Six Must-Visit Art Galleries in the Hamptons

Grenning Gallery

26 Main St., Sag Harbor, N.Y.

When Laura Grenning opened her gallery years ago, she focused on classically trained realist painters. Since then, she’s expanded her reach and found new artists and new voices. “I needed to have more color,” she told Observer. With a summer exhibition schedule that includes Hunt Slonem’s rabbit and butterfly paintings, Darius Yektai’s canvases that merge representation with abstraction, Ben Fenske’s landscapes and seascapes and “Masters of Plein Air,” there’s a clear thematic bond. “All of my artists are deeply inspired by and connected to nature,” Grenning said.

The gallery roster is composed mostly of American contemporary realist painters and sculptors. Slonem, Sarah Lamb and Yektai display a range of humor and spirit, along with acute observation, tenderness and reverence for earlier schools. The staff is welcoming, and the vibe is relaxed.

Eric Firestone Gallery

4 Newtown Lane, East Hampton, N.Y.

Picture windows on East Hampton’s busiest corner reveal a pristine space filled with powerful 20th and 21st-century paintings, sculptures and multimedia works. The gallery has been operating for more than 15 years, and its success has led to expansions in New York City and West Palm Beach, Florida. Firestone has long embraced artists whose works haven’t reached full potential in the canon or the market. On the gallery’s walls, you’ll find a lot of women, artists of color and those with historical ties to the Hamptons.

“Eric has long been an advocate for underrecognized artistic voices, and that commitment translates into our roster,” managing partner Kara Winters told Observer. She added, “While our largely female team is passionate about championing women artists, the overarching curatorial vision continues to be shaped by Eric.”

Currently, a group show, “Earth, Wind and Fire,” showcases works that reflect or are made of the elements. Look for wood, glass and, of course, lots of water. Some, like stoneware vessels by Christabel MacGreevy, were made in 2025, while others, like the small, tight paintings of Edith Schloss, were created more than 50 years ago, recalling the Abstract Expressionist heyday of the Hamptons. The gallery never completely loses sight of those roots. “The program and all the shows harken back to that ethos,” Winters said. “In the Hamptons in the summer we tend to lean a little more contemporary, but we are always looking at the canon of art history and re-examining women artists and artists of color. That’s a through line.”

The Drawing Room

55 Main St., East Hampton, N.Y.

The Drawing Room was founded with the idea of creating a salon for the Hamptons, originally focused on works on paper. “Both were part of the naming of the business,” gallery owner Emily Goldstein told Observer. “We wanted to create a place where people might gather and look at things or discuss art. I’m trying to build on that a little more with a series of small artist talks called ‘In Conversation.’” Currently in conversation are multimedia works by Long Island artist Laurie Lambrecht, who merges her practice in photography with her interest in textiles, and elegant tiered sculptures by Mel Kendrick fashioned from a single block of wood. They’ll be on view through August 9. From mid-August to October 4, a group show, “The Body: Seen, Remembered and Re-Invented,” will be presented.

While most gallerists try to match clients’ tastes with the works on offer, Goldstein tries never to lose sight of where the gallery is. Virtually all the artists she shows are strongly connected to the Hamptons. Goldstein might find a way to reach beyond, as she did in a show this spring, “Echoes of Matisse,” but she showed East End artists like Jack Youngerman and Saul Steinberg, in whom she sensed connections with the French master.

Halsey McKay Gallery

79 Newtown Lane, East Hampton, N.Y.

With an impressive group of early and mid-career artists, Halsey McKay is known for challenging works that take up space in both the gallery and the viewer’s perception. What sets gallery director Ryan Wallace apart is his decision to find and offer something different to Hamptons collectors. You won’t find a lot of beach paintings here. Typically distinctive are delicate woodworked intarsia pieces inspired by the Studiolo of the Ducal Palace in Gubbio, now in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The labor-intensive works were meant as meditative pieces for both the creator, Michael Bühler-Rose, and the viewer. The exhibition of his works, “Halo in a Haystack,” runs through August 10. Mixed media, assemblage, sculpture and paintings are on view in the concurrent exhibition “Builders,” on through October 3, where abstract works retain the records and marks of their making.

That’s not to say the works in the exhibition aren’t deeply rooted in nature. Even the most conceptual pieces on view build on realities like earth and sun and water, like Martha Tuttle’s Accumulation series that merges silk, pigment, cast aluminum and fire-darkened wood into serene, balanced abstractions.

The Church

48 Madison St., Sag Harbor, N.Y.

When artist couple Eric Fischl and April Gornik opened this nonprofit art space in a deconsecrated church in the heart of Sag Harbor, they hoped to do two things—save a beloved landmark and fill a need in the community for thoughtful, intelligent arts programming. That dream has turned into a world-class cultural center that consistently mounts compelling, engaging exhibitions. Both Gornik and Fischl, along with executive director Sheri Pasquarella, strive to bring art to the people, demystifying it for those who might feel more comfortable with images of animals or sports events, cars or bicycles—all focuses of past exhibitions. While not a commercial enterprise, Gornik told Observer that if a visitor is interested in a work, the staff will gladly make the connection.

This summer, The Church’s focus is on America and its 250th anniversary in “This Land: Considering the American Landscape,” curated by Donna De Salvo and Seph Rodney. Taking the long view, the show—which runs through September 6—looks to Indigenous artists, the Hudson River School and conceptual art like Meg Webster’s Moss Bed, King and lush landscapes by Gornik and others to weave a path across time and place.

The Garage

62 Newtown Lane, East Hampton, N.Y.

For a longer look and a wider range, head to Eric Firestone Gallery’s offshoot space, also in East Hampton. Its 7,000 square feet are filled with works in a continuously rotating exhibition of gallery artists, historic materials and pieces by younger contemporary artists. Movable walls mean constant change and always new things to discover. The space is open year-round by appointment.