Billionaire Chandler Establishes Showcase For Mother's Art

Billionaire investor Richard Chandler is helping his mother break into Manhattan's clubby art scene by spending up to $4 million on a 14,000-square-foot gallery that will sell her paintings.

Mr. Chandler, 49, considers the two-story gallery, set to open this fall, an investment, not a gift.

"I have provided a loan," he said in an e-mail. "I anticipate being repaid in the fullness of time."

Self-taught artist Ana Tzarev, 72, signed a 10-year lease for the space at 24 W. 57th St., with an approximate annual rent of $2 million and renovation costs between $3.5 million and $4 million, according to a broker familiar with the project. Ms. Tzarev declined to confirm the rent or construction estimates.

According to Forbes magazine's 2008 billionaires list, Mr. Chandler and his brother, Christopher, are tied as the 707th richest men in the world, each worth an estimated $1.7 billion.

Ms. Tzarev's name will be on the façade of the building, joining other prestigious galleries on the street, including Marian Goodman, which represents German painter Gerhard Richter, and Ameringer & Yohe Fine Art, which sells work by Abstract Expressionist painter Hans Hofmann.