HERBERT ARNOT, INC. STICKS WITH

A FORMULA THAT WORKS

Arnot Gallery ~ Herbert Arnot Inc. 250 West 57^th Street, 10^th Floor, New York, NY 10107

Gallery Phone (212) 245-8287  After Hours: (917) 570-7910

Luigi Rocca  'Chevron Gas Station' 16x24" unframed size, original painting

No subject has made more headlines in the art world than the fallout from World War II-the settlement of the Lt. Meador case of the jeweled Quedlinbug treasures in Texas, the unsettled case of the Egon Schiele paintings on loan from Vienna at the Museum of Modern Art and the question of looted art still missing in the former Iron Curtain countries.

Oddly enough, small pieces and variants on all this history are encapsulated in one suite of rooms in the gallery alley of New York's 57th street.  All but unknown to the public, but familiar to the cognoscenti of the American gallery community, it's named after Herbert Arnot, who started the dealership in 1946, but whose roots go back to the 19th century.

When dynasty-founder Marcus Arnot opened his gallery in Vienna in 1863, Sigmund Freud was in knee pants and Impressionism was aborning in Paris at the Salon De Refusés.  Marcus, or Arnot the First, was a framer and a pioneer who conceived the idea of dealing to the trade.  In good old legendary fashion, Marcus had three sons, and a colorful lot they were.

SECOND GENERATION

The eldest, Hugo, expanded on the dealer-to-dealer concept and opened a dozen galleries throughout Europe, culminating with a London address in 1896.  During the same period, back in Vienna, brother Guido was being credited with discovering Egon Schiele and promoting his career.

The third son, Robert, became a book publisher and an art collector.  Fortunately upon his death, his widow was able to escape the Nazi war machine by fleeing to Paris, where the sale of Robert's collection of Renoirs saved her life.

THIRD GENERATION

In his turn, Hugo Arnot had three sons.  At the outbreak of World War II, his eldest, Herbert, enlisted in the United States Army.  After nearly three-and-a-half years in uniform, Staff Sergeant Arnot was with Patton's division as they drove from Normandy across the Rhine to the banks of the Danube.

While with a branch of G-2, Military Intelligence, Sgt. Arnot worked behind German lines collecting and translating documents that revealed Wehrmacht's plans, which earned him a Bronze Star.  Then, in a parallel to the Quedlinburg incident, Sgt. Arnot discovered a treasure of his own.  Confronting the Nazi mayor of Budapest in 1945, he demanded to know if there was any war loot on the premises.  The mayor pointed under his bed.  Arnot III reminded him who had won the war and ordered the mayor to fetch the mysterious box himself.

The nervous man retrieved a large, black metal case, and, as he was about to raise the lid, the sergeant suspected a booby trap.  The box contained not a bomb, but the priceless jeweled 10th century Crown of St. Stephen, Hungary's most valued and holiest relic. 

At this point, Sgt. Arnot respectfully declined a commission because it would have meant remaining with the Army months or years longer, and he and his wife had plans for a civilian life.

Together they amassed $10,000 by combining his accumulated army pay with funds she had saved from the sale of artwork supplied on a limited basis by Uncle Wilfrid in London.

When the sergeant got back to New York, he opened the Herbert Arnot Gallery in a small space on 57th Street and introduced the dealer-to-the-trade concept in the United States.

FOURTH GENERATION

Over the next five decades, the gallery's range extended from New York to the rest of the United States and Canada, until in 1990, son Peter inherited the business with a firm determination to preserve the principles and tradition established over the years by predecessors Marcus, Hugo and Herbert.

"No one in the world," says Peter Arnot today, "has the wide range that we have.  We're unique in quality, history and variety.

"We try to be traditional and conservative," Peter Arnot elaborates, "and rarely carry modern paintings or graphics, with one exception, the colored lithographs of Luigi Kasimir, with whom my father worked many years ago." "Some of our more contemporary art is by Christian Nesvadba." Loyalty to the past extends to the sales staff, too, with most reps having chalked up 10-20 years with the company.

FIFTH GENERATION

The legacy continues with Nicole Arnot.  Nicole graduated from Duke University, Magna Cum Laude, in 2002 bringing with her computer technology and a breath of fresh air and at the same time continuing the Arnot heritage.  Young ideas to invigorate all of the Arnot family is always a welcome tradition!

THE INFORMATION IS BASED ON THE ARTICLE WRITTEN ON HERBERT ARNOT INC. WHICH APPEARED IN ART WORLD NEWS IN OCTOBER 1998.

The Arnot Galleries originated in 1863 in Vienna, Austria.  Our name may be found as a reference in books on the artist Egon Schiele, for whom the Arnot Gallery in Vienna gave his first retrospective in 1915. Other artists exhibiting with the Arnot Gallery were Monet in 1912, as documented in the catalogue raisonne by Daniel Wildenstein Volume IV, p. 1021 liste des expositions, and Edouard Cortes as documented in the catalogue raisonne I and newly released catalogue raisonne II by Nicole Verdier.

Our New York City Gallery opened in the early 1940’s by the third generation of Arnot art dealers, Herbert Arnot.  With the opening of Herbert Arnot Inc. the representation of the paintings by Edouard Cortes continued with the Arnot family at the Arnot Gallery in New York.

In 1972 Peter Arnot joined the Arnot Gallery as the fourth generation of Arnot art dealers.  It was in 1979 that Peter Arnot found the artist MALVA and had the Arnot Gallery represent his paintings in the United States.

In 1977 Vicki Arnot joined the Arnot family in their business and today is Vice President and partner with Peter Arnot.

Nicole Arnot joined the Arnot Gallery as the fifth generation of Arnot Art Dealers in 2002 upon her graduation from Duke University. In 2008 Nicole completed her Graduate Studies at Christies in London.   

In 2009 Arnot Gallery became the Exclusive American Representatives for the Original Paintings by Italian Artist Luigi Rocca.  Also Exclusive American Representatives for Limited Edition Giclee Prints by Luigi Rocca.

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