FEATURED PEOPLE
More than a hundred artists exhibited at the Jefferson Place Gallery, and we’ve been able to begin compiling archival materials on only a handful. The artists who owned the cooperative Jefferson Place Gallery are as diverse as they were influential, and we hope you’ll enjoy exploring their lives and work.
Sam Gilliam by Carol Harrison
(C) Carol Harrison [ #160 ]
(C) Carol Harrison [ #160 ]
Rockne Krebs with "Sculpture Minus Object," 1968
Image courtesy © Estate of Rockne Krebs
Image courtesy © Estate of Rockne Krebs
Artist Ben Summerford
Jefferson Place Gallery Catalog, 1959 [ #2 ]
Jefferson Place Gallery Catalog, 1959 [ #2 ]
Photograph of artist Benjamin Abramowitz
Courtesy Susan Rosenbaum [ #148 ]
Courtesy Susan Rosenbaum [ #148 ]
Alice Denney, 1959
Photo from Washington Star, used by permission DC Public Library [ #124 ]
Photo from Washington Star, used by permission DC Public Library [ #124 ]
Artist Robert Gates
Jefferson Place Gallery Catalog, 1959 [ #7 ]
Jefferson Place Gallery Catalog, 1959 [ #7 ]
Artist George Bayliss
University of Michigan News and Information Services, Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan [ #179 ]
University of Michigan News and Information Services, Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan [ #179 ]
Artist Helene McKinsey
Jefferson Place Gallery Catalog, 1959 [ #3 ]
Jefferson Place Gallery Catalog, 1959 [ #3 ]
Photograph of Foam Works, by Ed Zerne, installed on the outside of the Jefferson Place Gallery
Courtesy Lydia Zerne [ #145 ]
Courtesy Lydia Zerne [ #145 ]
Photo of artist Colin Greenly, 1962
Archive of Colin Greenly [ #139 ]
Archive of Colin Greenly [ #139 ]
Artist Lothar Brabanski
Jefferson Place Gallery Catalog, 1959 [ #5 ]
Jefferson Place Gallery Catalog, 1959 [ #5 ]
Willem de Looper
Courtesy Frauke de Looper [#214]
Courtesy Frauke de Looper [#214]
Artist Frederic Thursz
Lucille C. Little Fine Arts Library, University of Kentucky Libraries [ #206 ]
Lucille C. Little Fine Arts Library, University of Kentucky Libraries [ #206 ]
Carol Harrison photographing Sam Gilliam with Olivia Grady in foreground
Photo by Steve Frietch, used with permission of Carol Harrison [ #123 ]
Photo by Steve Frietch, used with permission of Carol Harrison [ #123 ]
Jack Tworkov on his front porch, Provincetown, MA
Photo: Marvin Lazarus © Estate of Jack Tworkov / Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY. Courtesy Alexander Gray Associates, New York. [ #193 ]
Photo: Marvin Lazarus © Estate of Jack Tworkov / Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY. Courtesy Alexander Gray Associates, New York. [ #193 ]
Portrait of artist William Calfee with his sculpture, Summer, 1963
Courtesy William H. Calfee Foundation [ #125 ]
Courtesy William H. Calfee Foundation [ #125 ]
Lotus, Kenneth Noland, 1962
Used by permission Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden; all rights reserved. [#254]
Used by permission Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden; all rights reserved. [#254]
Portrait of artist Robert D'Arista
Image courtesy Jane D'Arista [ #137 ]
Image courtesy Jane D'Arista [ #137 ]
Artist John Wise, mid-1970's
Photo by Harriet Wise. Courtesy John Wise. [#256]
Photo by Harriet Wise. Courtesy John Wise. [#256]
Artist Gene Davis
Jefferson Place Gallery Catalog, 1959 [ #178 ]
Jefferson Place Gallery Catalog, 1959 [ #178 ]
Artist William Eggleston
(C) Carol Harrison [ #188 ]
(C) Carol Harrison [ #188 ]
Artist Hilda Shapiro
Jefferson Place Gallery Catalog, 1959 [ #4 ]
Jefferson Place Gallery Catalog, 1959 [ #4 ]
Photograph of artist Jacob Kainen by Paul Feinberg, 1979
Courtesy Hemphill Gallery [ #151 ]
Courtesy Hemphill Gallery [ #151 ]
Artist Mary Orwen
Jefferson Place Gallery Catalog, 1959 [ #6 ]
Jefferson Place Gallery Catalog, 1959 [ #6 ]
Susanna by Leonard Maurer
Courtesy American University [ #21 ]
Courtesy American University [ #21 ]
Artist Toko Shinoda
Washington Star, 1958, Courtesy DC Public Library [ #174 ]
Washington Star, 1958, Courtesy DC Public Library [ #174 ]
Artist Howard Mehring
John Anderson confirm [ #187 ]
John Anderson confirm [ #187 ]
Photograph of artist William Christenberry (seated in front of "Moundville," oil on canvas, 1959)
Courtesy Hemphill Gallery [ #150 ]
Courtesy Hemphill Gallery [ #150 ]
Lambic Time, Thomas Downing, 1962
Courtesy Ramon Osuna [ #203 ]
Courtesy Ramon Osuna [ #203 ]
Artist Shelby Shackleford
Jefferson Place Gallery Catalog, 1959 [ #8 ]
Jefferson Place Gallery Catalog, 1959 [ #8 ]
Portrait of Steven L Spurlock by E. Brady Robinson
Image courtesy Steven L Spurlock [#301]
Image courtesy Steven L Spurlock [#301]
Walter Hopps by Mary Swift
Image courtesy Paul Richard [#300]
Image courtesy Paul Richard [#300]
Portrait of Paul Haldemann, 2009
Provided by Mr. Haldemann [#299]
Provided by Mr. Haldemann [#299]
Videos
View a video introduction to the JPG archive project by John Anderson, recollections of a wedding at the gallery, and a video archive of one sculpture created by Rockne Krebs for the gallery.
