History of a Gallery
2024 marks the hundredth anniversary of the Larock-Granoff gallery, probably the oldest Parisian gallery still in operation, today represented by the 4th generation of dealers.
When Katia Granoff invented her profession as an art dealer in 1924 and created this unique place, she was already betting on those who would make the history of modern art. The choices she made then inscribed these major artists in history, as their works are masterpieces. A defender of the poetic work of Marc Chagall, whose importance she was the first to understand at the beginning of the 20th century, she exhibited the living art of her time and quickly established herself as one of the most powerful and most followed dealers in Paris.
The gallery thus presents a group of 20th century artists from Claude Monet, whose work she is the architect of the rediscovery in France and around the world from the 1950s, to Marc Chagall, via Amédée Ozenfant, Othon Friesz, Jean Messagier and young contemporary painters. Katia Granoff fervently defends the Russians of the School of Paris, exiled like her from this Russian Empire that is hunting them down. Alongside Chagall, she exhibits Chaïm Soutine Emmanuel Mané-Katz, Michel Kikoïne, Chana Orloff…
In a way, a short history of 20th century art. In the 1950s, Katia Granoff fell in love with Norman Impressionism and the Rouen School. The gallery then also moved to Honfleur, on the Vieux Bassin, where it presented painters such as Othon Friesz, Charles Angrand, Jacques Bouyssou, etc.
Driven by her inextinguishable passion for art, Katia Granoff redefined the profession of dealer in the 20th century; her gallery was a place for meetings, intellectual and artistic exchanges, she also brilliantly devoted herself to poetry and the translation of great Russian poets. Her many works were rewarded with prestigious prizes.
A dedicated patron, she bequeathed major works to French and international museums throughout her life. When she died in 1989, her gallery was taken over by her nephew, Pierre Larock, then by her great-grandnephews, Marc and Édouard Larock, who endeavored to do a work of memory, transmission and testimony of all the work carried out by this exceptional woman and perpetuate Katia Granoff’s tradition of patronage and defense of the art of their time.
