The Merrin Gallery

 

The second stop on my art walk would be, for a slight notch forward on the historical timeline, the Merrin Gallery on 5th Avenue.

Samuel Merrin's gallery (formerly belonging to his father Edward H. Merrin) is a leading purveyor of Pre-Columbian and South American ancient works of art, as well as one of the best sources of art from Greece, Rome, the Ancient Near East and Egypt. Having anchored that location since the mid-sixties, they have built a huge collection of well-provenance pieces, which is difficult especially in pre-Columbian acquisitions. The meticulousness of their research has rewarded them with a clientele that includes most major museums as well as a vast number of private collectors.

At least one of the reasons it's so popular is that it's perfectly placed, about two blocks from the Museum of Modern Art, on 5th Avenue across from Tiffany's.

 

The Merrin Gallery: Art from Across the Ancient World

 

Another reason it's so popular is that the spectrum of the collection itself is broad, covering almost all the ancient world from the Near East and South American regions. The gallery, though huge, is just the tip of the iceberg with respect to their holdings, which have not only represented artistically significant works such as textiles from Africa and the Andes, but historically significant works such as the decorative works such as tunics from Africa, but historically significant works as well, such as the first Egyptian Mummy and sarcophagus in America, purchased by the gallery at Christie's in 2006.

The Merrin Gallery: A Modern Journey to the Past

The placement of the Merrin Gallery itself, in the middle of Manhattan, puts its ancient collection in interesting juxtaposition with the imagery of the modern world, forcing us to the realisation that the primitive and modern are in fact not so distant from each other.

It is this juxtaposition which is perhaps the most startling reminder in the Merrin Gallery of just where we are in the world, and how we got there. The Merrin Gallery is home to artifacts centuries-old, but remarkably well-preserved. I don't know what it is about seeing the actual textiles used ceremonially in ancient Andean culture, or witnessing with one's own eyes a tapestry woven by ancient hands. Such art objects are at the same time practical and breathtakingly beautiful, and they send one's mind on an journey of imagination centuries in the past. Then, when one is finished perusing patterns from the past, one can step outside into the fresh Manhattan air, take in a breath of modernity, and wrap their heads around the journey that humankind, for better or for worse, has taken.