ARCHIVAL PRESS CLIPS
Archival press coverage of the Jefferson Place Gallery documents the career trajectories of the exhibited artists, and the development of trends and theories in modern art.
D.C. Gets a New Kind of Gallery
D.C. Gets a New Kind of Gallery
October 13, 1957
The Washington Post
“
The plan behind the gallery is new for Washington, although it has been tried successfully in New York: the gallery is owned and run cooperatively by the participating group of 10 artists, who have banded together because they feel that they represent a common interest and direction in their painting and sculpture. ”
In the Galleries: D’Arista
In the Galleries: D’Arista
May 27, 1962
Washington Star
“
Mr. D’Arista paints the figure and still lives and has thoroughly mastered the fusion of form with paint. His nudes and his oranges both seem to be sculpted out of colored space with a minimum of strokes. The forms have solidity and great appeal, but the scope is much too modest to be finally satisfying […] ”
Restraint Enhances Young Washington Artist’s Sculptures
Restraint Enhances Young Washington Artist’s Sculptures
February 18, 1968
The Washington Post
“
The newly expanded and redecorated Jefferson Place Gallery, 2144 P St. NW, is showing new plexiglass and aluminum sculptures by Rockne Krebs, a 29-year-old Washington artist. It's an impressive show. At it's best, Krebs' work exhibits an intensity and restraint that is rare indeed. ”
Painting a Vision
Painting a Vision
December 1, 1971
The Washington Post
“
They have the look of revolution, old conventions overturned, the past abandoned. But to seize upon their strangeness, to exaggerate their newness, is to see them out of focus. For Sam Gilliam is anything but a reckless artist. ”
Jefferson Place
Jefferson Place
February 26, 1958
Washington Star
“
The blues themselves, which are the strongest memory the show leaves, are perfectly balanced between light and dark to model a figure or express a mood… A “Portrait of Gene Davis” makes better use of that painter’s stripes than he does himself. ”
Gates’ Latest
Gates’ Latest
November 16, 1958
Sunday Star
“
All are abstractions, which nevertheless convey a sense of far-reaching distances, golden sands, purple or earth-red mountains and canyons, colors changed by shifting clouds, times of day or seasons. ”
Gates’ Latest
Gates’ Latest
November 16, 1958
Sunday Star
“
The feeling of the Southwest if strong in the latest work by Robert Gates, at the Jefferson Place Gallery, 1216 Connecticut Avenue NW through next Saturday. His first one-man show of new work in more than three years, it is composed entirely of paintings, watercolors and drawings, done during his sabbatical year, largely spent in […] ”
Gates Indoors
Gates Indoors
May 1, 1960
Washington Star
“
His first one-man show at the Jefferson Place Gallery, 1216 Connecticut Avenue NW, brought her the endless space, distant mountains, and solitude of the Southwestern desert, all expressed abstractly, but unmistakable in atmosphere and color. His current one-man show there express the quietude of interiors and still life, in deep-toned colors and heavy impasto. ”
Gates Indoors
Gates Indoors
May 1, 1960
Washington Star
“
Robert Gates never repeats himself. Having seen the evolution of his painting from naturalistic to abstract since his first one-man show at the Phillips Gallery in the early 1930’s, I do not recall a single display of his which was an encore of an earlier collection. ”
Jefferson Place
Jefferson Place
April 22, 1962
Washington Star
“
The title of the show is “The River and the Sea” and the abstractions of this theme suggest the water colors of John Marin carried to the next degree… Blue and green patches suggest the flow of water. Loose black line interrupts that flow, just as it is interrupted by the breaking of a wave, […] ”
She’s an Expert on Calligraphy
She’s an Expert on Calligraphy
February 26, 1958
Washington Star
“
At the age of 19 Miss Shinoda broke away from her classical training and sought a free flowing original form of her own. Using actual calligraphic words as a theme, she has developed imaginative linear abstractions which merely suggest their original inspiration. ”
Eggleston: Through the Lens Obliquely
Eggleston: Through the Lens Obliquely
June 22, 1974
Washington Star-News
“
Color in photography frequently is distracting, but not in Eggleston’s case. This is not a matter so much of printing technique (though the dye-transfer prints are very good) but of vision. The color adds an important note to Eggleston’s sense of redolence, decadence, and abnormality. ”
She’s an Expert on Calligraphy
She’s an Expert on Calligraphy
February 26, 1958
Washington Star
“
A modern interpretation of the ancient art of calligraphy is now being exhibited at the Jefferson Gallery by Miss Toko Shinoda of Tokyo, Japan. ”
Eggleston: Through the Lens Obliquely
Eggleston: Through the Lens Obliquely
June 22, 1974
Washington Star-News
“
