Artist, chef, and gallerist Paul Bridgewater moved to New York in the mid-1970s and would go on to become a beloved fixture of the city’s art scene. Prior to opening Bridgewater Gallery in 1984, he served as maitre d’ of the River Cafe and later opened his own restaurant, Evelyne’s, where he endeared himself to New York denizens of all stripes. As his obituary in the New York Times described, Bridgewater was “a legendary wit and raconteur of the New York art world scene” whose “larger-than-life personality, encyclopedic art expertise and culinary skills made him a popular social fixture on both the Upper and Lower East sides, two nearly polar opposite habitats which he navigated with equal aplomb.” As a gallerist, Bridgewater became recognized for championing many of the era's fledgling artists, among them McDermott and McGough, Kjell Erik Killi Olsen, Mark Kostabi, Sean Earley, and Craig Coleman.
In addition to running his gallery, Bridgewater worked with his long-time partner James Biddle in pursuing architectural preservation for Biddle’s family estate in Andalusia, Pennsylvania, where the pair spent much of their time in the 1990s and 2000s. Bridgewater’s life and exploits are the subject of Chih Hsuan Liang’s 2024 documentary Man from Pretentia.
