TIMES may be tough but, as has been often said, when the going gets tough the tough get going.
Very much the case with New York dealer David Zwirner, 47 and considered one of the most powerful players on the contemporary art scene, who this year opens a gallery in London and a second space in New York.
His first European gallery is an 18th century Mayfair townhouse at 24 Grafton Street (pictured) and when it opens in October, following a renovation by architect Annabelle Selldorf, it will open up 10,000 sq ft over five floors.
Incidentally, in 1909 Helena Rubinstein opened her first spa and beauty clinic at the Grafton Street premises.
Opening in November is a five-storey space of some 30,000 sq ft at 537 West 20th Street in Chelsea which will kick off with an exhibition of works by Dan Flavin and Donald Judd.
Cologne-born Zwirner, a second generation dealer, has definitely got going since opening his first gallery in downtown SoHo in 1993.