Ann Nathan in her art gallery in Chicago’s River North neighborhood. She was one of the original gallery owners in the area. The closing of the Ann Nathan Gallery in River North in late 2016 felt like the end of an era. Located on Superior Street, it and an earlier Objects Gallery, both owned by Ann Nathan, had for decades been foundational parts of Chicago’s art scene and the cultural life of the city.
Moreover, Nathan sold things that people could actually afford, and she represented up-and-coming creatives who were not yet blue-chip artists.destroyed by a devastating 1989 fire. “If I were 10 years younger, I’d go west,” Nathan told Tribune critic Alan Artner at the time. “But I am in the autumn of my life and cannot envision pioneering another neighborhood. I won’t leave the others.” She and other gallery owners found temporary quarters in the first floor of the Merchandise Mart.
Visitors to River North may remember the welcoming atmosphere of the Nathan Gallery, which was an extension of Ann’s personality. Long-time associate director Victor Armendariz remembered that she “talked with the building’s maintenance people just as she would with the wealthiest collector.” But this in no way meant that Nathan lowered her standards or her critical faculties.
Nathan also rejected the elitist distinction between art and design, between purely aesthetic and solely functional objects. Her gallery featured beautiful pieces of crafted furniture on which visitors were invited to sit. Another of Nathan’s contributions to art was to blur the line between styles, between media, and to flout the rules about which objects could be seen together. It affected how she lived. Those who visited her home attest to its intriguing — to some, perplexing — eclecticism.
Objects Gallery owner Ann Nathan greets guests at an art opening on Sept. 10, 1983, in Chicago. Before opening his own gallery, Victor Armendariz worked for 20 years with Ann Nathan, a stalwart of the Chicago art scene, at the now-closed Ann Nathan Gallery. "Where Corn Don't Grow" by artist Mark Bowers, here in 2015 on loan from the collection at Ann Nathan Gallery in Chicago.