An art world power couple that held senior roles at Gagosian—chief operating officer Andrew Fabricant and his wife Laura Paulson, a director of Gagosian Art Advisory—have both left the gallery. Founder Larry Gagosian announced their departures in an email to his staff on Thursday (13 June).
“Andrew Fabricant and Laura Paulson are no longer with the gallery,” Gagosian said in a statement provided to The Art Newspaper. “At this moment in the gallery’s evolution, we arrived at the point where I decided it was time for us to part ways. We are grateful for their contributions over the past several years and wish them well. The gallery is fortunate to have an outstanding depth of talent and leadership in place—a strong operational infrastructure complemented by the most talented and experienced team of directors in the industry.” Fabricant and Paulson’s departures were first reported by Bloomberg.
Fabricant has worked at Gagosian in various capacities across a half-century, beginning in 1983 in Los Angeles. In 1996 he left to work for the Chicago-based dealer Richard Gray, overseeing the gallery’s expansion to New York. After more than 20 years at Richard Gray, Fabricant returned to Gagosian in 2018; the following year he became the gallery’s chief operating officer. In 2022 he was named to the gallery’s newly formed board of directors.
Paulson, who held the same chief operating officer title at Gagosian Art Advisory—a bespoke advisory business she helped launch in 2019 to more directly compete with the leading auction houses on the secondary market—was previously the global chairman of 20th-century art at Christie’s. She landed a string of high-profile consignments for the auction house, including the Picasso-rich collection of Victor and Sally Ganz and the collection of David Pincus, with its bevvy of Abstract Expressionist treasures. At Gagosian, her focus shifted to the appraisal side of the advisory business, while her colleagues focused on brokering transactions.
In his email to staff, Gagosian alluded to coming changes to the advisory business. “I see a lot of potential in the development of that business alongside our core gallery operations and will be sharing more about those plans in the near future,” he said. At present, the transaction-focused side of the advisory business is being led by Bernie Lagrange, Michael Walker and Sophia Penske.
The high-level shakeups at Gagosian’s core gallery business and advisory (technically a separate business, headquartered in the same premises at 980 Madison Avenue as the gallery’s New York offices) come as questions about the gallery’s future loom. With around 20 locations around the world and a roster of more than 100 artists and artists’ estates, Gagosian is one of the art market’s biggest players and, by many measures, the largest in the gallery sector.
Even before the gallery’s board of directors was established in 2022, many in the trade were speculating about what would happen to the business when its founder and namesake—who is now 78 years old—retires. Even amid such speculation, the gallery has continued to grow its footprint, bring new artists onto its roster and add senior staff. Most recently, Brooke Lampley, Sotheby’s global chairman and head of global fine art, left the auction house for a senior director role at Gagosian.
“The gallery has never been in a stronger place,” Gagosian wrote in his email to staff on Thursday. “Every aspect of the business operates at the highest possible level, and I have tremendous confidence in our day-to-day operations and plans for the future.”
Neither Fabricant nor Paulson had responded to The Art Newspaper‘s requests for comment as of press time.
