The financier and collector Leo Castelli, who emigrated to the United States shortly after World War II and later became a gallery owner, contributed in no small measure to the fact that American postwar art not only appeared, but also became known and recognized around the world. The point of departure is considered 1964, when the “Golden Lion” of the Venice Biennale was awarded to the artist from his gallery, Robert Rauschenberg. And six years before that, shortly after its opening, the Castelli Gallery hosted the very first exhibition of the current classicist Jasper Johns, and then Sy Twombly, Frank Stella, Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol and many others, making the place a center for conceptual art, minimalism and pop art.
The Leo Castelli Gallery, with two spaces in New York City, is now run by his wife, Barbara Bertozzi Castelli. It still hosts exhibitions of post-war art, but they are done with a critical approach, adding works by contemporary artists.
