The Grafton Galleries, often referred to as the Grafton Gallery, was an art gallery in Mayfair, London. The French art dealer Paul Durand-Ruel showed the first major exhibition in Britain of Impressionist paintings there in 1905. Roger Fry's two famous exhibitions of Post-Impressionist works in 1910 and 1912 were both held at the gallery.
Eugène Samuel Grasset (25 May 1845 – 23 October 1917), poster for an exhibition of French decorative art at the Grafton Galleries, 1893
The Grafton Street entrance to the Grafton Galleries, Illustrated London News, 25 February 1893
The Octagon Gallery at the Grafton Galleries, The Graphic, 25 February 1893
The Long Gallery at the Grafton Galleries, The Graphic, 25 February 1893
Paul Durand-Ruel was a French art dealer associated with the Impressionists and the Barbizon School. Being the first to support artists such as Claude Monet, Camille Pissarro, and Pierre-Auguste Renoir, he is known for his innovations in modernizing art markets, and is generally considered to be the most important art dealer of the 19th century. An ambitious entrepreneur, Durand-Ruel cultivated international interest in French artists by establishing art galleries and exhibitions in London, New York, Berlin, Brussels, among other places. Additionally, he played a role in the decentralization of art markets in France, which prior to the mid-19th century was monopolized by the Salon system.
Portrait of Durand-Ruel by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, c. 1910
"The Brothers" (Charles and Georges Durand-Ruel) by Pierre Auguste Renoir (c. 1882)
Portrait of Joseph Durand-Ruel by Pierre Auguste Renoir
Paul Durand-Ruel in his gallery in 1910. Photo by Dornac