February 13, 2026
In an art world increasingly driven by spectacle and speed, with masterpieces often passing briefly through white-walled galleries on consignment, Martin Lawrence Gallery, at 433 Royal Street, operates by a markedly different philosophy rooted in ownership, scholarship, and long-term stewardship. For more than half a century, the gallery has quietly built one of the most significant private inventories of modern and contemporary masterworks in the world, anchored by unparalleled holdings of Andy Warhol, Marc Chagall, Erté and Pablo Picasso.
Unlike many galleries that act as intermediaries for third-party sellers, Martin Lawrence owns every artwork it exhibits. This distinction is not merely operational; it defines the gallery’s identity. Ownership requires deep financial commitment, rigorous expertise, and an unwavering belief in the cultural importance of the artists represented. It also allows for something increasingly rare: control over provenance, scholarship, and the long-term care of works that have shaped modern art history.
That commitment is personal as well as professional. The gallery’s leadership is deeply embedded in the art itself, both figuratively and literally. A serious collector in his own right, Sergio Diaz, the director of the gallery, lives among museum-caliber works by the same artists shown there. The result is an ethos that feels less transactional and more curatorial, guided by decades-long relationships with artists’ estates and foundations that few galleries can claim.
Warhol: The Power of Repetition and Permanence
Andy Warhol’s work lies at the core of the Martin Lawrence collection, which includes what is widely believed to be the largest private holding of Warhol works anywhere. Far beyond the familiar silk-screened icons, the gallery’s Warhol inventory spans rare editions, experimental works, and historically significant pieces that chart the evolution of pop art itself.
Warhol’s presence in the collection is not static. It is actively studied, loaned, published, and contextualized, with Martin Lawrence artworks appearing consistently in major exhibition catalogs worldwide. The gallery’s Warhol holdings are not simply owned; they are placed into conversation with art history.
Andy Warhol’s portrait of Mick Jagger was created in 1975, 50 years ago. At the time, Warhol had just completed a portfolio of portraits of Puerto Rican drag queens, and elements of that series carried directly into the Jagger works. Most notably, the thick, expressive applications of paint over the eyes and mouth give the portrait a sense of theatricality, almost as if Jagger were wearing makeup.
In a spontaneous twist, Mick Jagger decided at the last moment to pose nude for the session, adding to the sense of play and freedom that defines the work. By all accounts, the sitting was a lively one, and that energy comes through in the final image. As an added distinction, the piece is not only signed by Andy Warhol but also bears Jagger’s signature, an exceptional bonus that helps bridge two of the most iconic figures of 20th-century art and music.
Erté: The Visionary Architect of Art Deco Elegance
Erté was one of the most influential artists and designers of the 20th century, defining the visual language of art deco with elegance, theatricality, and bold modernity. Renowned for his fashion illustrations, stage and costume designs, and later his innovations in serigraphy and sculpture, Erté brought a sense of fantasy and precision to everything he touched. His work celebrates strong, stylized female figures and luxurious materials and often anticipated trends decades before they became mainstream. With a career that spanned more than 70 years, Erté has an enduring legacy that lies in his ability to merge fine art, fashion, and design into a singular, instantly recognizable aesthetic.
Martin Lawrence Gallery has been the official representative of Erté for more than 50 years. In practical terms, nearly every Erté work offered by dealers worldwide traces back to this gallery. The gallery represents the artist’s estate and, notably, had Erté under contract during the period when he was producing serigraphy and sculpture. Remarkably, he did not begin creating sculptures until he was in his eighties, an extraordinary testament to his lifelong creativity and evolution.
The gold composition pictured dates to 1917 and was designed for a runway presentation titled “The American Millionairesses.” Sergio pointed out that “if you look closely, you’ll notice a subtle suggestion of the American flag in the background. These gowns were conceived for affluent women vacationing in destinations like California and Florida, with each design tailored to its setting. This particular piece represents a Florida gown. On the verso, handwritten notes specify that only ‘Georgie’ was permitted to wear it, an intriguing detail that suggests a woman of considerable presence and beauty. Executed in gouache, an opaque form of watercolor, the work showcases Erté’s extraordinary precision and control, qualities that define his early fashion illustrations.
Erté revisited this design in 1990 as a serigraph, a medium he transformed through innovations such as embossing and the use of hot-stamped metal foils to create texture. He elevated serigraphy to an entirely new level, blurring the line between printmaking and fine art. The gallery is currently presenting both the original gouache on paper and the later serigraph, offering a rare opportunity to see the evolution of a single design across decades.
