The Barnett-Aden Gallery was an

art gallery An art gallery is a room or a building in which visual art is displayed. In Western cultures from the mid-15th century, a gallery was any long, narrow covered passage along a wall, first used in the sense of a place for art in the 1590s. The long ...

Washington D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, founded by James V. Herring and Alonzo J. Aden, who were associated with

Howard University Howard University is a private, historically black, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity" and accredited by the Mid ...

's art department and gallery. The Barnett-Aden Gallery is recognized as the first successful Black-owned private art gallery in the United States,Maurer, Renée. From the Archives: Barnett Aden Galley and The Phillips Collection. The Phillips Collection. April 13, 2022. https://www.phillipscollection.org/blog/2022-04-13-archives-barnett-aden-gallery-and-phillips-collection The cited source explains this particular phrasing at footnote 4, on the basis that the

Harlem Renaissance The Harlem Renaissance was an intellectual and cultural revival of African-American music, dance, art, fashion, literature, theater, politics, and scholarship centered in Harlem, Manhattan, New York City, spanning the 1920s and 1930s. At the ti ...

sculptor Augusta Savage opened a New York City gallery, The Salon of Contemporary Negro Art, earlier, in June 1939, but it closed after only a few months. showcasing numerous collectible artists and becoming an important, racially integrated part of the artistic and social worlds of 1940s and 1950s Washington, D.C.

History

The Barnett-Aden Gallery opened on October 16, 1943, on the first floor of 127 Randolph Place, NW, a Victorian townhouse shared by Aden and Herring, who were business and life partners.Abbott, Janet Gail. The Barnett Aden Gallery: A Home for Diversity in a Segregated City. Doctoral dissertation. The Pennsylvania State University. September 05, 2008. https://etda.libraries.psu.edu/files/final_submissions/2675 Thomas, Alma. Autobiographical writing by Alma Thomas concerning James W. Herring and Alonzo Aden, before 1978. Alma Thomas papers, circa 1894-2001. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. https://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/items/detail/autobiographical-writing-alma-thomas-concerning-james-w-herring-and-alonzo-aden-18480Marshburn, Ja-Zette, and Alana Donocoff and Hollis Gentry. Historical Records of the Barnett-Aden Gallery, Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. 2020-2021. https://www.si.edu/media/NMAAHC/NMAAHC-A2014_63_32_FindingAid.pdf Herring joined the Howard faculty in 1921, started the university's art department in 1922, chaired the department until his retirement in 1953, and founded the university's gallery of art in 1928 (it opened in 1930). Aden, an art history student of Herring's at Howard, was the first curator of the

Art Gallery and the first director of the Barnett-Aden Gallery. The gallery is named after his mother, Naomi Barnett Aden, who was a "benefactor." From the outset, Alma Thomas, a former student of Herring's at Howard, served as the gallery's vice president and provided funding, as well as Laura Carson and Dr. and Mrs. Cecil Marquez. Instead of collecting commissions from artists, Aden and Barnett invited gifts of art from the exhibiting artists; these gifts would become part of the Barnett-Aden Collection.Rediscovered Artworks from the Barnett Aden Collection: Collection features celebrated African American artists. Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. March 13, 2012. https://vmfa.museum/pressroom/news/rediscovered-artworks-barnett-aden-collection/

Artists represented

The Barnett-Aden Gallery presented and promoted artists of all backgrounds, particularly African American artists who had limited exhibition opportunities in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s.The Collection. Anacostia Neighborhood Museum; Barnett-Aden Gallery; Corcoran Gallery of Art (1974). ''The Barnett-Aden collection: catalog''. Washington, DC: Published for the Anacostia Neighborhood Museum by the Smithsonian Institution Press. https://archive.org/stream/cor5_0_s06_ss01_boxrg5_0_2008_012_f08/cor5-0_s06_ss01_boxrg5-0-2008.012_f08_djvu.txt Collectible artists featured at the gallery included Alma Thomas, Elizabeth Catlett, Lois Mailou Jones, Charles White, Edward Mitchell Bannister,

Jacob Lawrence Jacob Armstead Lawrence (September 7, 1917 – June 9, 2000) was an American painter known for his portrayal of African-American historical subjects and contemporary life. Lawrence referred to his style as "dynamic cubism", an art form populariz ...

