Harry Stendhal

Harry Stendhal is an American gallerist and arts organization founder. As an art dealer he operated the Stendhal gallery in the Soho section of New York City and then the Maya Stendhal Gallery in Chelsea section of New York City (in partnership with his sister Maya) and exhibited among other artists; the painters Ron English and Rick Prol, the Dadaist Hans Richter^[1] and the Fluxus group members Ken Friedman and Larry Miller.^[2][3][4][5] During the second incarnation of his gallery he became ensnared in a legal imbroglio with the filmmaker and visual artist Jonas Mekas. Therein the then octagenarian accused the gallerist of selling his artwork without his consent and or reimbursement for among other things as an avenue for Stendhal to cover his tab at Cipriani.^[6] The case was eventually settled.^[7]

After exhibiting George Macunias' work at his now closed commercial gallery he opened the foundation in 2011. ^[8] The organization which runs a gallery space purpose' is to exhibit the entire inter-disciplinary body work of George Maciunas the Lithuanian born co-founder of the Fluxus art movement.^[9] Stendhal's exhibitions of Maciunas' work have been covered by among others Anthony Haden-Guest in the Financial Times^[10] and Fionn Meade in ArtForum^[11] In 2014 Stendhal was joined in his Fluxus project by the PRC born Chinese-American architect, Fanyu Lin who in 2013 co-founded Fluxus llc which she describes as being.."committed to scaling solutions for providing sustainable and affordable housing, and building dignified homes for all, through a unique prefabricated building technology, utilizing advanced building materials and a fully integrated technology platform – the Fluxus System"... .^[12][13]

In 1991 the Soho gallery hosted a benefit organized for the charity God's Love We Deliver which brings meals to homebound people with Aids and other serious illnesses organized by late fashion photographer Francesco Scavullo and featuring men's suits by such designers as Issac Mizrahi, Todd Oldham and Romeo Gigli which were then embellished (painted upon) by such artists as Ronnie Cutrone and Ron Enlish.^[14] In 2004 Harry and his sister Maya commissioned the painter and filmmaker Jeff Scher to create an animated film portrait of their friend Susan Shin and then offered the ability to commission a similar rendering to gallery clients. This endeavor which was reported on by the New York Times.^[15]

Stendhal himself is a presence on the New York City social scene whose events draw press coverage as does his goings on about town.^[16][17]

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