Show honors memory of beloved gallery owner Jacques Kaplan

KENT— Jacques Kaplan was more than just the owner of a successful gallery here in the center of town — a gallery that was in the rather memorable and unusual setting of a train caboose.

He was also a well-known international figure, a furrier who created “fun furs†— outrageous new cuts and designs made from high-end pelts and sold at the store on 57th Street and Fifth Avenue in Manhattan that he inherited from his father, Georges.

It was furs that got him into the art business. Even as he began using minks and ermines as his canvas, he also began to trade furs for art.

In 1960s New York, Kaplan was known as a teetotaling bonvivant, according to a New York Times obituary from this summer, one who was famous for starting swinging parties and then sneaking off to a nearby hotel to get a good night’s sleep.

That’s generosity, of a sort. Which is what he is perhaps best remembered for in Kent, where he was known as a patron of and mentor to many artists.

Kaplan sold the fur business in the late 1960s and eventually moved to Kent, where  in 1984 he opened one of the town’s first venues for displaying and selling works of art. It was called the Paris New York Kent Gallery and it remained open until 2006, when Kaplan’s health began to fail.

Now, four months after his death on July 16, more than 100 artists are paying tribute to him in a show at the Bachelier Cardonsky Gallery, which is above the House of Books at 10 North Main St.

Gallery co-owner Darby Cardonsky (her partner is Violaine Bachelier) said the exhibit showcases artists that Kaplan worked with over the years.

Cardonsky remembers Kaplan as a man with infectious energy and a joyous spirit.

“We wanted to honor him and his wonderful generosity and compassion toward artists,†she said. “And we wanted to celebrate his life.â€

The Bachelier Cardonsky Gallery is open Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information call 860-927-3129, or visit BachelierCardonsky.com.