Elliott Templeton Fine Arts

“The enjoyment of art is the only remaining ecstasy that’s neither immoral nor illegal.”

- Elliott Templeton

This gallery was founded by world-famous artist-photographer Jack Pierson, drawing inspiration from Somerset Maugham's 1944 novel, The Razor's Edge. The book’s hero, Elliott Templeton, is an American art dealer seduced by the promise of post-war Paris. This hopeful and utterly luxe hunger for beauty seeps into the space itself.

The champagne-colored walls and glamorous antique bronze fixtures that make up the interior are the work of Fernando Santangelo. You may know his sumptuous style from L.A.’s Chateau Marmont or the Nine Orchard hotel just a stone’s throw from the gallery. Hold please while we dream of a cold martini under a palm tree.

Start in the front room, an intimate space where you can drink in the work, which often celebrates the sexy lusciousness of paint, the nude male body, or clothed debonair gentlemen who feel plucked from a 1950s film.

When you’re done, the back room has more art on the walls, a built-in bookshelf, and a huge table frothing with flowers, ceramics, and other delicious objets d’art. Spoiler alert: the whole experience will inspire you to reimagine your living room.

Jack Pierson founded Elliott Templeton in the fall of 2023. He had always wanted to be a shopkeeper, like the Greenwich Village antique dealers he visited in the 1990s run by gay men with exquisite taste. You’ll find him at the gallery most weekends along with Evan Lincoln, an art writer and curator who serves as the gallery’s director. Ask them about the gorgeous art on view, and let them expertly lead you towards details you might not notice on your own.