was able to spend time at that estate while my father was doing the restoration and I studied the collection,” he recalled. “It was one of the great collections of all time when it was housed here in Greenwich.”
Cavalier always thought Greenwich would be a great town to open a gallery.
Cavalier Ebanks handles a broad range of work, from modern masters including Picasso, Matisse, and Monet, which they represent in their private sales division. They also handle the abstract expressionist painters including Hans Hofmann, and a broad range of contemporary artists including sculptors Bjørn Skaarup and Jim Rennert.
“We have some of the finest contemporary realists in the world that we show on a regular basis, including Paul Oxborough, Edward Minoff and Joseph McGurl,” he said.
“We also represent photographers including Steve McCurry, who people may know for his iconic image of the Afghan girl on the cover of National Geographic. We have his entire collection,” he said.
The gallery represents the photographer Harry Benson, who was assigned to travel with The Beatles on their inaugural American tour in 1964.
“It’s a gallery where you can come in and be relaxed. If you’re a beginning collector, we are happy to explain how the art world works. There are three rules: Buy what you love. Buy what you love. Buy what you love. You may live with it for a very long time.”
– Ron Cavalier, Cavalier Ebanks Galleries
The gallery owners are also happy to advise people who want to take a more serious approach to collecting as an investment.
Visit Cavalier Ebanks Galleries online.