Just as Walker Evans usually makes his photographs head-on, preferring the innate stability of the frontal image, William Eggleston of Memphis, Tenn., seems to see things obliquely. His images, be they buildings, a rusted swing in the middle of an untended field, or a display shelf of junk-food cookies, tilt away from the picture plane. ”
Frederic Thursz
Frederic Thursz
December 6, 1959
Sunday Star
“
At any rate, to the ordinary gaze, Mr. Thursz’ large paintings have a sort of convention in being painted all over in one color or black, with one or more large roughly circular forms in the same color or slightly darker, executed with heavier paint applied in strokes having a different direction, and at a […] ”
Jefferson Place
Jefferson Place
February 26, 1958
Washington Star
“
The sense of place is gone completely. He creates monumental single figures, for the most part, usually with one dominant color, often blue. These people exist in themselves; sometimes there is a chair, a sofa, a bit of cloth… Great simplified, the coloring is nevertheless extraordinary. ”
Jefferson Place
Jefferson Place
February 26, 1958
Washington Star
“
Throughout the show there is the mark of authority, the seriousness and assurance of a mature artist engrossed in his work, indifferent to evangelism in art. ”
Rectangles of Color that Contain Vast Spaces
Rectangles of Color that Contain Vast Spaces
April 24, 1973
The Washington Post
“
Christenberry’s sculpture, with all its carpentry and neon tubes, also seems to me heavy with technique, but his photographs are absolutely direct. Armed with a brownie camera that he had owned since childhood, Christenberry began making pictures in his native Alabama shortly after he discovered the photography of Walker Evans… ”
Jefferson Pl Gallery
Jefferson Pl Gallery
February 4, 1962
Evening Star
“
An example of what happens when a similar monomania takes possession of a less experienced artist may be seen at the Jefferson Place right now in the one-man exhibition of Frederic Thursz… The smaller pictures are run of the mill texture-abstraction in which the paint has dried and the pigment has been heaped up to […] ”
In the Galleries: Greenly
In the Galleries: Greenly
April 20, 1958
Washington Star
“
Outstanding here are the prints, which show a fine understanding of the medium, and a new series of drawing of a rather baleful dog in the tradition of Tamayo. ”
Tworkov’s Drawings
Tworkov’s Drawings
April 12, 1959
Washington Star
“
But most of these large drawings, which from a close view are merely masses of bold and varied strokes, reveal to the observer who backs away from them, nude figures masterfully modeled with light and shadow, which emerge magically from the tangled strokes. ”
Tworkov’s Drawings
Tworkov’s Drawings
April 12, 1959
Washington Star
“
The majority of more than 20 black and white drawings on view appear at first glance to be merely coarse scribbles. Heavy cross hatching in charcoal or brush and ink has produced several impenetrable all-black surfaces suggestion the interior of a coal mine at midnight. ”
Tworkov’s Drawings
Tworkov’s Drawings
April 12, 1959
Washington Star
“
Jack Tworkov is an abstract expressionist whose career is founded upon sound traditional training at the National Academy of Design and the New York Art Students Leagues. This may account in part for the fact that most of his drawings in his one-man show at the Jefferson Place Gallery… are basically realistic. ”
Colorist
Colorist
October 24, 1968
Washington Star
“
Shelby Shackleford of Baltimore is having her first Washington solo exhibition at Jefferson Place Gallery, 1216 Connecticut Ave. NW. through next Saturday. She is one of its original member artists. Her paintings are abstract, well constructed, with variety of forms, and outstanding color. ”
In the Galleries: Hilda Shapiro
In the Galleries: Hilda Shapiro
March 5, 1967
Washington Star
“
Her oil paintings are abstractions composed of heavy strokes, straight, curved and varied in directions, with concentrations of colors and tones giving her compositions their individuality. ”
In the Galleries: D’Arista
In the Galleries: D’Arista
May 27, 1962
Washington Star
“
One of the most formidable younger American painters came to Washington this year to teach at American University, Robert D’Arista. Single small paintings have turned up in University shows and in group shows at the Jefferson Place, which now presents a one-man exhibition. ”
In the Galleries: Mehring
In the Galleries: Mehring
October 28, 1962
Washington Star
“
[I]t should be noted that his use of three and sometimes four dominant colors cannot but make it more difficult for the homemaker to match his work to her drapes or upholstery than it was when he used but one. ”
In the Galleries: Mehring
In the Galleries: Mehring
October 28, 1962
Washington Star
“
Howard Mehring is having a whole show of his combination paintings and assemblages at the Jefferson Place. As reported here recently, Mr. Mehring now paints as if he were using his former overall paintings as raw material for new assemblages. ”
In the Galleries: John Wise
In the Galleries: John Wise
January 29, 1974
Washington Star-News
“