The other painting was retitled Her Secret Admirers (1930). It further illustrates how far ahead of his time Erté truly was. Here, the woman is unmistakably the central, dominant figure, while the men surrounding her appear almost reverential, each competing for her attention. One particularly striking detail is her footwear. Sergio noted her platform shoes, a style that would not become fashionable for many years, underscoring Erté’s visionary approach to fashion and design.
Picasso: A Lifelong Conversation with Innovation
Picasso’s work is more than a professional focus for Sergio; it is a lifelong passion. An avid collector for decades, Sergio and his wife have made a tradition of adding at least one Picasso to their personal collection every year, a practice he half jokingly describes as both love and good sense. That devotion is evident in the way he speaks about the artist’s output, particularly the works created from 1927 to 1935, a period Sergio considers Picasso’s finest. Central to those years was Marie-Thérèse Walter, Picasso’s muse and mistress, nearly 30 years his junior, whose blond hair, Roman nose, and sculptural curves inspired some of the most tender and innovative portraits of the 20th century.
One remarkable example from this era is Seated Nude (1931), an intaglio that captures Walter with striking intimacy. The work combines etching and drypoint, a pairing that reveals Picasso’s mastery of printmaking techniques. The drypoint passages create delicate shading through precise cross-hatching, lending the figure both softness and depth. Despite its age, the piece is astonishingly well preserved, a rarity for works of this period, appearing almost as if it were pulled from the press yesterday. It is a vivid reminder of Picasso’s ability to push traditional techniques to their absolute limits, surpassing those who came before him and setting a standard few have matched since.
Over the years, the gallery has presented an extraordinary range of Picasso’s works, including paintings, drawings, linoleum cuts, and intaglios, supported by a longstanding and deeply respected relationship with the Picasso estate and foundation. Among these, intaglios hold a particular fascination for Sergio, who regards Picasso as unequaled in these mediums. The gallery’s collection now includes more than 100 works by the artist widely regarded as the greatest of the 20th century.
Equally compelling is the provenance behind many of these pieces. Jacqueline Roque, Picasso’s second wife and final muse, inspired more than four hundred works during their 11-year marriage before his death in 1973. She inherited over two thousand of his works, more than anyone else, later passing them on to her daughter, Catherine Hutin-Blay. Until recently, these works remained within the Picasso family. In 2021, Hutin-Blay dedicated more than a thousand of them to the newly established Musée Jacqueline et Picasso in the South of France, soon to become the largest Picasso museum in the world. Martin Lawrence Gallery has acquired more than one hundred works directly from Hutin-Blay, these pieces never before owned outside the family. It is a level of provenance rarely seen and unlikely to be repeated, offering collectors a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to acquire a tangible piece of art history.
Perhaps no artist better exemplifies the gallery’s long-term vision than Pablo Picasso. Over the past several years, Martin Lawrence has played a key role in advancing Picasso scholarship through major museum loans. In 2023 and 2024, the gallery lent several paintings to Picasso Out of Bounds, a landmark exhibition of Picasso landscapes that traveled to the Mint Museum in Charlotte, the Cincinnati Museum of Art, and the Mississippi Museum of Art in Jackson, coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the artist’s death.
Earlier, Picasso’s Coucher de Soleil was loaned to the Museu Picasso in Barcelona for Indoor and Outdoor Landscapes, placing a Martin Lawrence–owned work into dialogue with one of the world’s most important Picasso collections. These loans reflect not only the quality of the gallery’s holdings but the confidence museums place in its stewardship and expertise.
A Museum Without Walls
Over the last 16 years alone, Martin Lawrence Gallery has loaned nearly three hundred artworks by 16 artists to 60 museums worldwide. These include institutions such as the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., the Whitney Museum of American Art, SFMOMA, the Museum of Contemporary Art Los Angeles, the Centre Pompidou, the Rijksmuseum, and the Hermitage Museum.
The list of loans reads like a survey of modern art history: six René Magritte paintings for a Brussels retrospective; a monumental Alexander Calder sculpture installed in Gramercy Park in New York and later loaned to the Rijksmuseum; Sam Francis works exhibited in Pasadena and Sacramento, California; Erté paintings shown at the Hermitage; and Magritte’s Les Grandes Rendez-vous loaned to the Centre Pompidou. In every case, Martin Lawrence–owned works appear in the official exhibition catalogs, a quiet but powerful marker of credibility.
The Value of Reputation
Art dealers stand on their reputation earned through ownership, transparency, and decades of collaboration with the world’s most respected institutions. With an unprecedented collection that includes Warhol, Picasso, Chagall, Francis, and Haring and as publisher and representative for Erté, Deyber, and Bertho, Martin Lawrence Gallery positions itself not merely as a gallery but as a long-term partner of collectors. Relationships are built over time, collections are shaped with intention, and artworks are placed with an eye toward legacy.
