Ronald Feldman, the pioneering contemporary art dealer, has stepped down from his role of director at the Ronald Feldman Gallery after nearly 50 years at the helm, for health reasons.

Mr. Feldman, 82, founded the gallery with his wife, Frayda Feldman, in 1971 on East 74th Street. In 1982, the gallery moved to SoHo, establishing an early beachhead in Lower Manhattan that seemed to suit an institution that broke boundaries and championed a wide range of risk-taking artists and their (often political) works. Some of his early partnerships included the German conceptual artist Joseph Beuys, the performance artist Chris Burden, the feminist artist Hannah Wilke , and Mierle Laderman Ukeles, the longtime unpaid artist-in-residence at the New York City Department of Sanitation. He and Ms. Feldman also developed a friendship with Andy Warhol in the 1980s, and Mr. Feldman commissioned Warhol to do portfolios of paintings and prints.

“He is so passionate about championing ideas-based work, and advancing and creating platforms for artists that truly engage with the widest range of social issues and political causes in our world,” said Mark Feldman , his eldest son, who has taken over the gallery’s operations. “He supported artists who were really groundbreaking and willing to take risks.”

Mr. Feldman came to art after a career as a corporate lawyer, which made him “miserable,” Mark Feldman said in an interview on Thursday. He quit and pursued his passion for fine art. In addition to his work in the gallery, Mr. Feldman was politically engaged, eventually serving on the National Council on the Arts under President Bill Clinton for five years.