Nick Dawes, senior vice president for special collections at Heritage Auctions, has been named chairman and CEO of the Salmagundi Art Club after serving on the board of the nonprofit club for several years. Salmagundi is the oldest artists’ club in New York and one of the oldest in the nation.
Founded in 1871, the club offers programs that include art classes, exhibitions, painting demonstrations and educational events throughout the year and offers three galleries where members and outside clubs can exhibit work, a historic dining room, bar and library.
“Salmagundi is a rare place of quiet and relaxation right off Fifth Avenue,” stated Dawes, “with an excellent dining room for members and the oldest active pool tables in New York, not to mention our fine permanent collection of American works of art and superb events.”
Salmagundi members purchased 47 Fifth Ave., between 11th and 12th streets in the heart of Greenwich Village, in 1917. Today, Salmagundi has over 1,000 members internationally and affiliations with prominent art clubs in the United States, Europe and Australia.
A litany of great artists like Childe Hassam, William Merrit Chase, Howard Pyle, N.C. Wyeth, Guy Wiggins, Louis Comfort Tiffany and Norman Rockwell were members, and honorary members include Sir Winston Churchill, Buckminster Fuller, Paul Cadmus and Al Hirschfeld.