Dealers
Ariadne Galleries
New York, United States · founded 1972
Dealer in ancient art led by Torkom Demirjian, dealing since 1972 in New York and London and, since 2015, as Ariadne Demirjian LLC in Greenwich, Connecticut, with Cypriot pieces among its stock.
About
Ariadne Galleries was founded in 1972 by Torkom Demirjian, according to the gallery's profile for the London fair of 2017, which gives it premises on New York's Upper East Side and in Mayfair and his sons James Demirjian and Gregory Demirjian as co-presidents1. The gallery's current site says Ariadne Demirjian LLC was established in 2015 in Greenwich, Connecticut, and is owned and operated by James and Gregory Demirjian4. Torkom Demirjian became chairman of the Hermitage Museum Foundation in 20155.
The gallery handles Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Eurasian and Byzantine antiquities. It names the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Harvard Art Museums, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the Getty and the Ashmolean among the institutions the family has worked with4. It issued a sales catalogue, Idols, in 19891. It has exhibited at Frieze Masters, Salon Art + Design, TEFAF Maastricht and TEFAF New York, with Frieze Masters appearances listed between 2014 and 20214,7.
A Cypriot anthropomorphic flask, catalogued as of the late 2nd millennium BC, carried an Ariadne Galleries label on its base. It was lot 2233 in the Leland Little Auctions sale of 15 June 2018 from a single-owner collection of Cypriot antiquities2.
The Cypriot collection
Cypriot material is a minor part of stock (Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Eurasian, Byzantine focus); a 2018 flask with the gallery's label and a lot citing its 2014 catalogue were traced; the current site's search shows no Cypriot items (2018)
History
- 1972Gallery founded; Torkom Demirjian describes himself as an art dealer since 1972, according to the gallery.
- 1981Business directory listings give Ariadne Galleries, Inc. (11 E 76th St, New York) a 1981 founding date, which differs from the 1972 career start given by the gallery.
- 1989Gallery sales catalogue 'Idols' (New York, 1989).
- 2001Gilt silver bowls (non-Cypriot) from Ariadne Galleries, New York and London, bought by Mary and Michael Jaharis in 2001 and later given to the Metropolitan Museum.
- 2014Gallery catalogue 2014; a Cypriot lot later cited it as 'Catalogue 2014, no. 11' (lot text not read).
- 2014–2021Exhibited at Frieze Masters in several years between 2014 and 2021, and at Masterpiece London 2016-2017, Salon Art + Design, TEFAF Maastricht and TEFAF New York, according to the gallery and Frieze.
- 2015Ariadne Demirjian LLC established at Greenwich, Connecticut, owned and operated by James and Gregory Demirjian, according to the gallery; Torkom Demirjian became chairman of the Hermitage Museum Foundation (USA).
About - Ariadne Galleries… 2026Torkom Demirjian, contributor profile 2015
- 2017Exhibited at Masterpiece London (virtual tour 2017).
People
3 peopleStaff and members · 3
Objects
Sources
- 1. (2017). “Ariadne Galleries, Masterpiece London 2017 virtual tour”. Masterpiece. Online
- 2. (2018). “Greek Anthropomorphic Flask From Cyprus, lot 2233, A Single-Owner Collection of Cypriot History & Culture, 15 June 2018”. Leland Little Auctions. Online
- 3. (2026). “Christie's lot 6411509 (provenance line cited by discovery; page not retrievable)”. Christie's. Online
- 4. (2026). “About - Ariadne Galleries (Ariadne Demirjian LLC)”. Ariadne Demirjian. Online
- 5. (2015). “Torkom Demirjian, contributor profile”. Gagosian Quarterly. Online
- 6. (2026). “Ariadne Galleries, Inc - New York, NY - Business Data”. Dun & Bradstreet. Online
- 7. (2026). “Up Close at Frieze Masters: Ariadne Galleries”. Frieze. Online
- 8. (2019). “Provenance of three gilt silver bowls (Met, from Ariadne Galleries New York and London, 2001), p. 14”. Journal of Art Crime / Art Antiquity and Law (doi 10.1017/s0940739119000171). Online