Celebrating the Life and Legacy of Jacques Kaplan in Kent
Jacques Kaplan, the pioneering art dealer in Kent, CT, was a larger than life figure. A one-time Fifth Avenue furrier, who collaborated on coats with artists such as Frank Stella in the go-go sixties, he ran his Paris-New York-Kent Gallery in a caboose by Kent’s old railroad station from 1984 to 2006. “When he died this summer, everyone asked us what kind of memorial there was going to be because he had such an impact on the town of Kent and on so many artists,” says his longtime friend Darby Cardonsky, who owns the twenty-year-old Bachelier Cardonsky Gallery, in Kent, with Kaplan’s widow, Violaine Bachelier. “We decided we would celebrate his life in a joyful, creative way, which is how he lived his life.”
This Saturday, Bachelier Cardonsky will have an opening for A Memorial for Jacques with 100 Artists. “It’s actually 105,” says Cardonsky. “We wanted to bring together as many artists as possible. Almost every artist in the show knew Jacques and either showed at his gallery or ours.” One of the most sentimental pieces in the show is Dreams of Feat, 2008 [above] a multimedia piece by Cardonsky’s son, Nathaniel. “Jacques knew Nathaniel since the day he was born,” says Cardonsky. “The photo of me and Jacques was taken years ago and the photo of Jacques and Violaine was taken the day he closed his gallery.”
A Memorial for Jacques with 100 Artists
Bachelier Cardonsky Gallery
North Main Street, Kent, CT; 860.927.3129
Public Opening: Saturday, November 22; 3 - 6 PM
The exhibition runs through December 21
