Paula Cooper Gallery Receives Inaugural Art Basel Gallery Legacy Award

-Editorial 

Art Basel announced on June 17 that New York-based Paula Cooper Gallery has been selected as the first recipient of the inaugural Gallery Legacy Award, recognizing galleries that have demonstrated a sustained commitment to artists through long-term representation, career development, and contributions to the cultural and commercial landscape of contemporary art.

The award was presented during the 2026 Art Basel Awards Medalists Dinner at Safran Zunft in Basel, where more than 200 artists, collectors, museum leaders, curators, patrons, and cultural figures gathered to celebrate recipients of the Art Basel Awards.

Paula Cooper Gallery was chosen by a nine-member jury composed of international collectors, patrons, and industry leaders from Europe, North America, Asia, and the Middle East. The jury cited the gallery’s longstanding influence on contemporary art and its role in supporting artists over more than five decades.

Founded in New York in 1968 by Paula Cooper, the gallery became the first commercial gallery to open in SoHo and has since established a reputation for presenting significant exhibitions and representing artists whose work has helped shape contemporary art. Throughout its history, the gallery has represented artists including Sol LeWitt, Donald Judd, Carl Andre, Joel Shapiro, Christian Marclay, Rudolf Stingel, Cecily Brown, Mark di Suvero, Lynda Benglis, Tauba Auerbach, Walid Raad, and Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen.

The gallery has participated in Art Basel since 1999 and has remained a regular presence at the international art fair for more than 25 years.

In a statement, Cooper said Art Basel provides broad access to artwork from around the world and creates opportunities for people with shared interests to exchange ideas, form relationships, and develop collaborations.

Art Basel said the Gallery Legacy Award was created to recognize the role galleries play in building artistic careers, cultivating collectors and contributing to cultural discourse. Organizers noted that while artists are frequently honored for lifetime achievements, galleries have received comparatively little institutional recognition.

As part of the award, Paula Cooper Gallery selected New York-based Chapter NY as a next-generation gallery to receive support through the program. Art Basel will contribute up to $50,000 toward Chapter NY’s participation costs for the June 2027 edition of the fair.

Chapter NY founder Nicole Russo said the recognition was meaningful and described Paula Cooper Gallery as an influential model for her own gallery’s development.

The Gallery Legacy Award trophy was designed by Swiss architect Jacques Herzog in collaboration with Glassworks Matteo Gonet. The hand-blown glass sculpture is inspired by the shape of a breath suspended in air and is intended to symbolize the evolving nature of artistic creation and cultural institutions.

The Art Basel Awards recognize achievements across nine categories representing various sectors of the contemporary art ecosystem, including artists, curators, patrons, media figures, and cultural organizations. The awards program is presented in partnership with BOSS and is now entering its second year.

The Gallery Legacy Award was accepted on behalf of Paula Cooper Gallery by Senior Partner Steve Henry during the June 17 ceremony in Basel.