An Interview with a Dealer: Richard P. Norton
Each week, CGN interviews a local art dealer to discuss the ins and outs of running a gallery in the city of Chicago. This week we caught up with Richard P. Norton of Richard Norton Gallery.
Gallery: Richard Norton Gallery
Name: Richard P. Norton
Age: 48
Previous occupation: Distracted undergraduate
Hometown: Chicago
CGN: How did you become an art dealer?
Richard P. Norton: Born and bred.
CGN: Please describe your gallery's program in one sentence.
RN: Great 20th century American paintings.
CGN: What is the first thing you do each morning when you get to the gallery?
RN: Hot coffee!
CGN: Thumbs up or down on art fairs?
RN: Big thumbs up!
CGN: Artists you admire but don't represent?
RN: Aziz Ansari, Leslie Jones, John Mulaney.
CGN: Best sale you ever had?
RN: Happy, appreciative and grateful for all of them!
CGN: Advice would you share with new or young collectors?
RN: Don't drink at Art Fairs; the "stupid question" is the one not asked and never buy anything online without seeing it first!
CGN: Which artist that you represent or work of art you have recently acquired are you most excited about?
RN: I’m very keen on the gallery's collection of large, Post-War abstractions by the Bauhaus trained artist Eugene Dana, and the 1930s & 1940s Modern Cubist paintings by LeRoy Turner we plan to exhibit this fall at EXPO CHICAGO. The artwork hasn't been seen by the public eye in over thirty years.
CGN: What major successes have you had this year? What about challenges?
RN: My erg score is holding up pretty well, and I hope our set in the quad is better during the head races this fall.
CGN: How do you view working as an art dealer in Chicago?
RN: Find a good art fair in Grand Cayman during February!
CGN: What is your favorite interest outside the art world?
RN: Democracy in America
CGN: What is your favorite work of public art in Chicago?
RN: Lake Michigan
Top 5
CGN: What are your favorite art spaces to visit?
RN:
- D'amato's
- Bennison's
- Sweet Mandy B's
- Manny's
- Furama
Richard P. Norton is the owner of Richard Norton Gallery located in the Merchandise Mart in Chicago. For more information about his gallery visit: Richard Norton Gallery.