The vertical wood grains emphatically establish the picture plane, which is then denied or confounded by the elegant “S”, furl, tent or other shapes, and then either confounded or reinforced by pretty, monochromatic coloring. ”
In the Galleries: John Wise
In the Galleries: John Wise
January 29, 1974
Washington Star-News
“
The John Wise show at the Jefferson Place Gallery (2000 P st. NW) is taut, clean, clear, spare – so reduced in vocabulary that some may fail to see the art in Wise’s new shaped paintings on wood. ”
Between 2-D and 3-D
Between 2-D and 3-D
October 5, 1973
The Washington Post
“
This show is full of drawings, and not just five or 10 or 30. There are 365 drawings here, all made with candle flame and smoke, hanging floor to ceiling, on a dozen walls. ”
Nesta Dorrance and the Jefferson Place Gallery
Nesta Dorrance and the Jefferson Place Gallery
September 21, 1969
The Washington Post
“
The JP's national reputation rests on the Washington artists it has launched. Kenneth Noland introduced his brightly-colored "target" paintings at the early Jeff Place in 1958… Gene Davis, now handled by the Henri Gallery, first showed his eye-boggling vertical stripes at the JP in 1962.. ”
Transition From Gray Slabs to Color
Transition From Gray Slabs to Color
May 14, 1967
The Washington Post
“
Joe Summerford’s new one-man show at the Jefferson Place Gallery (through June 3) is his first exhibition in 3 years. It shows him in a process of transition. ”
American U. Painter Holds Exhibit
American U. Painter Holds Exhibit
November 3, 1963
The Washington Post
“
The Jefferson Place Gallery has opened a one-man show of new paintings by Joe Summerford, recently returned from a sabbatical year in Spain. Summerford is head of the art department of American University and is well known locally both as an artist and an educator. All the paintings in the exhibition were done while the […] ”
Art: Jefferson Place
Art: Jefferson Place
March 3, 1968
The Sunday Star
“
Krebs talks of the viewer being "compelled to locate it (the object) and to define for himself the space it occupies." This is definition of sculpture at a highly distilled level and this piece is a brilliant success in terms of its theory. ”
Between 2-D and 3-D
Between 2-D and 3-D
May 10, 1973
The Washington Post
“
Krebs' work has always been so clean, his geometry so pure; but "Home" is not austere, it's raggedy and funny. It is not made of laser beams, nor of sunlight, nor of polished plastic, those familiar Krebsian materials. It is made, instead, of an ancient windmill, wires, balls of steel wool, cotton, and bits of transparent colored Plexiglass. ”
Between 2-D and 3-D
Between 2-D and 3-D
May 10, 1973
The Washington Post
“
Having studied it for years, with increasing admiration, I thought I understood the art of Rockne Krebs. Then I saw his newest piece. It's call "Home on the Range." It will be on view through Oct. 13 in the third-floor gallery of the Jefferson Place, 2000 P St. NW, and it's like nothing you have ever seen. ”
Nesta Dorrance and the Jefferson Place Gallery
Nesta Dorrance and the Jefferson Place Gallery
September 21, 1969
The Washington Post
“
When Nesta Dorrance took on the Jefferson Place in 1961 she got: the gallery's name, a short list of patrons, and less than $50 in petty cash. ”
Nesta Dorrance and the Jefferson Place Gallery
Nesta Dorrance and the Jefferson Place Gallery
September 21, 1969
The Washington Post
“
Sometimes an artist's only customer during an entire show would be Alice Denney herself. She gleefully concedes that much of her own strong collection came from those shows that wouldn't sell. In 1961, when the members decided to disband their non-profit cooperative, Alice went on to involve herself in other local art events. She helped initiate the Washington Gallery of Art... ”
Nesta Dorrance and the Jefferson Place Gallery
Nesta Dorrance and the Jefferson Place Gallery
September 21, 1969
The Washington Post
“
Sam Gilliam, 36, a tall, articulate man who wears John Lennon spectacles, recently began painting canvases up to 150 feet long that are meant to hand limply along the wall like crushed drapes. ”
Nesta Dorrance and the Jefferson Place Gallery
Nesta Dorrance and the Jefferson Place Gallery
September 21, 1969
The Washington Post
“
Krebs is interested in new materials and processes rather than the traditional media of metal and stone. He would like to make structures for the air. ”
Nesta Dorrance and the Jefferson Place Gallery
Nesta Dorrance and the Jefferson Place Gallery
September 21, 1969
The Washington Post
“
The Jefferson Place Gallery (the "JP"), like its art, bows to few conventions… Although it enjoys a national reputation, it occupies two floors of nondescript commercial building, barely identified by the name on the second story window and a recessed yellow door. ”
Sculptor Takes Panes
Sculptor Takes Panes
February 23, 1968
The Washington Daily News
“
Rockne Krebs says he didn't excel in geometry in school, but in his new show of sculpture at Jefferson Place he more than makes up for those early marks... A person who studies them admires the fragile beauty of the plastic, and the way their edges hod light in some places like a vessel and at other places break it down into prisms of color. ”
