Mary Callery
Mary Callery | |
|---|---|
 Callery in 1952 | |
| Born | June 19, 1903 New York City, USA |
| Died | February 12, 1977 (aged 73) Paris, France |
| Nationality | American |
| Known for | Sculpture |
| Movement | Abstract expressionism;American Figurative Expressionism |
Mary Callery(June 19, 1903 – February 12, 1977) was an American artist known for herModernandAbstract Expressionistsculpture.She was part of theNew York Schoolart movementof the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s.
It is said she "wove linear figures of acrobats and dancers, as slim as spaghetti and as flexible asIndia rubber,intoopenworkbronze and steel forms. A friend ofPicasso,she was one of those who brought the good word of Frenchmodernismto America at the start of World War II ".[1]
Biography
[edit]Early life and education
[edit]
Mary Callery was born June 19, 1903, in New York City and raised inPittsburgh, Pennsylvania.[2]She was the daughter of Julia Welch and James Dawson Callery, the President of the Diamond National Bank and Chairman ofPittsburgh Railways Company.
Callery studied at theArt Students League of New York(1921–1925) withEdward McCartanand moved to Paris in 1930. From 1930 to 1940, Callery worked in France, where she met and became friends withPablo Picasso,[3]Henri Matisse,Fernand Léger,Alexander Calder,Aristide Maillol,[4]and other leading artists of the day and collected their art. During this same period, she also developed her talents as a modern sculptor, studying privately under Jacques Loutchansky.[1][5]
Career
[edit]WhenGermany occupied Parisduring World War II, she returned to the United States with "more Picassos than anyone in America" according toAlfred Barrof theMuseum of Modern Art.[4]
After returning to New York, Callery played an instrumental role in the development and growth of ULAE (Universal Limited Art Editions,Inc.). For many years, ULAE primarily published reproductions. It is thought by many that Mary Callery was the first artist to print original work at ULAE.[6]Callery's first edition with ULAE,Sons of Morning,was completed in 1955. The paper that Callery's second edition, Variations on a Theme of “Callery-Léger”, was printed on was called the “Callery gray” was used by Mrs. Grosman for the studio's first printed labels, and is still the trademark gray ULAE uses today.[7]
ArchitectPhilip Johnson,whom she had met her in Paris, became a close friend, and he introduced her to major players in the world of business and art in New York, includingNelsonandAbby Rockefeller.Wallace Harrison,who along with Johnson, was responsible for the design ofLincoln Center,commissioned Callery to create a sculpture for the top of theprosceniumarch at theMetropolitan Opera House.[4]Described as "an untitled ensemble of bronze forms creating a bouquet of sculptured arabesques,"[8]it is perhaps her best known work. It is most affectionately known by The Metropolitan Opera Company members as "The Car Wreck" and more infrequently as "Spaghetti Spoon in Congress with Plumbers Strap."
She was represented by the prestigious art dealersM. Knoedler & Co.and theCurt Valentin Gallery,and she exhibited in more than twenty noteworthy solo and group exhibitions.[9]She became an acquaintance ofGeorgia O'Keeffeand in 1945 made a sculpture of O'Keeffe's head.
In 1945, she was invited to join the summer faculty ofBlack Mountain CollegeinNorth Carolina,where she taught alongsideJosef Albers,Robert Motherwell,Lyonel Feininger,andWalter Gropius.[6]
Personal life
[edit]In 1923, she marriedFrederic R. Coudert Jr.,lawyer (and future member ofCongress). They had one daughter, Caroline, born in 1926. Mary sought a divorce from Coudert in 1930 and in 1931 married Italian textile industrialist and fine art collector Carlo Frua de Angeli.[10][11]This second marriage also ended in divorce. Following the beginning of the Second World War, she carried on a romantic relationship with architectMies van der Rohewho designed an artist's studio for her inHuntington,onLong Island, New York.[4]
Later life and death
[edit]In her later years, Callery maintained studios in New York, Huntington, Long Island, and Paris.[6]She died on February 12, 1977, at theAmerican Hospital of Paris.She is buried inCadaqués,Spain.
