Edith Halpert or Edith Gregor Halpert (née Edith Gregoryevna Fivoosiovitch; 1900–1970) was a pioneering

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

dealer Dealer may refer to: Film and TV * ''Dealers'' (film), a 1989 British film * ''Dealers'' (TV series), a reality television series where five art and antique dealers bid on items * ''The Dealer'' (film), filmed in 2008 and released in 2010 * ...

of American modern art and

American folk art American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

. She brought recognition and market success to many

avant-garde In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable ...

American artists. Her establishment, the

Downtown Gallery The Downtown Gallery was the first commercial art gallery established in 1926 by Edith Halpert in Greenwich Village, New York City, United States. At the time it was founded, it was the only New York gallery dedicated exclusively to contemporary Am ...

, was the first commercial art space in

Greenwich Village Greenwich Village, or simply the Village, is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street (Manhattan), 14th Street to the north, Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the s ...

. When it was founded in 1926, it was the only New York gallery dedicated exclusively to contemporary American art by living artists. Over her forty-year career, Halpert showcased such modern art luminaries as

Elie Nadelman Elie Nadelman (born Eliasz Nadelman; February 20, 1882 – December 28, 1946) was a Polish-American sculptor, draughtsman of the School of Paris and a collector of folk art. Early years Nadelman was born into a Jewish family in Warsaw in 188 ...

Max Weber Maximilian Carl Emil Weber (; ; 21 April 186414 June 1920) was a German Sociology, sociologist, historian, jurist, and political economy, political economist who was one of the central figures in the development of sociology and the social sc ...

, Marguerite and

William Zorach William Zorach (February 28, 1889 – November 15, 1966) was an American sculptor, painter, printmaker, and writer. He won the Logan Medal of the Arts in 1927. He was at the forefront of American artists embracing cubism. He is the husband of ...

, Stuart Davis,

Peggy Bacon Margaret Frances Bacon (May 2, 1895 – January 4, 1987) was an American artist, best known for her satirical caricatures. Bacon studied under Kenneth Hayes Miller at the Art Students League of New York, where she taught herself drypoint an ...

Charles Sheeler Charles Sheeler (July 16, 1883 – May 7, 1965) was an American artist known for his Precisionism, Precisionist paintings, commercial photographer, commercial photography, and the 1921 avant-garde film, ''Manhatta'', which he made in collaboratio ...

Marsden Hartley Marsden Hartley (January 4, 1877 – September 2, 1943) was an American Modernist painter, poet, and essayist. Hartley developed his painting abilities by observing Cubist artists in Paris and Berlin. Early life and education Hartley was bor ...

Yasuo Kuniyoshi was a Japanese-American painter, photographer and printmaker. Early life Kuniyoshi was born on September 1, 1889, in Okayama, Japan. He immigrated to the United States in 1906 at 17, choosing not to attend military school in Japan. Kuniyoshi ...

Ben Shahn Ben Shahn (September 12, 1898 – March 14, 1969) was an American artist. He is best known for his works of social realism, his left-wing political views, and his series of lectures published as ''The Shape of Content''. Born Benjamin Shahn in Ka ...

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William Steig William Steig ( ; November 14, 1907 – October 3, 2003) was an American cartoonist, illustrator and writer of children's books, best known for the picture book ''Shrek!'', which inspired the Shrek (franchise), film series of the same name, as we ...

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 ...

, Walter Meigs,

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, and many others. Halpert later expanded her business to include American folk art, and certain nineteenth-century American painters, including

Raphaelle Peale Raphaelle Peale (sometimes spelled Raphael Peale; February 17, 1774 – March 4, 1825) is considered the first professional American painter of still-life. Biography Peale was born in Annapolis, Maryland, the fifth child, though eldest survivin ...

William Michael Harnett William Michael Harnett (August 10, 1848 – October 29, 1892) was an American Painting, painter known for his trompe-l'œil still lifes of ordinary objects. Early life Harnett was born in Clonakilty, County Cork, Ireland, during the time of ...

, and John Frederick Peto, whom she considered to be precursors to American modernism.Pollock, Lindsay, ''The Girl With the Gallery: Edith Gregor Halpert And the Making of the Modern Art Market'', PublicAffairs, 2006.

Early years

Halpert was born Edith Gregoryevna Fivoosiovitch to Gregor and Frances Lucom Fivoosiovitch in

Odessa ODESSA is an American codename (from the German language, German: ''Organisation der ehemaligen SS-Angehörigen'', meaning: Organization of Former SS Members) coined in 1946 to cover Ratlines (World War II aftermath), Nazi underground escape-pl ...