Restraint Enhances Young Washington Artist’s Sculptures
Restraint Enhances Young Washington Artist’s Sculptures
February 18, 1968
The Washington Post
“
The viewer can look both at them and through them; he can study the reflections and transparencies of the plastic and of the peculiarly dematerialized square-section aluminum channels, each of which carries strips of light-reflecting tape; he is always conscious of space, of the space the sculptures occupy and of the rooms they seem to pierce; but all of his personal discoveries, or observations, or musings, take place in the presence of objects as immediately apprehensible as a pyramid or a cube. Their deceptive simplicity is the greatest virtue of these works. There is nothing arty or fussy about them... It is this simplicity, rather than the shifting richness that swirl about it, that persists in the viewer's memory. ”
Restraint Enhances Young Washington Artist’s Sculptures
Restraint Enhances Young Washington Artist’s Sculptures
February 18, 1968
The Washington Post
“
Much contemporary sculpture suffers from mindless elaboration, from a costume-jewelry fussiness that obscures and dissolves whatever might have been the artist's original intention. ”
The Light Touch
The Light Touch
January 6, 1969
The Washington Post
“
Washington sculptor Rockne Krebs has had three shows at the Jefferson Place Gallery here. During the first two he sold only a single work - to Nesta Dorrance, the Gallery's owner. ”
Dignified Expressions Suggesting the Infinite
Dignified Expressions Suggesting the Infinite
November 19, 1982
The Washington Times
“
For all its spareness, this is a very satisfying show…. Abramowitz has clearly though out exactly why each form is as it is and then has been content to let his art speak for itself. ”
Dignified Expressions Suggesting the Infinite
Dignified Expressions Suggesting the Infinite
November 19, 1982
The Washington Times
“
But Abramowitz never achieved the fame of his "color school" colleagues. Certainly his art was and remains very different. Whereas their work celebrates color, his enshrines emblematic forms. Where their art is aggressively secular, his suggests more eternal meanings. ”
Orwen’s Gardens
Orwen’s Gardens
December 1, 1957
The Washington Star
“
The tapestries—of brilliant greens, blues, reds—are all different due to the varying application of paint (in strokes, globs, drips, etc.). All are beautiful and covetable work. ”
Jefferson Gallery
Jefferson Gallery
November 5, 1957
The Washington Star
“
The new Jefferson Place Gallery, 1216 Connecticut avenue NW, is a beautiful place to display work to the best advantage. ”
Jefferson Place
Jefferson Place
October 7, 1962
The Washington Star
“
The Jefferson Place Gallery once more is doing business at the same old stand and with largely the same old wares. ”
Four New Shows, All Refreshing
Four New Shows, All Refreshing
March 23, 1958
The Washington Post
“
First on the artistic hit parade this week is certainly Bill Calfee’s one-man show of sculpture, which just opened at the Jefferson Place Gallery to continue through April 5. ”
New Approaches to Modern Art
New Approaches to Modern Art
September 27, 1959
The Washington Post
“
A further departure is a series of seminars from 2 to 3:30pm each Thursday, to be conducted by the participating artists. Next Thursday’s speaker is Helene McKinsey; the following Thursday, Robert Gates will be in charge. The public is invited to attend and to ask questions. The gallery hopes in this way to make the […] ”
New Approaches to Modern Art
New Approaches to Modern Art
September 27, 1959
The Washington Post
“
Helene McKinsey shows two very strong abstract expressionist paintings drawing somewhat loosely from nature. They have a vigor and assurance that are a delight to see. JC: By the way, have you seen Red Devil stretched? It’s a very early painting. (1959) JC: I saw it in the Steve Naifeh book. Willem (de Looper) said […] ”
New Approaches to Modern Art
New Approaches to Modern Art
September 27, 1959
The Washington Post
“
The Jefferson Place Gallery has reopened for the winter season with a group show of its member artists. A new approach to exhibition techniques is a quotation from an artist or philosopher chosen by each painter to clarify his point of view, hung beside his work. ”
Interview with Gene Davis
Interview with Gene Davis
October 27, 2025
Publication Unknown
“
Q: does it matter where an artist lives and works? A: For the artist, geography is destiny. If Money had been living in Stockholm instead of Paris, I doubt he would have become the master of Impressionism. Something in the air in late 19th-century Pairs miraculously led to Impressionism. Something similar happened here in Washington […] ”
Wherefore Art…
Wherefore Art…
December 4, 1973
The Washington Star
“
In the great tradition of the bronzed baby shoe, Gilliam has mounted and silvered his army boots, along with his certificate of service in the armed forces. ”
Wherefore Art…