Solo exhibitions
[edit]- 1944, 1947, 1950, 1952, 1955: Buchholz Gallery, New York City
- 1946:Arts Club of Chicago
- 1947, 1949, 1950–1952, 1955:Curt Valentin Gallery,New York City
- 1949: Salon du Mai, Paris
- 1951: Margaret Brown Gallery,Boston, Massachusetts
- 1954: Galerie des Cahiers d'Art
- 1957, 1961, 1965: M. Knoedler & Co., New York City
- 1962: M. Knoedler & Co., Paris
- 1968: C. Holland Gallery,New York
Group exhibitions
[edit]- 1939:Salon des Tuileries,Paris; TheMuseum of Modern Art,New York City;TheWhitney Museum of American Art,NYC; TheArt Institute of Chicago;Museum of Fine Arts, Houston,Texas
- 1946: The City Art Museum ofSt. Louis, Missouri
- 1947-52:Painting toward architecture(Miller Company Collection of Abstract Art) at the Wadsworth Atheneum and 24 other venues[12][13]
- 1949:3rd Sculpture Internationalat thePhiladelphia Museum of Art,Philadelphia,Pennsylvania
- 1956: Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute,Utica, New York
- 1958:Dallas Museum of Art,Dallas, Texas;Brussels World's Fair
- 2000:The Enduring Figure 1890s-1970s: Sixteen Sculptors from the National Association of Women Artistsat Zimmerli Art Museum, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ (December 12, 1999 – March 12, 2000).[14]
Collections
[edit]- Addison Gallery of American Art,Phillips Academy,Andover, Massachusetts[15]
- The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum,Ridgefield, Connecticut
- CIT Corporation
- TheCincinnati Art Museum,Cincinnati, Ohio
- TheDetroit Institute of Arts,Detroit,Michigan
- Eastland Shopping Center, Detroit
- Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, DC[16]
- Indianapolis Museum of Art[17]
- Laughlin Children's Center,Sewickley, Pennsylvania
- TheWadsworth Atheneum,Hartford, Connecticut
- TheMuseum of Modern Art,New York City
- National Gallery of Art,Washington, DC[14]
- New York University,New York City
- San Francisco Museum of Modern Art,San Francisco, California
- Toledo Museum of Art,Toledo, Ohio
- TheWhitney Museum of American Art,New York City
- TheMetropolitan Opera House,New York City
- TheGovernor Nelson A. Rockefeller Empire State Plaza Art Collection,Albany, NY
References
[edit]- ^abCharlotte Steifer Rubinstein,"American Women Sculptors, A History of Women Working in Three Dimensions" page: 329
- ^Michel Seuphor,The Sculpture of this Century,Publisher: George Braziller, Inc., New York, 1960. page: 246
- ^Mary Callery,Mary Callery Sculpture.Distributed by Wittenborn and Company, New York, 1961. Page: VI
- ^abcdWelch, Frank D. (2000).Philip Johnson & Texas(1 ed.). Austin: University of Texas Press.ISBN0292791348.Archived fromthe originalon 2005-03-22.
- ^Paul Cummings,"Dictionary of Contemporary American Artists"1 to 5th edition, St. Martin's Press, New York; St. James Press, London
- ^abc"Mary Callery".The Johnson Collection, LLC.Retrieved2020-03-28.
- ^"Mary Callery Prints at Universal Limited Art Editions (ULAE)".www.ulae.com.Archived fromthe originalon 2008-08-20.
- ^The Metropolitan Opera."FAQs: The Opera House:" What is the sculpture over the stage? "".The Metropolitan Opera.Retrieved17 February2013.
- ^The Getty Research Institute."Knoedler Gallery Archive".Retrieved17 February2013.
- ^Shirey, David L. (1973-04-10)."A Picasso Sets Mark, 1.1‐Million".The New York Times.ISSN0362-4331.Retrieved2023-06-30.
Although it is believed to have been part of Picasso's personal collection for a number of years as well as that of Daniel‐Henry Kahnweiler, his dealer, its history of ownership was not recorded until 1939. At that time the canvas passed into the hands of Mary Callery, a sculptor and friend of the artist. It was nurchased in 1960 by Frua de' Angeli, a Milanese collector. and subsequently, it is understood, was purchased by the Basel dealer Ernst Beyeler, who sold it to the National Gallery
- ^"Pablo Picasso. Bather. winter 1908-09 | MoMA".The Museum of Modern Art.Retrieved2023-06-30.
- ^Hitchcock, Henry-Russell. (1948).Painting toward architecture.[Shows Callery'sWater ballet(1947) andAmity (study)(1946), pp. 115-16.] The Miller Company: Meriden, CT. Retrieved January 22, 2017.
- ^(August 29, 2016).'ThePainting toward architectureexhibition (1947-52) by the Miller Company Collection of Abstract Art: The artworks'.artdesigncafe.Retrieved January 22, 2017.
- ^ab(Undated).'Callery, Mary.Amity(1947)'.National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, website. Retrieved January 22, 2017.
- ^(Undated).'Mary Callery. (1948).School of fish.'Addison Gallery of American Art website. Retrieved January 22, 2017.
- ^(Undated).'Mary Callery (various sculptures)'.Smithsonian Institution website. Retrieved January 22, 2017.
- ^(Undated)."Mary Callery. (c. 1957).Variations on a theme of Callery-Leger".Indianapolis Museum of Art website. Retrieved January 22, 2017.
Bibliography
[edit]- John I. H. Baur,Revolution and Tradition in modern American Art,Cambridge, Harvard University Press, 1951
- Ulrich Gertz,Contemporary plastic art,Berlin, Rembrandt-Verlag, 1955
- Carola Giedion-Welcker,Contemporary sculpture, an evolution in volume and space,New York, G. Wittenborn, 1961, ©1960
- Fred Licht,Sculpture, 19th & 20th centuries,Greenwich, Connecticut, New York Graphic Society, 1967
- E.H. Ramsden,Sculpture: theme and variations, towards a contemporary aesthetic,London, Lund, Humphries, 1953
- Herbert Read,A concise history of modern sculpture,New York, Praeger, 1964ISBN0-19-519941-3,ISBN978-0-19-519941-3
- Andrew Carnduff Ritchie,Sculpture of the twentieth century(exhibition catalogue),New York: Museum of Modern Art, ©1952
- Michel Seuphor,The sculpture of the century: dictionary of modern sculpture,Zwemmer, 1960
- Eduard Trier,Form and space; sculpture of the twentieth century,New York, Praeger, 1962
- Philip R. Adams,Mary Callery Sculpture.Distributed by Wittenborn and Company, New York, 1961
- Marika Herskovic,American Abstract Expressionism of the 1950s An Illustrated Survey(New York School Press, 2003.)ISBN0-9677994-1-4
External links
[edit]- Mary Callery biographyfrom askart.com (with image ofAcrobats with Birds)
- 'Life Images: Mary Callery'
- 'Metropolitan Museum of Art database'
- Article on Callery's Metropolitan Opera sculpture
