Paula Zolloto Kirkeby (née Paula Ruth Zolloto; 1934–2016) was an American art collector, art donor, and the director and founder of a commercial art gallery. She was a co-founder of Smith Andersen Editions, 3EP Ltd. Press, and Smith Andersen Gallery. Many of the artists she worked with were part of the

Bay Area Figurative Movement The Bay Area Figurative Movement (also known as the Bay Area Figurative School, Bay Area Figurative Art, Bay Area Figuration, and similar variations) was a mid-20th-century art movement made up of a group of artists in the San Francisco Bay Area wh ...

Early life

Paula Ruth Zolloto was born on 3 April 1934 in Lynn,

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

, and raised in Dorchester. She moved to Palo Alto, California in 1955, after marrying Stuart Kaplan. Her first marriage ended in divorce. She remarried Philip Norman Kirkeby in May 1962.

Career

In October 1969, she opened Smith Andersen Gallery at 200 Homer Street in Palo Alto. The gallery's goal was to create more of a local art scene and they invited for exhibition both Internationally recognized artists and artists that taught at nearby

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

. Smith Andersen Gallery artists included

Sam Francis Samuel Lewis Francis (June 25, 1923 – November 4, 1994) was an American painter and printmaker. Early life Sam Francis was born in San Mateo, California,

Bruce Conner Bruce Conner (November 18, 1933 – July 7, 2008) was an American artist who worked with assemblage, film, drawing, sculpture, painting, collage, and photography. Biography Bruce Conner was born November 18, 1933, in McPherson, Kansas. His w ...

, Ed Moses,

Nathan Oliveira Nathan Oliveira (December 19, 1928 – November 13, 2010) was an American painter, printmaker, and sculptor, born in Oakland, California to immigrant Portuguese parents. Since the late 1950s, Oliveira has been the subject of nearly one hundred s ...

Frank Lobdell Frank Lobdell (1921–2013) was an American painter, often associated with the Bay Area Figurative Movement and Bay Area Abstract Expressionism. Life and career Frank Lobdell was born on August 23, 1921, in Kansas City, Missouri, and raised in ...

, and . In 1978, Kirkeby alongside Mary Margaret "Moo" Anderson, and Joseph Goldyne founded 3EP Ltd. Press of Palo Alto. 3EP Ltd. Press remained in operation until 1984. In 1984, Kirkeby became the sole owner of the press and renamed it Smith Andersen Editions, a fine art printshop and press that focused on

monotype Monotyping is a type of printmaking made by drawing or painting on a smooth, non-absorbent surface. The surface, or matrix, was historically a copper etching plate, but in contemporary work it can vary from zinc or glass to acrylic glass. The ...

and

monoprint Monoprinting is a type of printmaking where the intent is to make unique prints, that may explore an image serially. Other methods of printmaking create editioned multiples, the monoprint is editioned as 1 of 1. There are many techniques of mono-pr ...

. Smith Andersen Editions was located at 440 Pepper Avenue in Palo Alto. From 1991 to 2016, served as the master printer of Smith Andersen Editions. Smith Andersen Editions artists included

Miriam Schapiro Miriam Schapiro (also known as Mimi) (November 15, 1923 – June 20, 2015) was a Canadian-born artist based in the United States. She was a painter, sculptor, printmaker, and a pioneer of feminist art. She was also considered a leader of the Pa ...

George Herms George Herms (born 1935) is an American artist best known for creating assemblages out of discarded, often rusty, dirty or broken every-day objects, and juxtaposing those objects so as to infuse them with poetry, humor, and meaning. He is also k ...

Enrique Chagoya Enrique Chagoya (born 1953) is a Mexican-born American painter, printmaker, and educator. The subject of his artwork is the changing nature of culture. He frequently uses shocking imagery, irony, and Mesoamerican icons to convey his point in his a ...

, and others. After Kirkeby died in 2016, Smith Andersen Editions in Palo Alto was closed.

Death and legacy

In 2001, Flanders Graphics of Minneapolis presented the exhibition, ''A Tribute to Paula Kirkeby and Smith Andersen Editions.'' She died on 2 April 2016 in

Palo Alto Palo Alto ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for ) is a charter city in northwestern Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a Sequoia sempervirens, coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto. Th ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

in her home. After her death, she left her printmaking studio equipment to the

Palo Alto Art Center The Palo Alto Art Center is a multi-purpose center open to the public for art activities for all ages, located at 1313 Newell Road in Palo Alto, California, Palo Alto, California. It is managed by the City of Palo Alto, California, Palo Alto, ...

. The City of Palo Alto dedicated June 13, 2016 to Kirkeby, for her service to the arts in the city. Santa Clara University’s de Saisset Museum unveiled a sculptural bench in her honor and memory.

References

External links

Smith Andersen Gallery records, 1963-1980
from

Archives of American Art The Archives of American Art is the largest collection of primary resources documenting the history of the visual arts in the United States. More than 20 million items of original material are housed in the Archives' research centers in Washing ...

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 ...

Smith Andersen Editions Archive
from

de Saisset Museum The de Saisset Museum at Santa Clara University opened in 1955, after Isabel de Saisset, the last member of a California pioneer family bequeathed her estate to the University of Santa Clara. The museum owns nearly 10,000 art pieces and historic ...

Santa Clara University Santa Clara University is a private university, private Jesuit university in Santa Clara, California, United States. Established in 1851, Santa Clara University is the oldest operating institution of higher learning in California. The university' ...

A Finding Aid to the 3EP Ltd. Records, 1970-1984, bulk 1979-1984, in the Archives of American Art
from Smithsonian Online Virtual Archives (SOVA)
Paula Kirkeby/Smith Andersen Gallery collection of Bruce Conner, 1964-2001
from Online Archives of California (OAC) {{DEFAULTSORT:Kirkeby, Paula 1934 births 2016 deaths People from Palo Alto, California American art dealers American women art dealers American women printmakers American art collectors Art in the San Francisco Bay Area 21st-century American women

Early life

Career

Death and legacy

See also

References

External links