Helly Nahmad (New York art collector)

Helly Nahmad
Born	c. 1978
Nationality	American
Occupation(s)	Art dealer, collector
Known for	Founder of Helly Nahmad Gallery; notable art exhibitions; acquisition of Picasso's Young Girl with a Flower Basket
Family	David Nahmad (father), Joe Nahmad (brother)

Helly Nahmad (born around 1978) is a prominent American art dealer and collector. In 2000, he established the Helly Nahmad Gallery in Manhattan, New York, which annually curates numerous fine art exhibitions showcasing artists such as Pablo Picasso, Chaïm Soutine, Francis Bacon, and Giorgio de Chirico.

Nahmad received a 12-month prison sentence in 2014, of which he served four months, after admitting to running an unlawful gambling operation. In January 2021, President Donald Trump granted him a pardon. In 2018, he acquired Picasso's Young Girl with a Flower Basket for $115 million; this artwork is currently loaned to the Musée d'Orsay in Paris.

Early life and education

Hillel "Helly" Nahmad (born circa 1978) is the son of the well-known art dealer David Nahmad. His extended family, of Syrian Jewish descent, gained recognition as influential collectors and dealers of 19th- and 20th-century art, operating primarily from Italy and Monaco. Growing up in Manhattan, New York, Nahmad was introduced to the art scene at a young age, accompanying his father to galleries, auctions, and museums. By the age of five, he was attending auctions at Sotheby’s, and by twelve, he developed a keen interest in artists like Claude Monet. His younger brother Joe is also engaged in the art business.

During summers, Nahmad interned at the Jewish Museum and attended the private Dalton School on New York’s Upper East Side. Although some reports claim he was expelled during his senior year, Nahmad refutes this, explaining that he missed school due to travel commitments and chose not to repeat the year. He ultimately graduated from Beekman High School in Manhattan and completed part of an art program at Christie's in 1997.

Career

2000-2012

In 2000, Nahmad acquired the Davlyn Gallery and rebranded it as the Helly Nahmad Gallery. Since the 1990s, this gallery has been situated within the Carlyle Hotel on Madison Avenue in Manhattan. Beginning with the 2004 Sounds of Colours exhibition featuring Wassily Kandinsky, the gallery has annually hosted several fine art exhibitions. Over subsequent years, it held retrospectives and showcases dedicated to Fernand Léger, Amedeo Modigliani, Max Ernst, Pablo Picasso (including the 2008 exhibition Picasso's Bodegones), Gustave Moreau, Jean Dubuffet, Alexander Calder, and Sam Francis.

In 2011, the gallery organized Soutine/Bacon, marking the inaugural comparative exhibition pairing Chaïm Soutine with Francis Bacon. This show included loans from major institutions such as the Metropolitan Museum and Tate Modern. That same year also featured an exhibition focused on Alexander Calder.

2013-2014

By spring 2013, Nahmad’s gallery exhibited works by leading Modernist painters including Jean Dubuffet, Mark Rothko, Sam Francis, Wassily Kandinsky, and Francis Bacon. In April 2013, it debuted Impressionist & Modern Masters, showcasing pieces by Joan Miró, Alexander Calder, Jean Dubuffet, Fernand Léger, Mark Rothko, and Wayne Thiebaud. The gallery reported sales totaling $70 million for that year, with Nahmad actively participating in auctions such as those held by Christie's.

In November 2013, Nahmad pleaded guilty to managing an illegal sports betting operation. Under a plea agreement, he surrendered approximately $6.4 million alongside Raoul Dufy’s painting Carnaval à Nice to federal authorities. Additional charges including money laundering and racketeering were dismissed. Sentenced in April 2014 to one year and one day at Otisville Federal Correctional Institution, he was released after serving four months. Additionally, he paid a $30,000 fine and complied with drug testing protocols, community service requirements, and a gambling addiction treatment program. Prosecutors revealed that Nahmad transferred millions from his father’s Swiss bank account to support this unlawful gambling enterprise.

2015-2017

Following the May 2015 debut of The Wounded Canvas: Burri Fontana Manzoni Tàpies, Nahmad represented his gallery at June’s Art Basel fair in Basel. The exhibition featured works including three paintings by Pablo Picasso, among them Les Femmes d’Alger (Version C), 28 Décembre, 1954, priced at $16 million. Nahmad observed a market trend favoring deceased mid- and late-career artists and selected pieces by Alexander Calder, Claude Monet, Joan Miró, and Mark Rothko. A Rothko from 1955 priced at $50 million was reportedly the highest-priced artwork at that fair.

Between November 2015 and January 2016, Helly Nahmad Gallery in New York presented Mnemosyne: de Chirico and Antiquity, an exhibition juxtaposing Giorgio de Chirico’s surrealist works from the twentieth century with Greek and Roman antiquities. Partnering with Phoenix Ancient Art, Nahmad curated objects from private collections that complemented de Chirico’s Neo-classical aesthetic.

In 2011, Philippe Meastracci—heir to art dealer Oscar Stettiner—initiated legal action against Helly Nahmad Gallery concerning Modigliani's 1918 painting Seated Man with a Cane, valued at $25 million. The artwork had been sold through Christie's in 1996 for $3.2 million but was alleged to have been looted during World War II. After initially withdrawing the suit, the Stettiner estate filed an amended complaint in 2015 seeking ownership rights from Nahmad family members and their gallery. Arbitration extended into 2016; defendants maintained they had purchased the painting lawfully in good faith and contested claims of wrongful ownership.

In 2016, Nahmad’s gallery showcased Selected Works by 20th Century Masters. That December at Art Basel Miami Beach, he sold Jean-Michel Basquiat's Made in Japan I for $15 million—the highest sale recorded at that event according to Bloomberg.

Personal life

Nahmad resides in New York City and possesses real estate within Trump Tower located in Manhattan, including an entire floor acquired over ten years ago for upwards of $18 million.