"With an informed eye, William Siegal has mixed contemporary art with antique textiles and ancient sculptural artifacts in a way that enriches both. In placing the old and new side by side, Siegal took them out of historical context and underscored their graphic analogies."
--Lea Feinstein, ArtNews - June 2008

The William Siegal Gallery in Santa Fe is a high-concept space that exhibits a distinguished collection of ancient art and artifacts alongside contemporary works of art.  This stunning five thousand square foot gallery provides a rare opportunity to appreciate art that spans 5,000 years and many different cultures, while inspiring a new collecting sensibility: the Old is New and the New is Old. Side-by-side, they create exciting dialogs. 

For over 35 years, William Siegal has assembled the world's largest collection of Andean Textiles dating from 750 BC to the 19th Century. Ceremonial objects & artifacts from Meso & South American cultures, Ancient Chinese, Southeast Asia, African and Indonesian museum-quality pieces are also represented. The William Siegal Gallery is located in Santa Fe’s dynamic Railyard District, now a major arts destination throughout the world and the central location of Santa Fe’s contemporary art scene. 

BILL SIEGAL | Owner


Bill Siegal has collected, studied and sold historic and pre-Columbian textiles and objects since 1971. After working with textiles from Central America during the early 1970’s Mr. Siegal moved to LaPaz, Bolivia to collect and study the weavings of the Aymara people. He traveled the Bolivian Altiplano, from one remote village to the next going house to house in search of the finest ceremonial garments dating from the 17th, 18th and early 19th centuries. In 1988 he returned to the United States, moving to Santa Fe, NM in 1990. Mr. Siegal opened his first public gallery, Conlon Siegal Galleries, on Santa Fe’s renowned Canyon Road in 1996. The gallery featured ancient textiles and objects that combined the highest historical integrity and quality with the eye of a discriminating contemporary aesthetic. The gallery also showed cutting edge contemporary art and for five years thrived as a unique cultural destination in the Santa Fe art scene. In 2001 Mr. Siegal sold the Canyon Road galleries and moved into the heart of downtown Santa Fe across from the newly built Georgia O’Keefe Museum. Since 2001 William Siegal Galleries has exhibited the world’s finest pre-Columbian textiles and objects as well as museum quality pieces from Asia and Africa. It is a premier source for major museums as well as private collectors

YLISE KESSLER | Director of Contemporary Art

Ylise Kessler's position as Director of Contemporary Art combines her passions for both contemporary and ethnographic art. For the past 20 years, Ylise has been a Fine Art Consultant providing art advisory and collection management services to Fortune 500 companies, corporations, and numerous private collectors in New York, Santa Fe, Paris, and London. Ylise’s areas of expertise include Contemporary, Modern, and Ethnographic art and artifacts.

Ylise is also an acclaimed Textile Conservationist, specializing in Classic Navajo Blankets. She has restored important textiles for museums and private collections, and works with the major auction houses. Some of the collections she has worked with include the Southwest Museum, Pasadena, Ca., The Durango Collection, Santa Fe, NM, and Benardout & Benardout, London, England.

Santa Fe first became home to Ylise 30 years ago. Always following the local art scene, Kessler soon realized that it would be necessary to combine what was going on in New Mexico with the international arena to broaden her art market and art investment experience. Ylise has lived in New York, Los Angeles, Paris, London, and Madrid, establishing long term relationships with artists and clients. To further her understanding of the contemporary art market, she makes a point of visiting national and international art exhibitions, fairs, and museum shows each year. Santa Fe was a very different town 30 years ago before it was “discovered." Ylise feels that one of the most exciting changes to take place is that Santa Fe has evolved into a renowned Contemporary Art destination. The new Railyard District, home to the William Siegal Gallery, is the focus for contemporary galleries and exhibition spaces. Ylise looks forward to introducing exciting new artists to New Mexico, and the William Siegal Gallery.

ABOUT THE WILLIAM SIEGAL GALLERY LOGO | This logo was based upon a traditional design found on textiles from the Inca culture (1400 - 1532 AD) from Peru. Twentieth century painter, Joseph Albers created a painting in the late 1960’s exactly like this design, which was part of his series “Homage to the Square”. Five hundred years old yet very contemporary, our logo is truly emblematic of how inter-related ancient and contemporary are.
CREDITS: photography & logo design: Norberto Zamudio | WEB DESIGN: CYBERNUNS.COM