Gallery celebrates

Gallery celebrates long history on Newbury Street

by Cary Shuman, The Back Bay Sun, September 28, 2007

The WORLD-RENOWNED Rolly-Michaux Galleries isn't resting on its easels. The famed art gallery, located in the historic Vendome building on Dartmouth Street and acclaimed as one of the most exciting exhibition spaces in Boston, is expanding its scopes as it celebrates its fortieth anniversary.

The Galleries, under the direction of Ronald Rolly and Ronald Michaux, has launched its first exhibit of photography - "The Art of Mystery - Kyoto in its Season." The exhibit features the photographs of Robert Castagna, "who captured with his lens the poetry of that fabled city," according to Rolly and Michaux. Bostonians have come to expect the best from Rolly-Michaux and the two partners in the business are proud of their esteemed place in the international arts community.

"It's been a lot of hard work but we feel very good to be here for 40 years - so many galleries just don't last that long," said Rolly. "We feel particularly fortunate and we feel that it's a tribute to the quality of the art that we show."

Rolly and Michaux met while they were both working at a television station in Hartford, CT. Together they founded the gallery Galerie Ecole de Paris in Hartford in 1967, specializing in French Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings and watercolors.

"At that time, we had developed some good clientele from Boston that would come and see us," said Rolly.

The gallery moved to Boston and opened at 125 Newbury Street in 1969, presenting for the first time its unique collection of oils by Utrillo, Chagall, Vlaminck, Dufy, Lebasque and Terechkovitch, as well as works by European contemporary artists. Rolly-Michaux opened a second gallery in New York City at 943 Madison Avenue next door to the Whitney Museum in 1973, and three years later Rolly and Michaux hired a team of architects to design spacious new quarters in the Vendome building in Boston. The Boston gallery moved around the corner from Newbury Street to the Vendome in 1976.

Rolly grew up in Waterbury, CT. and his initial interest in art was as a collector. "I was very involved with community theater and I met an art teacher and I liked his artwork very much and I got interested in collecting," said Rolly.

Michaux was born at Westover Air Base in Massachusetts. "My father was in the Air Force," said Michaux. "He came back from World War II and retired from the Air Force and we were in Guilford, N.H. during the summer months and in Naples, FL. during the winter months."

Michaux took an office position at WTIC-TV in Hartforld where he met Rolly. "A year later we established our first gallery in Hartford," said Michaux. "We bought one piece, made some profit on it and then we bought two pieces and that's how our collection grew."

From the outset, Rolly-Michaux has displayed the works of some of the world's finest artists - Pablo Picasso, Joan Miro and Marc Chagall - drawing large crowds to the gallery for special showings.

"We've been very fortunate in developing excellent sources for very special artwork and we're pleased to present them to people in Boston," said Rolly.

The two men, who are often called upon for their expert opinion on artwork by clients and friends, appreciate their 40-year friendship and business relationship.

"We've absolutely enjoyed our work," said Rolly.

"People see the facade of most galleries as very glamorous work," said Michaux. "This gallery was not done by outside parties. We never hired anybody to hang the exhibitions, negotiate agreements with artists, or perform the framing. We embedded ourselves in these things because we believed in the artists we were showing."

What is the state of the Boston arts community today?

"Boston is definitely an academic community," said Michaux. "What I mean by that is that they're very knowledgeable because of our local universities and colleges. Bostonians are very committed to art and we've worked with the Fogg Museum and the Museum of Fine Arts on our exhibitions. But Boston is still, after all these years, basically New England conservative in their outlook."

As the Rolly-Michaux Galleries host their first photographic exhibit, the business owners invite residents to visit their gallery and see the work of photographer Robert Castagna.

"I had seen some of his photographs at the Boston Public Library," said Michaux. "I was very impressed with him. He impressed me as someone who was very talented. A very important ingredient is the workability of an artist and he was very good to work with."