Paris Fashion Week, Christian Dior, and now Serge Strosberg. New York may be the land of creativity but “everyone wants to show in Paris.”

Serge Strosberg was born in Antwerp, Belgium and lived and worked in Paris for most of his life. He is proof that the French never age and never get fat, as he is in his 40s and could rival any 20something in the Meat Packing District.

But he has given up the land of croissants and champagne for the streets of SoHo. Strosberg celebrated his move to Manhattan in March with an exhibtion entitled “Strosberg, Paris-New York.” This exhibtion coincided with the 10th Anniversary of the Armory Show and allowed the masses to view his collection at the world’s most cutting-edge art fair, devoted exclusively to contemporary art.

Strosberg has had several group and solo exhibitions, at all of the top-notch overseas venues. From Orangerie of the French Senate at the Jardin du Luxembourg and Espace Saint-Honore to the Grand Palais in Paris, the Bibliotheque des Beaux Arts and the Jewish Museum in Brussels.

He has since hopped across the pond and has been enjoying success at the Elaine Baker Gallery (Palm Beach), the Museum of the Lighthouse Center for the Arts (Boca Raton), and the Alliance Francaise of Miami.

Strosberg’s paintings blur the line between portraiture and allegory and his subjects are primarily minorities like himself, a “dark skinned Sephardic Jew.” His sense of not quite belonging is represented in his pieces but New York has welcomed him with open arms.

Everyone wants to show in Paris, but you will always have a home in New York.

All photos by Patrick McMullan

Annabel Vartanian, Serge Strosberg, Maggie Rizer

Kipton Cronkite, Nicole Hanley, Jack Bryan, Annabel Vartanian

Giselle and Annabel Vartanian

Jason Preston