The Gross McCleaf Gallery selected artists' files measure 0.8 linear feet and date from 1947 to 1986. The files consist of price lists, printed material, correspondence, exhibition catalogs and announcements, biographical summaries, newspaper clippings, and some photographs. Artists include Neil Welliver, Hobson Pittman, Edith Emerson, Humbert Howard, Jane Piper, and Fairfield Porter among others.
Scope and Contents:
The Gross McCleaf Gallery selected artists' files measure 0.8 linear feet and date from 1947 to 1986. The files consist of price lists, printed material, correspondence, exhibition catalogs and announcements, biographical summaries, and clippings. Some of the files include photos of the artist, works of art, and exhibition installations. Artists represented in the collection are Arthur B. Carles, Larry Day, Edith Emerson, Humbert Howard, Jimmy Lueders, Violet Oakley, Jane Piper, Hobson Pittman, Fairfield Porter, Carroll S. Tyson, Roswell Weidner, Neil Welliver, and Harold Weston.
Arrangement:
Due to the small size of this collection the papers are arranged as one series.
Biographical / Historical:
The Gross McCleaf Gallery was founded in 1969 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania by Marlin McCleaf and Estelle Shane Gross. The gallery was originally named the Marlin McCleaf Gallery. After McCleaf's departure from the gallery in the early 1970s, Gross became the sole owner and changed the gallery's name to Gross McCleaf Gallery. Early artists exhibited at the gallery include Fairfield Porter, Neil Welliver, Rackstraw Downes, Red Grooms and his wife Mimi Gross, Jane Piper, and Larry Day. After Estelle Gross' death in 1992, Sharon Ewing became the gallery owner and director. Ewing retired in 2020 and Rebecca Segall took over as the gallery's owner and director.
Provenance:
The collection was donated by Estelle and Jay Gross in 1988.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Microfilmed materials must be consulted on microfilm. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Gross McCleaf Gallery selected artists' files, 1947-1986. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
The processing of this collection received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care and Preservation Fund, administered by the National Collections Program and the Smithsonian Collections Advisory Committee.
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Humbert Howard, 1988 Oct. 26. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
An interview of Estelle Gross conducted 1989 Apr. 5, by Marina Pacini, for the Archives of American Art Philadelphia Project.
Gross speaks of her background and education; opening the Gross McCleaf Gallery in Philadelphia; the artists represented, including Larry Day, Edith Emerson, Violet Oakley, Humbert Howard, Jimmy Lueders, Jane Piper, Carroll Tyson, Roswell Weidner, Harold Weston, Arthur B. Carles, and Hobson Pittman; the Philadelphia art scene including other galleries, the art press, collectors and changes over the past twenty years. Gross also discusses her studies under Hobson Pittman.
Biographical / Historical:
Estelle Shane Gross (1929-1992) was a gallery director of Philadelphia, Pa.
Provenance:
This interview is part of the Archives' Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and others.
Restrictions:
Transcript: Patrons must use microfilm copy.
Occupation:
Gallery directors -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia Search this
Genre/Form:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Sponsor:
Funding for the digital preservation of this interview was provided by a grant from the Save America's Treasures Program of the National Park Service.
This microfilm collection of the papers of African American painter Humbert Howard contains correspondence (1963-1976); printed material, including clippings, exhibition announcements, and catalogs (1962-1981); photographs of Howard and his works of art; and two scrapbooks (1947-1980), which include photographs of works of art, clippings, exhibition catalogs, and correspondence.
Biographical / Historical:
Humbert Howard (1905-1990) was an African American painter in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Howard studied at Howard University and the University of Pennsylvania before joining the Philadelphia Works Progress Administration's Art Project painting landscapes. In 1945, he became the art director of the Pyramid Club.
Provenance:
Lent in 1991 by David and Carla Howard, the son and daughter-in-law of Humbert Howard, Microfilmed as part of AAA's Philadelphia Arts Documentation Project.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
Occupation:
Painters -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia Search this
An interview of Humbert Howard conducted 1988 Oct. 26, by Marina Pacini for the Archives of American Art, at the artist's home in Philadelphia, Pa.
Howard speaks of his education; his introduction to art; the importance of his studies at the Barnes Foundation; his work as the art director of the Pyramid Club, a Black social club in Philadelphia, where he was in charge of selecting the works for the annual exhibitions that featured the work of both New York and Philadelphia artists; and the exhibiting opportunities available to Black artists in Philadelphia. Howard's age at the time of the interview prevented him from recalling his career in much detail.
Biographical / Historical:
Humbert Howard (1915-1990) was a painter from Philadelphia, Pa.
Provenance:
This interview is part of the Archives' Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and others.
Occupation:
Painters -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia Search this
