Mayor Gallery

The Mayor Gallery is a commercial art gallery located on Bury Street in the St James's district of London, United Kingdom. Founded in 1925 by Fred Mayor in partnership with Douglas Cooper, it has operated continuously for a century, marking its 100th anniversary in 2025. The gallery occupies a distinctive position in British art history as one of the first venues to introduce European avant-garde and international modernist artists to the United Kingdom, and it has subsequently evolved into a leading international promoter of post-war American art, Pop art, and the European ZERO and Concrete art movements.

Fred Mayor established the gallery in 1925 at 37 Sackville Street, with Douglas Cooper as his partner. The gallery closed temporarily in 1926, then reopened in 1933 at 18 Cork Street, an address that placed it in what was regarded as the historic art district of London. In these early years, the Mayor Gallery became instrumental to the creation of Unit One, a British modernist group formed by Paul Nash in 1933 that included Henry Moore, Ben Nicholson, Barbara Hepworth, Edward Wadsworth, and Edward Burra. The gallery also provided employment for the German Jewish refugee art dealer Alfred Flechtheim after his own gallery was Aryanized by the Nazis; Flechtheim's gallery records, left with Mayor, were later destroyed. Following Fred Mayor's death in 1973, his son James Mayor assumed leadership. James Mayor had previously established the post-war and contemporary art department at Sotheby's New York, and his transition to the family gallery was facilitated by a significant professional relationship with New York dealer Leo Castelli. Under James Mayor's direction, the gallery mounted its first Art Basel fair in 1973 and has maintained a continuous presence at major international fairs since. The gallery relocated to 9 Bury Street in St James's, where it continues to operate. In 2025, the gallery celebrated its centenary with a three-part exhibition series tracing its history and the parallel evolution of twentieth-century art.

The Mayor Gallery's program has shifted substantially across its history. From its founding through the early 1970s, it promoted modern and contemporary art with an emphasis on introducing foreign artists to England for the first time. Since the early 1970s, under James Mayor, the gallery has focused actively on contemporary American artists associated with Pop art, Conceptual art, and Abstract Expressionism. More recently, the gallery has deepened its commitment to Minimal art, Dada, and particularly the international ZERO movement, as well as Concrete art. The gallery now presents approximately eight curated exhibitions per year and participates in major art fairs including TEFAF Maastricht, TEFAF New York, Art Basel, and Frieze Masters. Its program encompasses British and international post-war painting, sculpture, and works on paper, with particular strength in movements that emerged from political and cultural constraints in Eastern Europe, Asia, and Latin America.

The Mayor Gallery has been responsible for first English exhibitions of numerous major artists. In its early decades, these included Alexander Calder, Paul Klee, Joan Miró, Max Ernst, André Masson, and Francis Bacon. The gallery's association with American art deepened considerably after 1973, when James Mayor's relationship with Leo Castelli led to exhibitions of Andy Warhol, including the Mao screen prints that inaugurated his tenure. The gallery has subsequently shown Roy Lichtenstein, Eva Hesse, Agnes Martin, Claes Oldenburg, Robert Rauschenberg, Robert Ryman, Cy Twombly, and Tom Wesselmann. In the realm of European post-war art, the gallery has promoted ZERO movement artists including Heinz Mack and Otto Piene, as well as figures associated with Arte Povera, Concrete art, and Nouveau Réalisme. The gallery has developed particular expertise in Latin American art, with recent solo exhibitions devoted to Feliza Bursztyn and Július Koller, and has regularly placed works with major institutions. Recent museum acquisitions facilitated by the gallery include works to the Centre Pompidou, Museum Boijmans Rotterdam, Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, and Tate.

The Mayor Gallery currently occupies 9 Bury Street, London SW1Y 6AB, in the St James's area. This location represents a move from its historic Cork Street address, where it was the first gallery to open its doors in that street. The St James's location positions the gallery within a concentrated district of art dealers and auction houses in central London. The gallery's exhibition spaces accommodate the approximately eight curated exhibitions it presents annually, as well as serving as a base for its international fair participation.

The Mayor Gallery is located at 9 Bury Street, St James's, London SW1Y 6AB, United Kingdom. It is a privately owned commercial gallery, currently under the direction of James Mayor. The gallery maintains an active exhibition program viewable by appointment or during public opening hours, with current and upcoming exhibitions listed on its website. In 2025-2026, the gallery's programming includes the three-part centenary series, with Part 2: European Art on view through February 20, 2026, and Part 3: Asia and Central Europe running from March 12 to April 10, 2026. The gallery also presents Happy Birthday America!, a group exhibition marking the 250th anniversary of American independence, from June 4 to July 17, 2026. The gallery participates regularly in international art fairs and can be visited at its stand at Treasure House Fair, Stand 118, from June 23 to June 30, 2026.