Gaspare Traversi, (Napoli 1722 ca. - Roma 1770), The Monk, the Novice, and the Maiden. Oil on canvas, 24 3/8 x 29 1/8 inches (62 x 74 cm.). Courtesy Robert Simon Fine Art.

NEW YORK, NY.- Fifteen of the city's preeminent galleries-all clustered on the Upper East Side-are hosting simultaneous opening-night receptions to kick off the first edition of October Art Week, October 20 to 26. 

The gallery receptions, open to the public and comfortably walkable from one another, are being held to expand upon the buzz and excitement generated by the opening of TEFAF in New York City. Taking place at the Park Avenue Armory, TEFAF, the world's premier art fair, will bring together the treasures of nearly 100 dealers from around the globe, showcasing outstanding examples of fine art, design, furniture, jewelry and more. 

"With the opening of TEFAF New York, we thought it was the perfect time to launch October Art Week. TEFAF draws the world's foremost collectors and curators and while we look forward to seeing them on our stand, we really wanted to get them into our galleries, too," says Bria Koser, director of Otto Naumann Ltd., who with Lydia Johnson, director at Robert Simon Fine Art and Frances Beatty, president of Richard L. Feigen & Co., came up with the concept. 

Koser and Johnson envisioned some special way to observe the week-long activities swirling around the art world. In addition to TEFAF, Christie's has moved their sale dates to coincide with the fair and Sotheby's, too, is holding their private selling exhibitions of Old Master paintings during the week. "We considered various ideas, trying to come up with an exciting way to bring people together to make the most of everything going on this Fall in New York." 

The 15 participating galleries, several of which are exhibiting at TEFAF, include: 

• Jill Newhouse Gallery, 19th- and 20th-century European works; 4 East 84th Street 

Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot (French, 1796-1875), Paysage. Verso: Landscape Study. Charcoal on paper, 20 x 13 1/4 in. (51 x 33.8 cm). Stamped lower left. Courtesy Jill Newhouse Gallery

• Schiller & Bodo, 19th-century European paintings, with emphasis on works from the French Academic, Realist, Barbizon and Post-Impressionist traditions; 4 East 84th Street  

Francis Picabia (French, 1878-1953), Effet de soleil couchant sur l’Etang de Berre, Martigues, signed and dated lower right: Picabia 1908. Oil on canvas, 21 3/8 x 25 ½ inches (54 x 64.5 cm.). Courtesy Schiller & Bodo

• Otto Naumann Ltd., Old Master Paintings; 22 East 80th Street, Second Floor 

Christophero Savolini, Madonna and Child, c. 1676-77. Oil on canvas, 103 x 80 cm. Courtesy Otto Naumann Ltd.

• Robert Simon Fine Art, Old Master paintings; 22 East 80th Street, Fourth Floor  

Jacopo Amigoni (Italian, ca. 1680-1752), Madonna and Child with Angels in the Clouds. Oil on canvas, 23 ¼ x 12 ½ inches (59 x 31.7 cm). Courtesy Robert Simon Fine Art.

• Shepherd W & K Galleries, 19th-century European paintings, drawings and sculpture, and modern art; 58 East 79th Street 

• Les Enluminures, manuscripts and miniatures from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance as well as rings and jewelry from the period; 23 East 73rd Street, Seventh Floor 

Book of Hours (Use of Rome). In Latin, illuminated manuscript on parchment, 4 full-page miniatures and 10 historiated initials, 109 x 86 mm, Central Italy, Umbria, Perugia, circa 1450. Courtesy Les Enluminures.

• Jack Kilgore & Co., European old master paintings; 154 East 71st Street, Third Floor 

Vicente López Y Portaña (Spanish, 1772-1850), Virgin of the Immaculate Conception, oil on canvas, circa 1795-1800, 73 by 42 ½ inches (185 by 107 cm). Courtesy Jack Kilgore & Co.

• Richard L. Feigen & Co., wide-ranging works, from Sir Joshua Reynolds to Ray Johnson; 34 East 69th Street 

Baron Antoine-Jean Gros, Head of Charlemagne, c.1811-15, oil on canvas, 24 x 19-2/3 inches. Courtesy Richard L. Feigen & Co

Peter Saul, The Rembrandt Duck, 1992, oil on canvas, 54 x 50 inches. Courtesy Richard L. Feigen & Co.

• Didier Aaron, Inc., predominantly French paintings and drawings from the 17th- through 19th-centuries, plus European furniture and decorative arts from the same period; 32 East 67th Street 

Alfred Stevens (1823 Brussels – Paris 1906), Exotic Ornament (or Silent Dialogue). Oil on panel: 20 x 24 7/8 in. Signed upper right hand corner: AStevens. Courtesy Didier Aaron, Inc.

• Taylor | Graham, American and European art from the 19th century to the present, and sculpture; 32 East 67th Street 

Gustave Loiseau (French, 1865-1935), Baie de Treboul, 1913. Oil on canvas, 18 3/8 x 24 1/4 inches. Signed lower right: G Loiseau. Courtesy Taylor | Graham. 

• Andrew Butterfield Fine Arts, European art, chiefly Renaissance and Baroque sculpture (exhibiting at Dickinson Roundell, Inc.); 19 East 66th Street  

Gian Lorenzo and Pietro Bernini, Bust of the Savior,  c. 1615-16. Courtesy Andrew Butterfield Fine Arts. 

• Dickinson Roundell, Inc., old master, Impressionist and contemporary paintings and works of art; 19 East 66th Street  

Edvard Munch, Blond og mørk aktmodell (Blonde and Dark-Haired Nudes), 1902-03, oil on canvas, 60.3 x 70.5 cm. (24 x 27 ¾ in.). Courtesy Dickinson Roundell, Inc.

• Daphne Alazraki Fine Art, European paintings of the 17th through 21st centuries; and Trinity House Paintings, Impressionist, Post-Impressionist, modern British and 19th-century works; 24 East 64th Street