William Ronald received his first show in New York at Kootz Gallery in the spring of 1957. Ronald was the first new North American artist that Samuel Kootz, a leading Manhattan dealer of contemporary art, had taken on in nine years. The exhibition was a great success and effectively transformed his career south of the border. The Museum of Modern Art and the National Gallery of Canada were among the buyers of his works from 1956-57. In New York, Ronald was well placed to serve as a channel between Painters Eleven and the American art milieu. From there, he was able to initiate two important events for the Eleven: the exhibition of Painters Eleven at the Riverside Museum in 1956 and the visit of Clement Greenberg to Toronto in 1957.