arts & life

galleries

Looking
Ahead,
Downtown

Birmingham's internationally known

David Klein Gallery heads to Detroit

for a second location.

Robert Schefman, Wedding (2012, oil on canvas)

Ronelle Grier

Contributing Writer

M

The new downtown gallery is housed in the ground
floor of the Claridge House Apartments, near the
David Whitney building.

David Klein

66

September 24 • 2015

JN

any art gallery owners
might commemorate
their 25th anniversary
with a bottle of good champagne,
perhaps even a party. David Klein,
owner of the Birmingham gallery
that bears his name, is marking
his quarter-century anniversary
with the opening of his second
gallery, located on Washington
Boulevard in the heart of
Downtown Detroit.
A grand opening celebration
took place on Sept. 17.
"Downtown was my No. 1
choice:' says Klein, 49, who start-
ed "quietly" looking at potential
spaces in Detroit about two years
ago. "We could sense a future;
Detroit is changing in a way that
won't stop and we wanted to be a
part of it:'
Prior to the opening of the
Detroit location, the 1,100-square-
foot David Klein Gallery on

Townsend Street in Birmingham
combined contemporary art
with works by 20th-century
artists, with a focus on Post-
War American artists, includ-
ing Al Held, Jack Tworkov and
John McLaughlin. Now, the
4,000-square-foot Detroit space
will be devoted to contemporary
art by local and national artists,
while the Birmingham space will
house the 20th-century pieces.
Klein developed a special inter-
est in art from that era from his
parents, who were active art col-
lectors. Accompanying them on
frequent trips to New York gave
Klein the opportunity to meet art
dealers and observe the business
side of the art world, which led to
his desire to open a gallery of his
own.
After graduating from
University of Michigan with
a major in art history, Klein,
then 23, opened his first gal-
lery on Woodward in down-
town Birmingham, in the old

Greenstone's Jewelry building. His
connections with Pop Art-dealer
Ivan Karp of the iconic OK Harris
gallery in New York City's Soho
helped him develop a niche in the
Birmingham gallery community,
which included 25 galleries at the
time. Five years later, Klein moved
to his current Townsend Street
location.
"There are only three galleries
[in Birmingham] now We've lived
through enormous changes in the
gallery community; says Klein,
who attributes some of the chang-
es to the Internet market and the
advent of major art fairs.
In addition to showcasing
20th-century artwork in the
Birmingham gallery, Klein will
use that location for his secondary
market business — buying and
selling art for local and national
collectors.
"There are great works of
art tucked away in Wayne and
Oakland County. I'm aware of
what people own. Sometimes I