The Lefevre Gallery was established on 26th April 1926 by Mr Alex Reid and Monsieur Earnest Lefevre, two of the most eminent dealers in French Impressionist and Modern art in the United Kingdom at the time. Its first premises were in King Street, St. James’s; eventually moving to Bruton Street, London until its closure in April 2002.

Alex Reid had been trained in Paris with Theo van Gogh at Broussod and Valadon and had lodged with Theo’s brother Vincent; there he was first introduced to Impressionist paintings. Between 1889 and 1926, he dealt from his gallery in Glasgow and then moved to London.

On joining forces with his main competitor Lefevre, the gallery began life and he sent his son A.J. McNeil Reid to run the show. The gallery continued to exhibit Impressionist and Modern art, with such groundbreaking shows as 'George Seurat' in May 1926, ‘Henri Matisse’ in June 1927, ‘Degas’ June 1928, ‘Modigliani’ in March 1929, ‘Pablo Picasso’ in June 1931, ‘Renoir’ June 1935, ‘Cezanne’, July 1935, ‘Dali’June/July 1936, ‘Francis Bacon’ in 1945, ‘Calder’ in January 1951, ‘Balthus’ in January 1952, ‘Kandinski’ in 1972, 'The Complete Sculptures' of Degas in 1976, Picasso Sketchbooks in 1994 and many others.

Some examples of paintings that have been sold by the gallery since its establishment are Seurat’s ‘Les Poseuses’ in the Barnes Foundation, Pennsylvania, Cezanne’s ‘L’Homme a la Pipe’ in the Courtauld Collection, London, Monet’s ‘Le Bassin aux Nympheas’ in the National Gallery, London and Renoir’s ‘Le Moulin de la Galette’ in the Whitney Collection, New York (later sold in 1990 for $78,000,000).