“You could not be in better hands,” Sergio Diaz says simply … and the record supports it. In an era of fleeting trends, Martin Lawrence Gallery remains a rare constant: a living collection, a trusted steward, and a bridge between private passion and public history.
Unlike many galleries that act as intermediaries for third-party sellers, Martin Lawrence owns every artwork it exhibits. This distinction is not merely operational; it defines the gallery’s identity. Ownership requires deep financial commitment, rigorous expertise, and an unwavering belief in the cultural importance of the artists represented. It also allows for something increasingly rare: control over provenance, scholarship, and the long-term care of works that have shaped modern art history.
That commitment is personal as well as professional. The gallery’s leadership is deeply embedded in the art itself, both figuratively and literally. A serious collector in his own right, Sergio Diaz, the director of the gallery, lives among museum-caliber works by the same artists shown there. The result is an ethos that feels less transactional and more curatorial, guided by decades-long relationships with artists’ estates and foundations that few galleries can claim.
Warhol: The Power of Repetition and Permanence
Andy Warhol’s work lies at the core of the Martin Lawrence collection, which includes what is widely believed to be the largest private holding of Warhol works anywhere. Far beyond the familiar silk-screened icons, the gallery’s Warhol inventory spans rare editions, experimental works, and historically significant pieces that chart the evolution of pop art itself.
Warhol’s presence in the collection is not static. It is actively studied, loaned, published, and contextualized, with Martin Lawrence artworks appearing consistently in major exhibition catalogs worldwide. The gallery’s Warhol holdings are not simply owned; they are placed into conversation with art history.
Andy Warhol’s portrait of Mick Jagger was created in 1975, 50 years ago. At the time, Warhol had just completed a portfolio of portraits of Puerto Rican drag queens, and elements of that series carried directly into the Jagger works. Most notably, the thick, expressive applications of paint over the eyes and mouth give the portrait a sense of theatricality, almost as if Jagger were wearing makeup.
In a spontaneous twist, Mick Jagger decided at the last moment to pose nude for the session, adding to the sense of play and freedom that defines the work. By all accounts, the sitting was a lively one, and that energy comes through in the final image. As an added distinction, the piece is not only signed by Andy Warhol but also bears Jagger’s signature, an exceptional bonus that helps bridge two of the most iconic figures of 20th-century art and music.
Erté: The Visionary Architect of Art Deco Elegance
Erté was one of the most influential artists and designers of the 20th century, defining the visual language of art deco with elegance, theatricality, and bold modernity. Renowned for his fashion illustrations, stage and costume designs, and later his innovations in serigraphy and sculpture, Erté brought a sense of fantasy and precision to everything he touched. His work celebrates strong, stylized female figures and luxurious materials and often anticipated trends decades before they became mainstream. With a career that spanned more than 70 years, Erté has an enduring legacy that lies in his ability to merge fine art, fashion, and design into a singular, instantly recognizable aesthetic.
Martin Lawrence Gallery has been the official representative of Erté for more than 50 years. In practical terms, nearly every Erté work offered by dealers worldwide traces back to this gallery. The gallery represents the artist’s estate and, notably, had Erté under contract during the period when he was producing serigraphy and sculpture. Remarkably, he did not begin creating sculptures until he was in his eighties, an extraordinary testament to his lifelong creativity and evolution.
The gold composition pictured dates to 1917 and was designed for a runway presentation titled “The American Millionairesses.” Sergio pointed out that “if you look closely, you’ll notice a subtle suggestion of the American flag in the background. These gowns were conceived for affluent women vacationing in destinations like California and Florida, with each design tailored to its setting. This particular piece represents a Florida gown. On the verso, handwritten notes specify that only ‘Georgie’ was permitted to wear it, an intriguing detail that suggests a woman of considerable presence and beauty. Executed in gouache, an opaque form of watercolor, the work showcases Erté’s extraordinary precision and control, qualities that define his early fashion illustrations.
Erté revisited this design in 1990 as a serigraph, a medium he transformed through innovations such as embossing and the use of hot-stamped metal foils to create texture. He elevated serigraphy to an entirely new level, blurring the line between printmaking and fine art. The gallery is currently presenting both the original gouache on paper and the later serigraph, offering a rare opportunity to see the evolution of a single design across decades.
The other painting was retitled Her Secret Admirers (1930). It further illustrates how far ahead of his time Erté truly was. Here, the woman is unmistakably the central, dominant figure, while the men surrounding her appear almost reverential, each competing for her attention. One particularly striking detail is her footwear. Sergio noted her platform shoes, a style that would not become fashionable for many years, underscoring Erté’s visionary approach to fashion and design.