Wherefore Art…
December 4, 1973
The Washington Star
“
Sam Gilliam is having an exhilarating show of new work at the Jefferson Place Gallery (2000 P St. NW). It consists of two parts, paintings on stretched canvas downstairs, and more experimental work — sewn, draped, glued and painted assemblages, and mini-environments– upstairs. Together they give clear picture of an artist with endless creative imagination, […] ”
Sam Gilliam: More ‘Melodic’
Sam Gilliam: More ‘Melodic’
December 19, 1970
The Washington Post
“
The rest of the world is beginning now to recognize the special gifts, which those who have seen local exhibitions-at the Phillips Collection, the Corcoran, and the Jefferson Place Gallery-long ago perceived. ”
Sam Gilliam: More ‘Melodic’
Sam Gilliam: More ‘Melodic’
December 19, 1970
The Washington Post
“
Gilliam has an extraordinarily inventive mind, and with every exhibition, his work changes and expands. It also steadily improves. ”
Sam Gilliam: More ‘Melodic’
Sam Gilliam: More ‘Melodic’
December 19, 1970
The Washington Post
“
A while ago his innovative unstretched canvases had a harshness. They are sweeter now, more visually melodic, and more beautiful. Once they struck the viewer as daring, tough, experimental objects. Now–without retreat–they read as pictures. ”
Of Stripes on Canvas: A Conversation with Gene Davis
Of Stripes on Canvas: A Conversation with Gene Davis
December 19, 1978
The Washington Post
“
GD: Would you like to see my first stripe painting from 1958?… This pale painting doesn’t have anything to do with my more familiar, bright, hard edge stripe works. This is closer to Klee.. ”
Painting a Vision
Painting a Vision
December 1, 1972
The Washington Post
“
He uses paint to represent a vision. And as his current show at the Jefferson Place Gallery indicates so beautifully, he has been revealing new aspects of that vision for the past half dozen years. ”
Jefferson Gallery
Jefferson Gallery
November 5, 1957
The Washington Star
“
The inaugural group show remains through this week, to be followed by one-artist shows by each of the 11 painters and sculptors to whom the gallery is dedicated. ”
Painting a Vision
Painting a Vision
December 1, 1972
The Washington Post
“
Although they’ve made him famous, there is something just a little scary about the swooping unstretched canvases of Washington’s Sam Gilliam. ”
ART: Corkery’s Paintings His Most Impressive Yet
ART: Corkery’s Paintings His Most Impressive Yet
February 21, 1971
The Washington Post
“
The ambiguity between what is and what is not defined becomes intense. In fact, if a writer may be permitted to make up his mind in the space of three paragraphs, I’d say that these lovely paintings quite definitely are Corkery’s best so far. ”
ART: Corkery’s Paintings His Most Impressive Yet
ART: Corkery’s Paintings His Most Impressive Yet
February 21, 1971
The Washington Post
“
The basic motif in the new paintings is a door (not a literal door to be sure) in the exact center of the horizontal rectangle of the canvas… this motif provides a perfect format for the exploration of light in abstract painting. ”
ART: Corkery’s Paintings His Most Impressive Yet
ART: Corkery’s Paintings His Most Impressive Yet
February 21, 1971
The Washington Post
“
The recent paintings of Tim Corkery, now at the Jefferson Place Gallery (2144 P St. NW), probably make up the most impressive series of paintings to date for this young artist. ”
De Looper: Artist Without a Niche
De Looper: Artist Without a Niche
November 20, 1970
The Washington Post
“
It is time Washington recognized this highly individualistic work as worthy of high praise and support. ”
De Looper: Artist Without a Niche
De Looper: Artist Without a Niche
November 20, 1970
The Washington Post
“
The exhibition demonstrates that de Looper gradually is coming of age. He occupies a curious middle position in the scheme of Washington art, working within a tradition that is quite definitely this city’s, and yet working outside of it, too. ”
De Looper: Artist Without a Niche
De Looper: Artist Without a Niche
November 20, 1970
The Washington Post
“
De Looper’s is in fact an art of high risk taking place within the physical and intellectual limitations set by the rectangular canvas. ”
De Looper: Artist Without a Niche
De Looper: Artist Without a Niche
November 20, 1970
The Washington Post
“
He really seems less concerned with scale than with the specific given boundaries of the rectangular format. He shares with Gilliam a sensitivity to baroque movement, but does not share Gilliam’s intense and inventive concern with real space. ”
An Unsuccessful Dream of Much Larger Things
An Unsuccessful Dream of Much Larger Things
October 26, 1969
The Washington Post
“
Chun Chen’s colors—he frequently uses earth tones, dusky browns and reds—approach the viewer and recede in a manner made familiar by the other color painters, but those graceful curves set up another sort of rhythm that activates the surface of the canvas. ”
An Unsuccessful Dream of Much Larger Things
An Unsuccessful Dream of Much Larger Things
October 26, 1969
The Washington Post
