Telling Stories: Edith Halpert & Her Artists
October 9 - December 18, 2020
About the exhibition
Meredith Ward Fine Art presents the online exhibition, Telling Stories: Edith Halpert and Her Artists. Over the coming weeks, we will be sharing stories about Edith Halpert and her artists – Stuart Davis, Marsden Hartley, John Marin, Elie Nadelman, Charles Sheeler, and Joseph Stella – told through artworks at Meredith Ward Fine Art. Some of these works actually passed through the Downtown Gallery, and all of them speak to the relationships between this legendary gallerist and the artists she championed.
Edith Halpert opened the Downtown Gallery in Greenwich Village in 1926 with the ambitious goal of promoting the work of contemporary American artists – artists who, at the time, were largely overlooked by the New York art world. Halpert, an immigrant, a Jew, and a woman, advocated for a more inclusive vision of American art. Through innovative marketing strategies, Halpert brought recognition to the artists of her day and created a blueprint that galleries still use today. Inspired by the Jewish Museum’s groundbreaking 2019 exhibition, Edith Halpert, the Downtown Gallery, and the Rise of American Art, this exhibition aims to expand our understanding of how Halpert interacted with her artists and advanced the cause of American art.