Picasso: A Lifelong Conversation with Innovation
Picasso’s work is more than a professional focus for Sergio; it is a lifelong passion. An avid collector for decades, Sergio and his wife have made a tradition of adding at least one Picasso to their personal collection every year, a practice he half jokingly describes as both love and good sense. That devotion is evident in the way he speaks about the artist’s output, particularly the works created from 1927 to 1935, a period Sergio considers Picasso’s finest. Central to those years was Marie-Thérèse Walter, Picasso’s muse and mistress, nearly 30 years his junior, whose blond hair, Roman nose, and sculptural curves inspired some of the most tender and innovative portraits of the 20th century.
One remarkable example from this era is Seated Nude (1931), an intaglio that captures Walter with striking intimacy. The work combines etching and drypoint, a pairing that reveals Picasso’s mastery of printmaking techniques. The drypoint passages create delicate shading through precise cross-hatching, lending the figure both softness and depth. Despite its age, the piece is astonishingly well preserved, a rarity for works of this period, appearing almost as if it were pulled from the press yesterday. It is a vivid reminder of Picasso’s ability to push traditional techniques to their absolute limits, surpassing those who came before him and setting a standard few have matched since.
Over the years, the gallery has presented an extraordinary range of Picasso’s works, including paintings, drawings, linoleum cuts, and intaglios, supported by a longstanding and deeply respected relationship with the Picasso estate and foundation. Among these, intaglios hold a particular fascination for Sergio, who regards Picasso as unequaled in these mediums. The gallery’s collection now includes more than 100 works by the artist widely regarded as the greatest of the 20th century.
Equally compelling is the provenance behind many of these pieces. Jacqueline Roque, Picasso’s second wife and final muse, inspired more than four hundred works during their 11-year marriage before his death in 1973. She inherited over two thousand of his works, more than anyone else, later passing them on to her daughter, Catherine Hutin-Blay. Until recently, these works remained within the Picasso family. In 2021, Hutin-Blay dedicated more than a thousand of them to the newly established Musée Jacqueline et Picasso in the South of France, soon to become the largest Picasso museum in the world. Martin Lawrence Gallery has acquired more than one hundred works directly from Hutin-Blay, these pieces never before owned outside the family. It is a level of provenance rarely seen and unlikely to be repeated, offering collectors a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to acquire a tangible piece of art history.
Perhaps no artist better exemplifies the gallery’s long-term vision than Pablo Picasso. Over the past several years, Martin Lawrence has played a key role in advancing Picasso scholarship through major museum loans. In 2023 and 2024, the gallery lent several paintings to Picasso Out of Bounds, a landmark exhibition of Picasso landscapes that traveled to the Mint Museum in Charlotte, the Cincinnati Museum of Art, and the Mississippi Museum of Art in Jackson, coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the artist’s death.
Earlier, Picasso’s Coucher de Soleil was loaned to the Museu Picasso in Barcelona for Indoor and Outdoor Landscapes, placing a Martin Lawrence–owned work into dialogue with one of the world’s most important Picasso collections. These loans reflect not only the quality of the gallery’s holdings but the confidence museums place in its stewardship and expertise.
A Museum Without Walls
Over the last 16 years alone, Martin Lawrence Gallery has loaned nearly three hundred artworks by 16 artists to 60 museums worldwide. These include institutions such as the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., the Whitney Museum of American Art, SFMOMA, the Museum of Contemporary Art Los Angeles, the Centre Pompidou, the Rijksmuseum, and the Hermitage Museum.
The list of loans reads like a survey of modern art history: six René Magritte paintings for a Brussels retrospective; a monumental Alexander Calder sculpture installed in Gramercy Park in New York and later loaned to the Rijksmuseum; Sam Francis works exhibited in Pasadena and Sacramento, California; Erté paintings shown at the Hermitage; and Magritte’s Les Grandes Rendez-vous loaned to the Centre Pompidou. In every case, Martin Lawrence–owned works appear in the official exhibition catalogs, a quiet but powerful marker of credibility.
The Value of Reputation
Art dealers stand on their reputation earned through ownership, transparency, and decades of collaboration with the world’s most respected institutions. With an unprecedented collection that includes Warhol, Picasso, Chagall, Francis, and Haring and as publisher and representative for Erté, Deyber, and Bertho, Martin Lawrence Gallery positions itself not merely as a gallery but as a long-term partner of collectors. Relationships are built over time, collections are shaped with intention, and artworks are placed with an eye toward legacy.
“You could not be in better hands,” Sergio Diaz says simply … and the record supports it. In an era of fleeting trends, Martin Lawrence Gallery remains a rare constant: a living collection, a trusted steward, and a bridge between private passion and public history.