“
Like Gene Davis, Chun Chen explores the sort of subtle optical space generated by the interaction of contiguous vertical bands of color. ”
Jefferson Place
Jefferson Place
October 7, 1962
The Washington Star
“
There are conventional big smears by Marilee Shapiro and Luciano Pena-y-Lillo and dark, lumpy work by Edward Kelley…Mr Kelley’s work, although quite recent, has already achieved a passage of intricate cracking that used to take decades if not centuries of careless handling. ”
Jefferson Place
Jefferson Place
October 7, 1962
The Washington Star
“
In its opening group show, the gallery maintains its reputation, for the time being at least, as the firstest with the farthest out. ”
An Artist Speaks: Gene Davis
An Artist Speaks: Gene Davis
August 26, 1962
The Washington Post
“
When did you first exhibit these new works? My show at the Dupont Theater Gallery in 1959 was transitional. Even so, three of the pictures in that show experimented with stripes. It was not until a group exhibit at the Jefferson Place…. ”
An Artist Speaks: Gene Davis
An Artist Speaks: Gene Davis
August 26, 1962
The Washington Post
“
By March of 1959 I had another show at the Jefferson Place Gallery, mostly of black-and-white action paintings. It was then that I finally came to the conclusion that I had gone as far as I could with action painting. At that time, although I had a number of works in the new direction, I […] ”
An Artist Speaks: Gene Davis
An Artist Speaks: Gene Davis
August 26, 1962
The Washington Post
“
It was not until 1958 that I began to pick up the threads of my Catholic University show. I began to experiment with certain geometric shapes -circles, triangles and squares-in the middle of the canvas. I also began to use single stripes on either edge of the canvas in a number of so-called neo-Dada works, […] ”
Nine New Shows Welcome Spring
Nine New Shows Welcome Spring
April 3, 1960
The Washington Post
“
Bayliss has come a long way toward finding himself; the new work is both richer and freer than heretofore. ”
Nine New Shows Welcome Spring
Nine New Shows Welcome Spring
April 3, 1960
The Washington Post
“
Like many young artists, he is better in his drawings and smaller works, where all the elements of the compositions are tightly knit and well sustained. In the larger works, he still occasionally seems to lose control. ”
Nine New Shows Welcome Spring
Nine New Shows Welcome Spring
April 3, 1960
The Washington Post
“
The Jefferson Place Gallery has just opened an exhibition of new paintings by one of its member artists, George Bayliss, his fourth one man show in this area. ”
In The Galleries
In The Galleries
April 1, 1960
The Washington Post
“
Yet to each new movement there comes a time of reaction. At the Jefferson Place Gallery, Washington artist Tom Downing is demonstrating what happens when an abstract expressionist revolts. ”
A Question
A Question
February 7, 1960
The Washington Post
“
…where figures are placed against flat, intensely colored backgrounds in an asymmetric tension of elements, there is force and simplicity that could lead to very interesting work. ”
A Question
A Question
February 7, 1960
The Washington Post
“
But I have great respect for many of the Washington artists who own and run the Jefferson Place Gallery on a cooperative basis and who, presumably, have chosen this artist…. If the artists who own and underwrite the Jefferson Place Gallery believe in and stand behind this artists, the press release might well say so […] ”
A Question
A Question
February 7, 1960
The Washington Post
“
It seems to me that the Jefferson Place Gallery is up against a problem. Its new show is an invited one from New York: paintings by Jean Clad…. She seems a very poor painter to me, with heavy, ugly impasto, turgid drawing and a very limited amount to say. ”
Perlmutter Comes Into His Own
Perlmutter Comes Into His Own
May 10, 1959
The Washington Post
“
The sketches are particularly successful, with evocative and interesting compositional arrangements and deep velvety textures. ”
Perlmutter Comes Into His Own
Perlmutter Comes Into His Own
May 10, 1959
The Washington Post
“
Another artist whose promise is slowly but surely being kept is Belisario Contreras, whose one-man exhibit at the Jefferson Place Gallery shows great improvement… the best paintings are gems of pure rich color and deep enamel textures. ”
Work of ‘Action’ Painter Shown
Work of ‘Action’ Painter Shown
March 8, 1959
The Washington Post
“
You better hurry on down and either get help or mad. ”
Work of ‘Action’ Painter Shown
Work of ‘Action’ Painter Shown
March 8, 1959
The Washington Post
“
It is only by taking the time to look at them carefully that the spectator will become aware of the tensions and thrusts of planes in space that make these canvases so dynamic. Their sheer power is overwhelming at first, but it is founded on a sure knowledge of composition and on a vital balance […] ”
Work of ‘Action’ Painter Shown
Work of ‘Action’ Painter Shown
March 8, 1959
The Washington Post
“
