Peter Nagy: The connoisseur

Peter Nagy (1959-2026), who died on October 13 at 67 after a long illness, was an American who found his true audience in India. And Indian contemporary art ended up the richer for it. Born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, in 1959 and trained at Parsons, Nagy made his name in 1980s New York with a cool, wry picture-making: painting crossed with the photocopier, art-historical chronology laid over museum floor plans. The subject was art itself, and what the market did to it. At 22, with fellow artist Alan Belcher, Nagy opened Nature Morte in the East Village, a small venue that doubled as a statement. It closed after six years in 1988. By then, Nagy’s patience with Manhattan had run out. He left for Delhi in 1992 where he took to living frugally, sustained by his own canvases. But five years later he revived Nature Morte in Delhi, as a nomadic series of pop-ups before acquiring a permanent address.

What followed changed the course of contemporary Indian art. At a time when the gallery circuit was scared to experiment, Nagy backed conceptual work, sculpture and installation, and stood by the artists. Subodh Gupta, among those he championed, remarked that Nagy had “fresh eyes and... provided a platform for contemporary artists.” Others, Bharti Kher and the Kallats among them, found support too. Nagy brought international names to Delhi, took the gallery to Art Basel—a first for an Indian space—and later opened in Mumbai. Many will remember Nagy as a rival without malice, many others as their deliverer. Above all, Nature Morte grew roots and lives on Indian soil, having just marked its 30th anniversary in August with a new gallery in Gulmohar Park in Delhi.