, Laura Wheeler Waring,

Romare Bearden Romare Bearden (, ) (September 2, 1911 – March 12, 1988) was an American artist, author, and songwriter. He worked with many types of media including cartoons, oils, and collages. Born in Charlotte, North Carolina, Bearden grew up in New York C ...

, Henry O. Tanner, Bernice Cross, Merton Simpson,

Morris Louis Morris Louis Bernstein (November 28, 1912 – September 7, 1962), known professionally as Morris Louis, was an American painter. During the 1950s he became one of the earliest exponents of Color Field painting. While living in Washington, D ...

, Kenneth Noland,

, and several others.

Gallery visitors

Exhibitions, shows, receptions and other events at the Barnett-Aden Gallery provided a racially integrated gathering place for the art community in a segregated city from the 1940s-1960s. First Lady

Eleanor Roosevelt Anna Eleanor Roosevelt ( ; October 11, 1884November 7, 1962) was an American political figure, diplomat, and activist. She was the longest-serving First Lady of the United States, first lady of the United States, during her husband Franklin D ...

was photographed visiting the Barnett-Aden Gallery in 1944, as she attended the opening of the Candido Portinari show, along with foreign ambassadors, presidential cabinet members, and local dignitaries. Romare Bearden said that the first time he saw a

Matisse Henri Émile Benoît Matisse (; 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French visual arts, visual artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a drawing, draughtsman, printmaking, printmaker, ...

in Washington was at the Barnett-Aden. Therese Schwartz wrote that the Barnett-Aden was the most important art gallery in America south of New York.

Closure and legacy

After the sudden death of gallery co-founder Aden in 1961, the gallery began to decline. Herring, Aden's partner, died in 1969, and the gallery closed. The Barnett-Aden Collection was divided and distributed into three lots: Adolphus Ealey, a former student of Herring's, and a former director of the Barnett-Aden Gallery, received more than 200 paintings; Felton J. Earls, MD, received Herring's books, drawings, and prints; and art collector Cecil Marquez and his wife, who were initial supporters of the gallery, received sculptures from the collection. In the 1970s, the Barnett-Aden collection was displayed at the Anacostia Neighborhood Museum of the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...

, the

Corcoran Gallery of Art The Corcoran Gallery of Art is a former art museum in Washington, D.C., that is now the location of the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design, a part of the George Washington University. Founded in 1869 by philanthropist William Wilson Corco ...

, and the Museum of Afro-American Culture and History in Philadelphia. In 1989, Ealey sold his portion of the collection to the Florida Endowment Fund for Higher Education. In 1998, Robert L. Johnson, founder of BET, purchased the collection. In 2012, the

Virginia Museum of Fine Arts The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA) is an art museum in Richmond, Virginia, United States, which opened in 1936. The museum is owned and operated by the Commonwealth of Virginia. Private donations, endowments, and funds are used for the supp ...

presented, "Rediscovered Artworks from the Barnett Aden Collection," an exhibition that featured 50 paintings, sculptures, and works on paper from the Collection that were acquired by Margaret and John Gottwald.Marsh, Rachel. The Power of Art. A mid-century gallery in Washington, DC gave a voice to the oppressed at a time of widespread oppression. Boomer Magazine. June 15, 2017. https://www.boomermagazine.com/special-kind-of-soul/ The VMFA exhibit features the work of 23 artists, including Richmond Barthé, Elizabeth Catlett, David Driskell, Norman Lewis, Charles White, and Hale Woodruff. In 2015, Johnson donated portions of the collection to the

National Museum of African American History and Culture The National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC), colloquially known as the Blacksonian, is a Smithsonian Institution museum located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., in the United States. It was established in 2003 an ...

. In 2017, portions of the Barnett-Aden Collection that were acquired by Margaret and John Gottwald composed the “A Special Kind of Soul” exhibit at the Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia.

Exhibitions

During its existence, the Barnett-Aden Galley hosted nearly 200 exhibitions and presented the work of more than 400 artists.

Notes

References

External links

The Historical Records of the Barnett-Aden Gallery
from the Smithsonian

{{Authority control Art museums and galleries in Washington, D.C. Defunct art museums and galleries in the United States 1943 establishments in Washington, D.C. Art museums and galleries established in 1943