Davis is a member of the “action” group of painters, who believe that the act of painting is an end in itself, and his work is certain to arouse a a storm of controversy among the public. ”
Work of ‘Action’ Painter Shown
Work of ‘Action’ Painter Shown
March 8, 1959
The Washington Post
“
He is one of the best draftsmen working in Washington. His command of black and white is unusually fine, but this is the first time that so large a group of his abstract expressionist paintings has been shown. ”
Work of ‘Action’ Painter Shown
Work of ‘Action’ Painter Shown
March 8, 1959
The Washington Post
“
The Jefferson Place Gallery has just opened a one-man show by one of its new members, Washington journalist Gene Davis. Davis has held previous shows at the Watkins Gallery, the Franz Bader Gallery, Catholic University and the Dupont Theater Gallery. ”
Four New Shows, All Refreshing
Four New Shows, All Refreshing
March 23, 1958
The Washington Post
“
Flawless or not, there is a more creativeness [sic] and excitement in Calfee’s work than in many a more consistent and controlled statement. ”
Four New Shows, All Refreshing
Four New Shows, All Refreshing
October 27, 2025
The Washington Post
“
Calfee was always a painter’s painter, and it is obvious that he is also a sculptor’s sculptor. ”
Intuitive Stripes
Intuitive Stripes
January 22, 1961
The Washington Star
“
[Davis describes:] It has to do with light, endless space and flatness. To those who see only decoartion I suggest looking a little longer, and, perhaps, with fewer preconceived notions." ”
Intuitive Stripes
Intuitive Stripes
January 22, 1961
The Washington Star
“
Stripes are the theme of most of these 17 recent paintings ”
Intuitive Stripes
Intuitive Stripes
January 22, 1961
The Washington Star
“
Stripes are the theme of most of these 17 recent paintings, which range in size from one about 90 square feet to several a foot or so in dimensions. Some have pencil-thing stripes close together, other wider stripes farther apart, showing more natural white canvas. ”
D.C. Gets a New Kind of Gallery
D.C. Gets a New Kind of Gallery
October 13, 1957
The Washington Post
“
The event of the past week in Washington art circles was the opening of the new Jefferson Place Gallery at 1216 Connecticut Ave NW, just above M St. ”
D.C. Gets a New Kind of Gallery
D.C. Gets a New Kind of Gallery
October 13, 1957
The Washington Post
“
More than half of the artists in the group teach, or have taught, at American University, and they represent the most avante-garde group working in Washington today. All of the painters are abstract, and all are very competent. ”
BLOG POSTS
Mary Pinchot Meyer
Mary Pinchot Meyer
October 12, 2017
Mary Pinchot Meyer’s (October 14, 1920 – October 12, 1964) exhibition at Jefferson Place in November 1963, was given a rave review by Leslie Judd Ahlander in The Washington Post. Ahlander wrote “Using the tondo, or circular, canvas, Mary Meyer divides the area into curved and sinuous areas that sometimes seem to set the tondo to […]
An Interview with Curator and Archivist Susan Rosenbaum
An Interview with Curator and Archivist Susan Rosenbaum
August 12, 2017
A curator and archivist by profession, Susan Rosenbuam inherited an artistic mantle from her famous artist father, Benjamin Abramowitz. What follows is an interview with Ms. Rosenbaum concerning her memories of the Jefferson Place Gallery, and the Washington D.C. art world at that time. RB: Thank you for agreeing to chat with me about the […]
Sam Gilliam + Olivia: an Interview with Carol Harrison
Sam Gilliam + Olivia: an Interview with Carol Harrison
August 11, 2017
Carol Harrison has been a professional photographer, taking images of individuals, artworks, events, and buildings in Washington, D.C., for nearly four decades. Through her work she developed a friendship with the artist Sam Gilliam, and over two decades took a series of portraits of Sam with her daughter, Olivia. Those images (one of which appears […]
An Introduction to Jefferson Place Gallery
An Introduction to Jefferson Place Gallery
August 8, 2017
The Jefferson Place Gallery is considered to be the first DC art gallery almost exclusively focused on representing and supporting the local avant garde artist community. Founded in 1957 by several faculty members from American University—William Calfee, Robert Gates, Helene McKinsey, Mary Orwen*, Ben Summerford—along with Alice Denney, who assumed the role of the gallery’s […]
Inauspicious Beginnings
Inauspicious Beginnings
August 7, 2017
It happened in a class at American University in the spring of 1957. Alice Denney was taking a course in painting from Ben Summerford. He paused by her canvas, looked at the work, and uttered seven words that would change the course of her life and the DC arts scene. “Mrs. Denney… you really must […]
The Landlord
The Landlord
August 5, 2017
60 years removed from the founding of the Jefferson Place Gallery, many of the memories are condensed to vignettes: a blurry snapshot rich in color. Some just add to the texture. Alex Dematatis was the owner of 1216 Connecticut Avenue NW, the first location of the Jefferson Place Gallery. When Alice Denney put […]