(then

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

, now

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

) on April 25, 1900. She had a sister, Sonia, five years older. Shortly after the deadly pogroms of October 1905, Halpert immigrated to New York City in 1906 with her mother and sister (her father died in 1904 of

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

). At this time the family name changed to Fivisovitch. They initially settled on the west side of

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater ...

, then a predominantly Jewish immigrant neighborhood, and Halpert attended the progressive

Wadleigh High School for Girls The Wadleigh High School for Girls was established by the NYC Board of Education in 1897 and moved into its new building in Harlem in September 1902. It was the first public high school for girls in New York City. At the time, public secondary ...

. At the age of 14, she further Americanized her name to Edith Georgina Fein and began to pursue a career as an artist. She studied drawing under

Leon Kroll Leon Kroll (December 6, 1884 – October 25, 1974) was an American painter and lithographer. A figurative artist described by ''Life'' magazine as "the dean of U.S. nude painters", he was also a landscape painter and also produced an exceptional ...

and

Ivan Olinsky Ivan Gregorewitch Olinsky (1 January 1878 – 11 February 1962) was a Russian-born American painter and art instructor. Biography Olinsky was born in Yelisavetgrad , Russian Empire (now Kirovohrad, Ukraine). After immigrating to the United St ...

at the

National Academy of Design The National Academy of Design is an honorary association of American artists, founded in New York City in 1825 by Samuel Morse, Asher Durand, Thomas Cole, Frederick Styles Agate, Martin E. Thompson, Charles Cushing Wright, Ithiel Town, an ...

and life drawing with George Bridgeman at the

Art Students League The Art Students League of New York is an art school in the American Fine Arts Society in Manhattan, New York City. The Arts Students League is known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists. Although artists may study f ...

. Halpert was able to attend the National Academy of Design at such a young age because she convinced her instructors that she was actually sixteen. She was also a member of the Whitney Studio Club and John Weischel's People's Art Guild, a radical artists' cooperative for which she served as treasurer. In 1917, she met the American painter

Samuel Halpert Samuel Halpert (1884 in Białystok, Russia – 1930 in Detroit, Michigan) was an American painter. Early days Halpert's family migrated to New York City in 1890. His father's preoccupation with religious devotion necessitated that Halpert s ...

through the People's Art Guild, and they married the following year. The couple remained in New York City, where Samuel continued to paint while Halpert worked to support them. In the 1920s and 1930s, marriage was still a popular goal among young women. While many young women worked, most stopped after marriage. However, Halpert continued to work to support her household while Samuel stayed home to paint. In 1925, they lived at the Maison Watteau in Montparnasse, then Paris's liveliest artist community. The following summer, the Halperts stayed at the artist colony founded by

Hamilton Easter Field Hamilton Easter Field (1873–1922) was an American artist, art patron, connoisseur, and teacher, as well as critic, publisher, and dealer. Highly regarded for his knowledge of Japanese prints and his passion for American folk art and crafts, ...

Ogunquit Ogunquit ( ) is a resort town in York County, Maine, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population was 1,577. Ogunquit is part of the Portland-South Portland-Biddeford metropolitan area. History Ogunquit was first a village within ...

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

. They rented a cottage from Robert Laurent, and mingled with other American artists who were residing there that summer: Stefan Hirsch, Bernard Karfiol,

Walt Kuhn Walter Francis Kuhn (October 27, 1877 – July 13, 1949) was an American painter and an organizer of the famous Armory Show of 1913, which was America's first large-scale introduction to European Modernism. Biography Kuhn was born in New Yor ...

, Katherine Schmidt,

Niles Spencer Niles Spencer (16 May 1893 – 15 May 1952) was an American painter of the Precisionist School who specialized in depicting urban and industrial landscapes. His works are in the permanent collections of several major museums including the Metrop ...

, and Marguerite and

, all of whom would later join her gallery. Many of the artists in Ogunquit were interested in folk art and used it to decorate their homes and as inspiration in their work. Samuel and Halpert divorced in 1930, just before his untimely death caused by streptococci

meningitis Meningitis is acute or chronic inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord, collectively called the meninges. The most common symptoms are fever, intense headache, vomiting and neck stiffness and occasion ...

