By Leslie Albrecht
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
UPPER WEST SIDE — After 23 years in business, Summa Gallery on Amsterdam Avenue and West 85th Street is closing its doors.
The gallery's landlord wants the space back, so the contemporary art dealer and custom framer is moving out, said co-owner Donald Pandina.
"We've had the most fantastic 23 years here on the Upper West Side," Pandina said as he packed up boxes in the gallery Wednesday. "Some of our clients have become friends."
The gallery's showings over the years included works by Picasso, Salvador Dali and New York printmaker Frederick Mershimer.
Co-owners Pandina and Sal Cigna opened the gallery in Brooklyn Heights in 1968. They moved to the Upper West Side in 1987.
Summa Gallery showed its final painting on Wednesday, a colorful work by a 5-year-old neighborhood resident who wanted "to represent his sorrow" at the gallery's closing, Pandina said.
"It was the most touching thing," Pandina said. "He just loved the store."
The child's painting hung in the gallery's window below a
farewell message from Cigna and Pandina. Above that, a picture of a broken heart was posted.
"We
will miss our gallery and the beautiful images that our talented and
outstanding artists displayed," read the note. "We must thank everyone for a wonderful 42 years and we hope that we and you will live happily ever after."
