Jefferson Place Gallery Explained

Jefferson Place Gallery
Type:	arts organization, art gallery
Headquarters:	1216 Connecticut Street, NW, Washington, D.C., United States
Key People:

The Jefferson Place Gallery was an art gallery in Washington, D.C., founded in 1957 and closed in 1974.^{[1] [2]} It had been located at 1216 Connecticut Street, NW in Washington, D.C.. The gallery was associated with the Washington Color School artists.

History

The Jefferson Place Gallery was initially founded in 1957 as a cooperative gallery,^[3] by five current and former art professors at American University, William Howard Calfee, Robert Franklin Gates, Helene Herzbrun, Mary Ryan Orwen, and Ben Summerford.^[4] Alice Denney, served as the first gallery director. Other artists who joined the cooperative in 1957 were George Bayliss, Lothar Brabanski, Colin Greenly, Leonard Maurer, Kenneth Noland, and Baltimore-based artist Shelby Shackelford.

Nesta Dorrance acquired the gallery from Alice Denney in 1961, when she left to organize the Washington Gallery of Modern Art.^[5] Dorrance ran it until it closed in October 1974.

Legacy

The gallery exhibited "advanced art" and was associated with Washington Color School, a color field, post-painterly abstraction and lyrical abstraction for a number of years, and was a major Washington outlet for that art.

The competitors in contemporary art with Nesta Dorrance's Jefferson Place Gallery were Henri Gallery [Henrietta Ersham], Pyramid Gallery [Ramon Osuna and Luis Lastra] and later, Protetch-Rivkin Gallery [Max Protetch and Harold Rivkin].

Artists

Some artists who also exhibited at Jefferson Place Gallery:, William Christenberry, Gene Davis, Willem De Looper, William Eggleston, Sam Gilliam,^[6] John Gossage, Valerie Hollister, Sheila Isham, Jennie Lea Knight, Rockne Krebs, Blaine Larson, Howard Mehring, Mary Pinchot Meyer, David Moy, Roberto Polo, V. V. Rankine, Paul Reed (artist), Eric Rudd, Yuri Schwebler, Roy Slade, D. Jack Solomon, David Staton, Elliot Thompson, Hilda Shapiro Thorpe, Frederic Matys Thursz, Franklin White, John P. Wise, Mary Orwen, Carroll Sockwell,^[7] and Ed Zerne.

Further reading

• Book: The Corcoran & Washington Art. Garamond Press. Corcoran Gallery of Art, Roy Slade (introduction). 1976. Baltimore, MD. 76-42098.
• Washington Art, catalog of exhibitions at State University College at Potsdam, NY & State University of New York at Albany, 1971 [no copyright or LCCC # listed], Introduction by Renato G. Danese, printed by Regal Art Press, Troy NY.
• Book: The Vincent Melzac Collection: Modernist American Art Featuring New York Abstract Expressionism and Washington Color Painting. Garamond/Pridemark Press, Corcoran Gallery of Art. Ellen Gross Landau (introduction), Barbara Rose (notes), Walter Hopps (forward). 1971. Washington, D.C.. 75-153646.
• Herzbrun. Helene M.. Spring 1963. The Visual Experience: An Introduction to Art. Art Journal. College Art Association. 22. 3. 168. 10.2307/774444. 774444.
• News: Richard. Paul. April 13, 2008. A Tribute for a Washington Painter by Way of Holland; Willem de Looper. M08. The Washington Post.
• Book: New Sculpture: Baltimore, Washington, Richmond. [Exhibition] October 9 - November 15, 1970. Corcoran Gallery of Art, Renato G. Danese (introduction). 1970. exhibition. ocm00422337. https://web.archive.org/web/20080511184942/http://www.anders-zerne.com/NewSculpture.html

External links

• http://www.connercontemporary.com/artists/thomas-downing/?view=bio Thomas Downing Bio
• http://www.originalprint.ie/downloads/artists/Freeman,%20Barbara%20CV.doc Barbara Freeman Bio
• http://www.tfaoi.com/aa/4aa/4aa269.htm Ben L. Summerford Bio
• https://web.archive.org/web/20110717051254/http://thomasgeorgepainter.com/pb/wp_481fbfa5/wp_481fbfa5.html?0.16701552155427635 Thomas George Bio

Notes and References

1. Web site: Jefferson Place Gallery records, 1957-1971. 2021-08-31. sova.si.edu. Archives of American Art.
2. News: February 28, 2020. In the galleries: Stable's spaces make room for lots of art and much conversation. en-US. Washington Post. 2021-08-31. 0190-8286.
3. Web site: 2017. Making a Scene: Jefferson Place. 2021-08-31. American University. en.
4. Web site: June 4, 2019. Cody Gallery Presents Mary Ryan Orwen Women of Jefferson Place Gallery. 2021-09-01. East City Art. en-US.
5. Web site: Archives Directory for the History of Collecting, Jefferson Place Gallery. 2021-08-31. The Frick Collection. en.
6. Web site: Oral history interview with Sam Gilliam, 1989 Nov. 4-11. 2021-09-01. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. en.
7. Book: https://books.google.com/books?id=tzcDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA14. Jet. 1971-03-04. Johnson Publishing Company. 39. en. Artist's Black Painting Praised by D.C. Critic.