1991 - 2022

Leon Tovar is a New York based gallery specializing in Modern art from Latin America. After nearly thirty years of operation, the Gallery remains committed to promoting scholarship on, and the market visibility of, groundbreaking artists who are integral to any complete history of Modernism. As museums and other institutions work to reassess their collections and the histories that they tell, the Gallery’s mission is to continue responding to the urgent need for cultivating art historical narratives broader in scope. Through regular exhibitions, exhibition programming, catalogues, art fairs, and collaborations with institutions, Leon Tovar Gallery has established itself as an authority in the field of Latin American art, and as a prominent resource for both new collectors and those seeking to refine their mature collections.

Inaugurated in Bogotá in 1991, and relocated to New York in 2002, the Gallery now operates an exhibition space in the Upper East Side. An ADAA Member gallery since 2019, Leon Tovar Gallery represents the Estates of Carmelo Arden Quin, Martin Blaszko, Marcelo Bonevardi, and Agustín Fernández.

© Photography by Andres Serrano

1991 - 2000​

León Tovar made his incursion into the art world as an art gallerist in the early 90s.

He founded his own gallery Tovar & Tovar in Bogotá, Colombia, back in 1991 with a presentation of works by Sol LeWitt and Bernar Venet. He continued creating exhibitions on renowned artists like Josef Albers, Carlos Rojas, Luis Camnitzer, Dennis Oppenheim, and Eduardo Ramírez Villamizar. 

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2001 - 2010

In 2002, León Tovar decided to move his business to New York City, opening an exhibition space on the Upper East Side, on East 71st St., named Leon Tovar Gallery.

His gallery was one of the first spaces to exhibit the geometric, kinetic, mathematical, and minimal art concepts (known today as geometrical abstraction) practiced by Latin American artists at the time. 

His relationship with many artists, like Carlos Cruz-Diez, Jesús Rafael Soto, Carlos Rojas, Eduardo Ramírez Villamizar, and Latin American art exhibits in renowned museums in New York City helped Leon Tovar create a global interest in Latin American art and modernism. 

2011 - 2020

In 2015, Leon Tovar opened a second gallery space on West 25TH St. with Cristina Grajales, which presented collective and individual exhibitions of several Latin American artists like Edgar Negret, Fanny Sanin, Carmelo Arden Quin, Omar Rayo, Francisco Salazar, Jesús Rafael Soto, and Agustín Fernández, among others. Later, in the spring of 2019 this location was moved to the Upper East Side. 

In addition to curating exhibitions regularly, Leon Tovar Gallery has also been actively participating in panels, tours, and art discussions. Leon Tovar has been a member of the ADAA since 2019 and has been present in major international art fairs around the world. 

In 2019, León Tovar Gallery moved its second location to East 75th St., where he carefully curated collective and solo shows on important artists such as Carmelo Arden Quin, Sergio Camargo, Omar Rayo, Jesús Rafael Soto, Feliza Bursztyn, Marcelo Bonevardi, and Francisco Salazar. 

2021 - 2030

A few years later and amidst the pandemic in 2021, Leon Tovar Gallery decided to downsize and close both gallery spaces (on 71st St. and 75th St.) and move all operations to one space. This space is currently located on East 64thSt. 

After a few months of its opening, the new gallery space has exhibited individual and collective shows on Latin American artists like Agustín Fernández, Sergio de Camargo, Lygia Clark, Hermelindo Fiaminghi, Almir Mavignier, Hélio Oiticica, Lygia Pape, and Alfredo Volpi. 

Leon Tovar continues to work with Latin American artists, constantly curating shows and participating in important art fairs across America and Europe. He advises and works with collectors, museums, curators, and publishers.