Patricia Faure dies at 80; prominent Los Angeles art dealer
Patricia Faure -- a prominent Los Angeles art dealer and glamorous personality whose teenage dreams of movie stardom gave way to careers in modeling, fashion photography and, finally, the art business -- has died. She was 80.
Faure died in her sleep of natural causes early Tuesday at Kingsley Manor, a retirement community in Hollywood, said her daughter, designer Zazu Faure.
A distinctive fixture in the L.A. art world for more than three decades, Faure established herself as director of the prestigious Nicholas Wilder Gallery in 1972. She partnered with Betty Asher in the Asher/Faure Gallery from 1979 to 1990, then opened the Patricia Faure Gallery at the Bergamot Station arts complex in Santa Monica. Failing health eventually caused Faure to bow out of the gallery, which has evolved into the Samuel Freeman Gallery.
In her professional life, Faure maintained an elegant style on a limited budget, getting by on charm, wicked wit and passion when money ran short. Escorting visitors through her exhibitions, she would ask, “Isn’t that good?” as she paused in front of a favorite piece and broke into a captivating smile.
More interested in art than bookkeeping, she often said that there is no such thing as an art market.
"You can't sell art. It sells itself," she said. "All you can do is keep the place kind of tidy and get the information out. People come in. If they like it, they buy it."
Her daughter said that Faure was "a terrible business woman, but that made her gallery interesting."
Faure's pristine showcases revealed her taste for fine workmanship, radiant beauty and eccentric sensibilities.
Through the years, she championed dozens of established artists, including sculptors Richard Artschwager, Craig Kauffman, Gwynn Murrill and Joel Shapiro, and painters Llyn Foulkes, Sam Francis, John M. Miller and Margaret Nielsen. She also helped to launch the careers of the Rev. Ethan Acres, Mark Bradford and Salomon Huerta.
At her 75th birthday party, held by Elsa Longhauser, director of the Santa Monica Museum of Art, and fellow Bergamot dealers, Longhauser had a short explanation of why such a large crowd had gathered: "It's Patty."
"Do you know anyone else in the contemporary art world about whom no bad word is spoken?" Longhauser asked. "She's a fusion of art and fashion and humor -- all the best qualities, all the essentials."
