The gallery was founded in 1997 by John Cheim and Howard Read in New York City's Chelsea neighborhood and actively represents an international group of leading contemporary artists and estates, embracing diverse artistic practices, from painting and sculpture to photography and video. The gallery is characterized by its commitment to a rigorous curatorial model. It is known for critical monographic exhibitions, including comprehensive, museum-quality surveys of work by William Eggleston (21st Century), Lynda Benglis (New Work), Louise Bourgeois (Spiral), Joan Mitchell (Trees), Milton Resnick (The Elephant in the Room) and Al Held (Paris to New York 1952-1959). The gallery is also acclaimed for organizing historically-significant group exhibitions, including The New Landscape/The New Still Life, an in-depth examination of Chaim Soutine's influence on Modern art; The Female Gaze: Women Look at Women, a show of women artists' depictions of the female form; and I Am As You Will Be, a study of the skeleton and mortality in artistic representation.