This small exhibition of letters, leases, photographs, invoices, posters, and other ephemera marks the tenth anniversary of seminal New York City art dealer Richard Bellamy’s death, and the opening of his papers in the Museum of Modern Art’s archives. But, sadly, it is unlikely to change the spectacularly small amount of attention now given to Bellamy.

Bellamy played a pivotal role in the development of the careers of artists such as Claes Oldenburg, Donald Judd, Dan Flavin and Myron Stout, and an integral position in fostering the Pop Art and Minimalism movements. His tenure in the art world included a stint at one of New York City’s first cooperative galleries, the influential Hansa Gallery, where he was director between 1955– 59. He was also director of the uptown Green Gallery, where he gave solo shows to Lucas Samaras, James Rosenquist, and Tom Wesselmann, between 1960–65. And he owned the Oil and Steel Gallery — which eventually became devoted to Mark di Suvero’s sculpture — between 1980 and his death in 1998.

The genius of Bellamy’s success as a dealer was not just his ability to spot innovative work. He tirelessly promoted from behind the scenes, with an almost egoless devotion to his artists — a situation not readily found in today’s contemporary gallery scene.

Proof that this altruistic approach is generally more advantageous for the artist than the dealer is found in two receipts dating from 1964, both for artists’ materials billed to the Green Gallery: one for Dan Flavin’s fluorescent lightbulbs, the other for steel fabrication related to a Donald Judd wall unit. A handwritten note on one of the receipts regretfully, almost painfully, states that no more credit could be extended to the Green Gallery. The gallery closed the following year.

Until February 25 (11 W. 53rd St., between Fifth and Sixth avenues, 212-708-9431).