Acquavella Galleries, a prestigious New York-based gallery renowned for its blue-chip secondary market operations, has announced exclusive U.S. representation of Swiss sculptor Harumi Klossowska de Rola. The artist, whose practice uniquely bridges the worlds of fine art and design, brings a distinctive aesthetic that has already attracted both emerging collectors and established art market players.
Klossowska de Rola comes from an exceptional artistic lineage as the daughter of Balthus, one of the 20th century's most enigmatic painters, and Japanese ceramicist Setsuko Klossowska de Rola. Her sculptural works feature meticulously crafted animals including bronze owls, alabaster doves, life-size polar bears, and stags, all cast in small editions and then extensively reworked by hand. Each piece receives obsessive attention to detail, particularly in the patina work, which is as carefully considered as the sculptural forms themselves.
"She works diligently on each piece after casting, so that when you see them in person they feel immediately timeless," explained Alexander Acquavella of the gallery's decision to represent the artist. The pricing structure reflects the range of her work, with smaller pieces starting under $100,000 and monumental bronzes commanding prices exceeding half a million dollars. This pricing tier has already demonstrated strong appeal across different collector segments.
The partnership between artist and gallery emerged through an existing relationship within the art world. Acquavella first became familiar with Klossowska de Rola's work at the Palm Beach residence of Peter Brant, a longtime supporter and prominent collector. According to Acquavella, the artist's practice exists within an art-and-design continuum that also includes notable figures like Claude and François-Xavier Lalanne, whose crossover appeal has proven successful among collectors from various industries.
"We've obviously had sculpture shows before," Acquavella noted regarding his gallery's programming history, "but not an artist that falls between sculpture and design. We were really attracted to the elegance she accomplishes—it's not an easy thing to pull off." This move represents a notable expansion for a gallery better known for handling works by masters like Giacometti and Cézanne.
The artist describes her creative approach as "a dialogue with myth and nature," deeply rooted in her upbringing in the Swiss Alps. Her artistic influences span from Ancient Egypt to Japanese Shintoism, all filtered through the wabi-sabi aesthetic philosophy. She collaborates with skilled artisans at the Fonderie de Coubertin outside Paris, employing sophisticated techniques that layer metals with age treatments and gold leaf to achieve surfaces that appear both ancient and vibrantly alive.
Klossowska de Rola's inaugural exhibition with Acquavella opened earlier this year in Palm Beach and was accompanied by the publication of a Rizzoli book documenting her work. The collaboration continues to expand with new pieces scheduled to appear at the gallery's booth during Art Basel Paris this fall, followed by a major solo exhibition planned across both floors of Acquavella's New York space in 2026.
For a gallery institution built on historical blue-chip works, this partnership represents more than simply responding to market appetite for crossover objects. It suggests that even the most established art world institutions are actively seeking artists whose work complicates traditional collecting categories. "Her sculptures have a quality that defies easy categorization," Acquavella concluded. "That's what makes them special."
