About Us – Michael Klein Arts

Michael Klein Arts is the website of the independent curator and consultant, Michael Klein, who in more than 35 years of working in the art industry, has earned a reputation for knowledge, experience and vision among artists and collectors alike.

You may ask: Why choose his services?

Trained as an art historian and curator, Michael Klein is extremely knowledgeable and versatile in intellectual and academic pursuits in the fields of modern and contemporary art that have afforded him extensive credentials in the world of museums. He is equally comfortable in the commercial world and is an enterprising promoter and innovator. Michael’s gallery, which was located in New York’s SOHO area from 1982-1997 during the time frame when the area was the equivalent of today’s Chelsea, was highly regarded.

As the former Curator for the Microsoft Art Collection in Redmond WA, Michael not only collected works by established artists but also emerging artists. The collection promoted artists whose works translated into a wide spectrum of styles and approaches, in a diverse range of materials and mediums including prints, works on paper, photographs, painting, sculpture, ceramics and glass.

Due to the current economic climate, a constant flux of talent and the use of a broad range of materials, today’s art market requires collectors to employ an advisor who are experienced, has developed strong insights, good instincts, and has the ability to communicate with clients in the context of a realistic Michael Klein built the collection to over 5,000 works of art housed in company locations across North America and around the world. This premier international collection of contemporary art included purchased or commissioned collecting vision. Developing a thoughtful plan backed by thorough research are key, as is establishing a working relationship based on professional service and trust as you build your collection. Michael Klein brings all that to-the-table, and more!

Curator, author, artists’ advocate and confidant to collectors, Michael Klein has been at the center of contemporary art activity since 1977.

A consultant who savors the still untamed spirit of Modern and Contemporary Art, yet informed with a thoughtful understanding of their cultural history and influence on the art market, Michael’s connoisseurship is respected among private collectors and curators of leading museums. In today’s mercurial art world of galleries that open and close by the dozens and art fairs boisterous with “buzz,” Michael’s guidance is equally a source of adventure and reassurance for clients building collections of emerging, mid career and established artists.

As the owner of the Michael Klein Gallery in New York from 1983 to 1997, and later as an independent curator, Michael organized successful exhibitions of twentieth century and contemporary painting, sculpture and photography, notably for New York’s Independent Curators International, the Contemporary Arts Center in Cincinnati, the University of South Florida’s Contemporary Art Museum in Tampa, and the Arthur Roger Gallery in New Orleans. In 1999, Microsoft appointed Michael as the first curator of its newly instituted art collection, a position he held for six years. As a result of Michael’s formative policies for commissions, acquisitions, collection management and an innovative art education program for the company’s fifty-thousand employees, the Microsoft Art Collection became one of the premier corporate collections in the world. Today, as the principal of Michael Klein Arts, Michael continues to consult on strategic planning and program development for major institutional clients including the Allan Stone Estate and the Grace Hartigan Bequest at Maryland Art Place.

An accomplished writer, lecturer and art educator, Michael’s published work includes catalog essays for such significant artists as Louise Nevelson, Alex Katz and Jonathan Borofsky. His articles have appeared in prominent print and online art publications, among them ArtNEWS, Sculpture Magazine, Artnet and The Art Section, covering major twentieth century artists Grace Hartigan, Malcolm Morley, Sol Lewitt, Mel Bochner and Alice Neel. Michael also brings his intimate knowledge and passion for the arts to general audiences and students through his public lectures and as an adjunct faculty member of New York University.

Fostering the careers of artists is an equally important element in Michael’s practice and a source of personal pride. As an artists’ agent, he represents a select group of artists whose work is now exhibited worldwide and held in important private and institutional collections.

Knowledge, experience, connoisseurship, and the pleasure of embarking on a shared aesthetic adventure, these are at the heart of Michael Klein Arts.