Louis & Susan, 141 Prince Street, SoHo – Late 1970's
In 1973 Louis K. Meisel Gallery opened its doors on Prince Street & West Broadway after five years on Madison Avenue as Meisel Gallery. The SoHo gallery currently occupies 20,000 square feet and continues to exhibit new paintings by many of the original Photorealist artists as well as a newer generation of the finest realist painters and sculptors in the world. Credited with coining the term “Photorealism,” Meisel became a pioneer of Photorealist art, championing the work of such renowned painters as Richard Estes, Audrey Flack, Chuck Close, Charles Bell, Ron Kleemann, and Tom Blackwell. Meisel is the author of numerous books including the definitive volumes on Photorealism. Photorealism in the Digital Age, the fourth and final volume, was published in 2013 by Abrams. Meisel has also authored monographs on Charles Bell, Richard Estes and Mel Ramos, and deco pottery designer Clarice Cliff.
In addition to Photorealist works, Louis K. Meisel Gallery in SoHo exhibits The Great American Pin-up, a subset of vintage American illustration. Meisel has written about the lives and works of these artists of the 1930’s through the 1960’s with titles including The Great American Pin-Up, 1996, The Best of American Girlie Magazine, 1997, and Gil Elvgren – All his Glamorous American Pin-ups in 1999, all published by Benedikt Taschen Verlag, Cologne, Germany. In 1997, he wrote The Edward Runci Collection: Pin Up Poster Book published by Collectors Press, Inc., Portland, Oregon.