Business career

Halpert's career began early. In order to support herself and her mother (and later, her husband), Halpert took a number of jobs in rapid succession and became a highly successful businesswoman. At the age of 16, she worked at

Bloomingdale's Bloomingdale's Inc. is an American luxury department store chain founded in 1861 by Joseph Bloomingdale and Lyman Bloomingdale. It was acquired by Federated Department Stores in 1930, which purchased the Macy's department store chain in 1994, ...

department store, first as a

comptometer The Comptometer was the first commercially successful key-driven mechanical calculator, patented in the United States by Dorr Felt in 1887. A key-driven calculator is extremely fast because each key adds or subtracts its value to the accumulat ...

operator and then as an illustrator in the advertising department. She then worked in the foreign office of

Macy's Macy's is an American department store chain founded in 1858 by Rowland Hussey Macy. The first store was located in Manhattan on Sixth Avenue between 13th and 14th Streets, south of the present-day flagship store at Herald Square on West 34 ...

, before becoming an advertising manager at Stern Brothers, eventually working as an efficiency expert for the garment manufacturers Cohen-Goldman and Fishman & Co. Between 1920 and 1925, Halpert served in several roles with S.W. Straus & Company, the bank investment firm that originated real-estate mortgage bonds. "By 25, she was one of two female business executives in the city and quite well-off." Halpert had earned a substantial salary and was appointed to the board of directors. Despite her success and high status, she quit her association with Straus at her husband's urging in 1925. This left her with more time to devote to her marriage, and gave her an opportunity to refocus her ambitions on the business of art. Upon Halpert's resignation, she and Samuel traveled to Paris, France, and stayed for nearly a year.

Opening The Downtown Gallery

While staying in France, Halpert noticed that French artists had more opportunities to sell and display art than their American counterparts. After returning to the U.S., Halpert decided to create a space where she could provide similar opportunities. Flush from bonuses earned in her business dealings, in the fall of 1926, Halpert used that money to open Our Gallery in Manhattan at 113 West 13th Street with her friend Berthe Kroll Goldsmith. The gallery featured contemporary American art, often by friends of Halpert and her husband, artist

. The following year 1927, the name of the gallery changed to the Downtown Gallery at the suggestion of artist

. In early brochures, Halpert and Goldsmith described their mission thus: "The Downtown Gallery has no prejudice for any one school. Its selection is driven by quality — by what is enduring — not by what is in vogue."

The Downtown Gallery, American Folk Art Gallery, and The Daylight Gallery

The American Folk Art Gallery, founded by

Holger Cahill Sveinn Kristján Bjarnarsson (January 13, 1887 – July 8, 1960), also known as Edgar Holger Cahill, was an Icelandic-American curator, writer and arts administrator. He served as the national director of the Federal Art Project of the Works Prog ...

in partnership with Halpert and Goldsmith, opened in 1929 as the first folk art gallery, installing itself upstairs from the Downtown Gallery. The affinity between Halpert's artists and folk art was strong, and sales of folk art sustained the Downtown Gallery through the Depression. Regular devotees included

Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Abigail Greene Aldrich Rockefeller (October 26, 1874 – April 5, 1948) was an American socialite and philanthropist. She was a prominent member of the Rockefeller family through her marriage to financier and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller ...

, and Halpert drew on their relationship to convince Rockefeller to provide support for the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...

and, later, The Downtown Gallery. A third space, operating behind the main gallery, opened in 1930. Called the Daylight Gallery, it emphasized art and sculpture displayed in diffuse natural light, and featured elaborate iron silhouette doors Halpert had commissioned in 1929. In a press release, Halpert referred to the new gallery as “a modest moment in American Art.”

Fortifying The Downtown Gallery

Halpert's business acumen helped her manage prices, and encourage collectors of modest means. Halpert also used marketing and advertising, and worked to get her artists included in museums and public collections to increase their exposure. After buying out Goldsmith in 1935, Halpert winnowed her stable of artists down to twelve, and focused on profitability. In 1940, the gallery relocated to 43 East 51st Street and, in 1945, she moved again, this time to 32 East 51st Street. As an advisor for the

WPA Federal Art Project The Federal Art Project (1935–1943) was a New Deal program to fund the visual arts in the United States. Under national director Holger Cahill, it was one of five Federal Project Number One projects sponsored by the Works Progress Administratio ...

, Halpert had access to many artists outside of New York, many of whom she exhibited. She also hosted exchange exhibitions with the

Boris Mirski Gallery The Boris Mirski Gallery (1944–1979) was a Boston art gallery owned by Boris Chaim Mirski (1898–1974). The gallery was known for exhibiting key figures in Boston Expressionism, New York and international modern art styles and non-western a ...

