Perry's SoHo Expedition

It began with not going to China. Perry Rubenstein had planned to visit Beijing after majoring in Asian history at Penn State, but friends told him there was more profit— and fun—to be had modeling. He went to Milan. While modeling he began analyzing fashion photography. His attention switched to painting. By the end of 1981, Rubenstein had bought two Sandro Chia canvases from his modeling fees.

What really got the tongues working in Manhattan was the fact that Perry Rubenstein always seemed to see the "new" European artists first. "I saw my first Kiefers at a gallery in Naples in April 1982," he says. "I bought four at $8,000 apiece. And I was buying a lot of early works by Francesco [Clemente]. By the end of 1982 I had accumulated twenty."

Rubenstein began to sell a few pieces to buy something he wanted more. For the next few years he dealt privately, but another inevitable step has just been taken: his own space. The Perry Rubenstein gallery in SoHo is an evolutionary step in another sense, too. The classic contempo gallery is a big, pristine exhibition space, plus a discreet back room. Rubenstein's gallery is a nest of spaces and discreet back rooms. Where he will show what? "I have had long relations with artists I have not had the good fortune to represent on a primary basis," Rubenstein says, guardedly. What he does not quite say is that these artists are big boys/girls now. They can show where they choose. Including with Perry Rubenstein.

HARRY HOMBURG