Ben Uri Research Unit

Born: 1976 Milan

Year of Migration to the UK: 1978

Other name/s: London Helly, Hillel Nahmad

Biography

Art dealer, collector and gallerist, Hillel ‘Helly’ Nahmad was born to parents of Syrian Sephardic Jewish heritage, Ezra and Maria Nahmad, in Milan, Italy on 23 November 1976, from a high-profile dynasty of billionaire bankers and art dealers. Nahmad’s grandfather, also called Hillel Nahmad, was originally a banker in Aleppo, Syria, but relocated to Beirut, Lebanon, to escape anti-Jewish violence in 1949. His two youngest sons, David and Ezra, were born in Beirut and began collecting and selling art at an early age, moving between Paris and new homes in Milan and Monaco. Both Ezra and David are now recognised globally as leading dealers in Impressionist and post-war Western art and have reputedly collected over 4,500 works by Impressionist and 20th century artists, housed in a warehouse in Geneva. To escape the threat of the terrorist group, ‘The Red Brigade', who were responsible for kidnapping and murdering prominent people in Italy during the 1970s, Ezra moved his young family from Italy to London and Monaco in 1978, while his brother David relocated to New York.

Italian-born Helly Nahmad was educated at St Paul’s School in London and the Courtauld Institute of Art, University of London. In 1998, aged 21, he opened his eponymous Cork Street Gallery (located in the traditional centre of the London art world) and picked up the nickname ‘London Helly’ to distinguish himself from other art dealers in the family. Nahmad astutely steered the London gallery through the volatility of various financial crashes. Early exhibitions focused on single 20th century masters, such as Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Claude Monet and Ben Nicholson. He also exhibited iconic names, such as Wassily Kandinsky, René Magritte, Kasimir Malevich and Joan Miró. The 2009 Monet exhibition in the gallery displayed pieces from the Nahmad collection, alongside rarely seen pieces from lesser-known collections. Since 2010, Nahmad has helped to increase the visibility of the family collection as a whole. In 2011, he organised an exhibition at the Kunsthaus in Zurich, which showcased nearly 100 rarely seen works from the collection, a number of which were described as exceeding the quality of examples in museum collections.

As international art fairs became powerhouse events presenting galleries to huge audiences, Nahmad introduced a new vision of immersive set design, film and narrative to connect audiences to the gallery’s artworks. In 2013, he organised an exhibition Picasso in the Nahmad Collection at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco, curated by Marilyn McCully and Jean-Louis Andral, director of the Musée Picasso in Antibes. In 2014, at Frieze Masters London, their stand design was based around the idea of a fictional art collector living in Milan in 1968. The design and accompanying film won critical and visitor acclaim. Although fictional, the concept nevertheless mirrored the Nahmads own passions, exploring the concept of modern-day collecting through a lyrical and nostalgic lens, while noticeably veering away from any overly complex topics. In 2015, the Nahmad Gallery London stand recreated a 1940s mental hospital, based on Jean Dubuffet’s visits to European institutions at the time, and his subsequent works and collection. From 2016, the Cork Street Gallery has been renamed Nahmad Projects and is under the direction of Nahmad’s younger brother, Joseph Nahmad, and now focuses on experiential and contemporary art. Helly Nahmad Gallery is now a separate, idependent establishment based in St. James’s Square in central London, specialising in classic Modern and Post-War art. ‘London Helly’ (now married, with a family) continues to represent the Nahmad collection, dealing through extensive existing networks, as well as advising on the art market, collecting, and showing at international art fairs (including Frieze Masters London and Art Basel in Hong Kong). Helly Nahmad splits his time between London, England; Monaco; and global art fairs.

Related books

Adriana M. Baranello, ‘Money laundering and the art market: closing the regulatory gap,’ Seton Hall Legis. J. Vol. 45, 2021, p. 695
Simon De Pury, The Auctioneer: Adventures in the Art Trade (Crows Nest: Allen & Unwin, 2017)
Nicole Dornbusch Horowitz, ‘Price Fixing the Priceless: Discouraging Collusion in the Secondary Art Market’, Hastings LJ, Vol. 66, 2014, p. 331

Related organisations

The Courtauld Institute of Art (student )
Helly Nahmad Gallery (founder and director)

Selected exhibitions

Nahmad Gallery at Art Basel, Hong Kong (2024)
Asylum inspired by Jean Dubuffet (Nahmad Gallery), Frieze Masters, London (2015)
The Collector (Nahmad Gallery), Freize Masters, London (2014)
Nahmad Family Collection, Kunsthaus Museum, Zurich (2011)
Henri Matisse: Reve du Bonheur, Nahmad Gallery, London (2010)
Claude Monet, Nahmad Gallery, London (2009)
Max Ernst, Nahmad Gallery, London (2006)
Picasso La Californie, Nahmad Gallery, London (2006)
Ben Nicolson, Nahmad Gallery, London (2001)
Joan Miro Retrospective, Nahmad Gallery, London (1999)
The New Painting: New Visions of Modern Art, Nahmad Gallery, London (1998)

Ben Uri archive

Consult items in the Ben Uri archive related to [Helly Nahmad]

Ben Uri Research Unit

for the study and digital recording of the Jewish, Refugee and wide Immigrant contribution to British visual culture since 1900.

Helly Nahmad gallerist