, The Downtown Gallery's similarly avant-garde Boston counterpart. Halpert also worked to attract artists formerly represented by

Alfred Stieglitz Alfred Stieglitz (; January 1, 1864 – July 13, 1946) was an American photographer and modern art promoter who was instrumental over his 50-year career in making photography an accepted art form. In addition to his photography, Stieglitz was k ...

who died in 1946. She also took on artists' estates, including one from former Stieglitz artist

. In 1941, Halpert and "her friend Alain Locke, the writer and theorist of black culture, Halpert organized ''Negro Art in America'', a survey of 41 artists that was the first such exhibition in a New York gallery. Not long after, Halpert exhibited Jacob Lawrence's Migration Series, a 60-panel memorial to The Great Migration, which is now owned jointly by MOMA and Washington D.C.'s Phillips Collection. After 1936, all of Halpert's artists were eventually transferred, without the artists' consent to the Alan Gallery, led by Halpert's assistant director Charles Alan. The Downtown Gallery relocated one last time to the

Ritz Tower The Ritz Tower is a luxury residential building at 465 Park Avenue on the corner of 57th Street (Manhattan), East 57th Street in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. It was built from 1925 to 1926 as an apartment hotel and was ...

Concourse at 465 Park Avenue in 1965.

Contributions to the art world

Halpert served as organizer and director of the First Municipal Exhibition of American Art, Atlantic City, New Jersey, in 1929. Her work with the

took her to Washington D.C. in the summer of 1936 to develop the Exhibition and Allocation Program, which facilitated nationwide circulation for works from regional art centers. In 1937, she formed the Bureau for Architectural Sculpture and Murals, a central clearing-house from which architects could review and select work by artists and sculptors experienced in working in architectural settings (similar in mission to her Daylight Gallery). Halpert served as curator of the art section of the American National Exhibition, sponsored by the

United States Information Agency The United States Information Agency (USIA) was a United States government agency devoted to propaganda which operated from 1953 to 1999. Previously existing United States Information Service (USIS) posts operating out of U.S. embassies wor ...

and the

U.S. Department of Commerce The United States Department of Commerce (DOC) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government. It is responsible for gathering data for business and governmental decision making, establishing industrial standards, catalyzing econo ...

; she traveled to the Soviet Union with the exhibition, installed the show, and gave daily gallery talks in Russian. In 1952, to promote art history, Halpert established the Edith Gregor Halpert Foundation. Its activities included assisting universities to fund scholarships for the study of contemporary American art and championing the rights of artists to control the sale and reproduction of their work. In recognition of her dedication to the arts, Halpert received the Art in America Award in 1959, a

USIA The United States Information Agency (USIA) was a United States government agency devoted to propaganda which operated from 1953 to 1999. Previously existing United States Information Service (USIS) posts operating out of U.S. embassies wor ...

Citation for Distinguished Service in 1960, and the First Annual International Silver Prize from the

University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university system with its main campus in Storrs, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1881 as the Storrs Agricultural School, named after two benefactors. In 1893, ...

for "distinguished contribution to the arts" in 1968.

Exhibitions from Halpert's collection

* ''American Modernism: The First Wave, Painting from 1903-1933'', presented at

Brandeis University Brandeis University () is a Private university, private research university in Waltham, Massachusetts, United States. It is located within the Greater Boston area. Founded in 1948 as a nonsectarian, non-sectarian, coeducational university, Bra ...

Museum of Art, 1963 * ''Six Decades of American Art'', shown at

Leicester Galleries Leicester Galleries was an art gallery located in London from 1902 to 1977 that held exhibitions of modern British, French and international artists' works. Its name was acquired in 1984 by Peter Nahum, who operates "Peter Nahum at the Leiceste ...

, London, 1965 * ''Image to Abstraction'', held at

Amon Carter Museum The Amon Carter Museum of American Art (also known as the Carter) is located in Fort Worth, Texas, in the city's cultural district. The museum's permanent collection features paintings, photography, sculpture, and works on paper by leading arti ...

, 1967 * ''Edith Halpert and the Downtown Gallery'', exhibited at the

, 1968. The Edith Gregor Halpert Collection was eventually sold at auction by Sotheby Parke-Bernet, 1973. * The

Jewish Museum A Jewish museum is a museum which focuses upon Jews and may refer seek to explore and share the Jewish experience in a given area. Notable Jewish museums include: Albania * Solomon Museum, Berat Australia * Jewish Museum of Australia, Melbourn ...

's 2019 exhibition
Edith Halpert and the Rise of American Art
' included 100 pieces of Downtown Gallery-related American modern and folk art, as well as items from her personal collection.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Halpert, Edith Gregor 1900 births 1970 deaths American art dealers American women art dealers American women art collectors American art collectors Jewish art collectors Modern art American folk art Business of visual arts Odesa Jews Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the United States