Art Galleries

Manhattan has more than 500 private art galleries, selling everything from old masters to tomorrow's news. Galleries are free to the public, generally Tuesday through Saturday from 10am to 6pm. Saturday afternoon gallery hopping, in particular, is a favorite pastime -- nobody will expect you to buy, so don't worry.

The best way to winnow down your choices is by perusing the "Art Guide" in the Friday weekend section of the New York Times, or in the back of the Sunday "Arts & Leisure" section; the listings section at the back of the weekly New York magazine, which I find to be particularly descriptive and user-friendly; the Art section in the weekly Time Out New York; or the New Yorker's weekly "Goings on About Town" section. You can also find the latest exhibition listings online at www.nymetro.com, whose "Arts" page gives you full access to New York magazine's listings, www.artnet.com, and www.galleryguide.org. An excellent source -- more for practicals on the galleries and the artists and genres they represent rather than current shows -- is www.artincontext.org. The Gallery Guide is available at most galleries around town.

I suggest picking a gallery or a show in a neighborhood that seems to suit your taste, and just start browsing from there. Be aware that my list below doesn't even begin to scratch the surface. There are many, many more galleries in each neighborhood, as well as smaller concentrations of galleries in areas like the East Village, TriBeCa, and Brooklyn (check the Art in Context site).

Keep in mind that uptown galleries tend to be more traditional and exclusive-feeling, downtown galleries more high-ticket contemporary, and far-west Chelsea galleries the most cutting-edge. Museum-quality works dominate uptown, while raw talent and emerging artists are most common in west Chelsea. But there are constant surprises in all neighborhoods.

Uptown -- Uptown galleries are clustered in and around the glamorous crossroads of Fifth Avenue and 57th Street as well as on and off stylish Madison Avenue in the 60s, 70s, and 80s. Unlike their upstart Chelsea and SoHo counterparts, these blue-chip galleries maintain a quiet white-glove demeanor. They include art-world powerhouses Gagosian Gallery, 980 Madison Ave. (tel. 212/744-2313; www.gagosian.com), and PaceWildenstein, 32 E. 57th St. (tel. 212/421-3292; www.pacewildenstein.com), whose focus is on classic modernism, representing such artists as Jim Dine, Barbara Hepworth, and Claes Oldenburg; the Richard Gray Gallery, 1018 Madison Ave., fourth floor (tel. 212/472-8787; www.richardgraygallery.com), featuring American and European contemporary works, with artists ranging from Joan Miró to David Hockney; the Margo Feiden Galleries, 699 Madison Ave. (tel. 212/677-5330; www.alhirschfeld.com), the sole authorized representative of the works of the late master ink caricaturist Al Hirschfeld; the Mary Boone Gallery, 745 Fifth Ave. (tel. 212/752-2929; www.maryboonegallery.com), known for success with such artists as Ross Bleckner and Nancy Ellison; and Wildenstein & Co, Inc., the classical big brother of PaceWildenstein, 19 E. 64th St. (tel. 212/879-0500; www.wildenstein.com), both specializing in big-ticket works: old masters, Impressionism, and Renaissance paintings and drawings.

Chelsea -- The area in the west 20s, between Tenth and Eleventh avenues, is home to the avant-garde of today's New York art scene, with west 26th serving as the unofficial "gallery row." Most galleries are not in storefronts but in the large spaces of multistory former garages and warehouses. Galleries worth seeking out include Paula Cooper, 534 W. 21st St. (tel. 212/255-1105), a heavyweight in the modern-art world, specializing in conceptual and minimal art; one of Chelsea's biggest galleries, the Matthew Marks Gallery, 523 W. 24th St. (tel. 212/243-0200); the George Billis Gallery, 511 W. 25th St. (tel. 212/645-2621; www.georgebillis.com), which shows works by talented emerging artists; Barbara Gladstone Gallery, 515 W. 24th St. (tel. 212/206-9300; www.gladstonegallery.com); uptown powerhouse Gagosian Gallery, 555 W. 24th St. (tel. 212/741-1111; www.gagosian.com), which shows such major modern artists as Richard Serra and Julian Schnabel; Kinz Tillou Feigen, 529 W. 20th St., 11th Floor (tel. 212/929-0500; www.ktfgallery.com), the modern counterpart to the uptown Old Masters gallery; Cheim & Read, 547 W. 25th St. (tel. 212/242-7727; www.cheimread.com), which often shows works by such high-profile pop artists as Diane Arbus and Robert Mapplethorpe; Alexander and Bonin, 132 Tenth Ave. (tel. 212/367-7474; www.alexanderandbonin.com), which mounts excellent solo exhibitions; James Cohan Gallery, 533 W. 26th St. (tel. 212/714-9500; www.jamescohan.com), particularly strong in modern photography; and Lehmann Maupin, 540 W. 26th St. (tel. 212/255-2923; www.lehmannmaupin.com), whose roster runs the gamut from young unknowns to such contemporary masters as Ross Bleckner. For a comprehensive listing of the Chelsea galleries, check the website www.westchelseaarts.com.

Downtown -- SoHo remains colorful, if less edgy than it used to be, with the action centered around West Broadway and encroaching onto the edge of Chinatown. Peter Blum Gallery, 99 Wooster St. (tel. 212/343-0441), which showcased the divine Kim Sooja, a Korean artist who uses traditional Korean bedcovers to comment on the promise of wedded bliss; O. K. Harris, 383 W. Broadway (tel. 212/431-3600; www.okharris.com), which shows a fascinating variety of contemporary painting, sculpture, and photography; and Louis K. Meisel, 141 Prince St. (tel. 212/677-1340; www.meiselgallery.com), specializing in photo-realism and American pinup art (yep, Petty and Vargas girls). In TriBeCa, try Cheryl Hazan Arts Gallery, 35 N. Moore St. (tel. 212/343-8964; www.cherylhazan.com), or DFN Gallery, 210 11th Ave. 6th Floor (tel. 212/334-3400; www.dfngallery.com), which focus on fresh, distinctive contemporary art.