B orn in Paris in 1953, Enrico Navarra was raised by his father, a tailor. Navarra was first exposed to the art world as a lithograph salesman, where he met Ida Chagall, the daughter of Marc Chagall. The two quickly became friends, and Chagall eventually convinced Navarra to institute his own gallery. The gallery opened its doors in 1989.

In his gallery, Navarra mounted the art of Ida’s father – and eventually toured the world with the works, introducing the artist to countries across Asia.

A visionary with unparalleled instinct, Navarra believed in and championed artists well before they came to fame. In 1986, Navarra purchased his first work by Jean-Michel Basquiat.

He was instrumental in nurturing Basquiat’s market, including authoring the most comprehensive compendium of the artist’s work in 1996, and organizing and promoting the artist’s exhibitions worldwide – laying the groundwork for his meteoric rise. Navarra was also one of the first western collectors to acquire and promote contemporary Asian art.

He published a series of “made by” books, including “Made by Chinese” (1996), “Made by Brazilians” (2014), “Made by Thai (2019) and more.