Letter from the director of the ICA Boston to Allan Frumkin, requesting the loan of Robert Hudson’s 'Diamond Back'
May 26, 1967
Without a doubt, Peter Selz’s 1967 exhibition, Funk at the University of California Berkeley, Art Museum made waves. It was an ambitious, era-defining group show by the recent California transplant (by way of the Museum of Modern Art, New York), seeking to set the tone for his tenure at the museum going forward.
Arnaldo Roche Rabell in the Studio with his Mother Modeling
Puerto Rico, c. 1986
Roche’s most important and frequent model was his mother, María, to whom he was very close. Their collaborations are an expression of his love for her, of her trust in him and the familial bond they share.
Installation view of Joan Brown’s first exhibition at SFMoMA
Summer 1971
In the late 1950’s, the San Francisco Museum of Art (now San Francisco Museum of Modern Art) began a series of exhibitions under the heading of ‘The Arts of San Francisco.’ Occurring roughly every four years, the Summer of 1971 marked the fourth such undertaking.
Allan Frumkin in his gallery at 152 East Superior Street
Chicago, c. 1952
In the winter of 1951, a young, aspiring art dealer traveled to Europe. With an eye to opening a gallery in his home city of Chicago, he familiarized himself with a generation of surrealist painters and sculptors, meeting an international cohort of artists in Paris, Rome and beyond.
Press Release for Summer Exhibition
Allan Frumkin Gallery, New York, 1968
Group exhibitions have been a summer staple of the New York art scene for decades - an opportunity for lighter fare during the hottest days of the year.
Letter from William T Wiley to H. C. Westermann
circa December 1966
In 1958, the sculptor Jeremy Anderson showed two of his students a catalogue of work by H. C. Westermann, whose sculpture Anderson was familiar through their shared dealer, Allan Frumkin. The experience was revelatory to the two young artists, Robert Hudson and William T. Wiley and would impact their careers in different ways.
Flyer for the Fall-Winter season at the Candy Store Gallery
Folsom, CA, 1968
The 1968 season reads as a who’s who of Northern California art, with the addition of the two recent arrivals of Nutt and Nilsson.
Gregory Gillespie in the classroom with professor Nicholas Marsicano
Cooper Union, New York, 1960
Gregory Gillespie began at Cooper Union in 1954 - initially to study commercial art but the attraction of painting and fine arts eventually lead him to enroll as a full time student.
Spread from a pamphlet published by Maryan
Featuring stills from his film "Ecce Homo," 1975
In 1975, Maryan shot a black and white film with the help of Kenny Schneider, in his room at the Chelsea Hotel. Titled Ecce Homo - as he called a series of sketchbooks begun in 1971 - the film is a highly personal meditation on the “world of hatred and violence” he witnessed first hand.
Peter Saul's first solo exhibition in the United States
Allan Frumkin Gallery, Chicago, IL, November 1961
Sixty years ago this month, Peter Saul’s debut exhibition of ten recent paintings (and some drawings) opened at the Allan Frumkin Gallery in Chicago, IL.
Andrew Lenaghan painting on South 11th Street
Williamsburg, Brooklyn, August 2002
Since the start of his career, Lenaghan has chosen to do most of his painting from life - and as his subject has long been the city of New York, his studio is the sidewalk.
525 West 26th Street in advance of construction in the Spring of 2005
When making the decision to move the gallery in 2005, it was both a simple and difficult choice. For decades its home had been on 57th Street, moving between three locations around the intersection of 57th and Fifth avenue since opening in New York in 1959.
Luis Cruz Azaceta installing his sculpture, 'El Dictador'
Frumkin/Adams Gallery, New York, April 1988
A sudden and significant increase in studio space in the mid-1980s meant that Azaceta was not only able to paint on a much larger scale than before, but also allowed him to explore the themes of his paintings and drawings in three dimensions.
Robert Arneson as Santa Claus, circa 1975
Allan Frumkin Gallery, New York, March 1976
Arneson began experimenting with himself as a subject in the early 1970s – by 1975 the artist in various guises and expressions had become a defining aspect of his career.
Curator Patterson Sims Visiting H. C. Westermann’s Studio
Brookfield Center, Connecticut, December 1976
Sims, the recently appointed curator of the collection at the Whitney Museum of American Art paid a visit to Westermann’s Connecticut studio in December of 1976 to look at new work.
Joan Brown's Handwritten Checklist of Drawings
March, 1990
Joan Brown’s handwritten checklist of drawings sent to Frumkin/Adams Gallery in March of 1990 for an exhibition in the fall of that year.
Critic Ted Wolff Visiting the 1981 William T. Wiley Exhibition
Allan Frumkin Gallery, New York
In December of 1981, the gallery mounted its sixth exhibition of Wiley's work, including new paintings, drawings and sculpture completed since his first retrospective at the Walker Art Center a year prior.
'Contemporary Self-Portraits' in Two Parts
Allan Frumkin Gallery, New York, 1982-83
An enduring focus of the gallery has long been self-portraits and indeed many of the artists who have shown here over the years, both regularly and occasionally, have experimented with the format if not made it a staple of their practice.
Red Grooms' Sculpto-Picto-Rama
'The City of Chicago,' 1968
Grooms' wide-ranging activities coalesced in the late 60s with the formation of his production company, Ruckus Construction Co with his then-wife, Mimi Gross. One of the company's first major undertakings was an immersive, 25 foot square sculptural installation of the city of Chicago.
Jose Bedia's installations
Frumkin/Adams Gallery, New York, 1994
For his installations at the gallery, Jose Bedia would either work directly on the wall or large rolls of canvas, as he is here, and often with little to no preparatory drawings.
Elmer Bischoff, David Park and Hassel Smith at the San Francisco Museum of Art
San Francisco, California, Summer 1949
In the summer of 1949, Elmer Bischoff, David Park and Hassel Smith presented their recent paintings in an exhibition at the San Francisco Museum of Art.
Roy De Forest at the Gallery
George Adams Gallery, New York, December 2005
In the fall of 2005, after 45 years on 57th Street, the gallery moved to West 26th in Chelsea. One of the first exhibitions at the new location was of new paintings by Roy De Forest.
The making of Peter Saul's history paintings
Chappaqua, New York, 1975
In 1975, Peter Saul relocated from California to Chappaqua, New York. This photo was taken during a studio visit soon after his move, while Peter was working on his version of Leutze’s Washington Crossing the Delaware.
Excerpts from the journals of Gregory Gillespie
Northampton, Massachusetts, January 1995
Sometimes the best way to look at art is with the artist’s words in mind. For decades Gillespie kept a regular journal, filling it with his thoughts about life, painting and being an artist.
Robert Arneson and Jack Beal at the gallery
Allan Frumkin Gallery, New York, 1979
Galleries are communities: this photo from our archives encapsulates that better than most.