The Orleans Gallery: 65 Years Later

Amanda Winstead Fine Art is pleased to announce the forthcoming exhibition The Orleans Gallery: 65 Years Later. Presenting the work of eight of the artists of this groundbreaking artist cooperative which opened at 527 Royal Street in 1956, this exhibition will focus on some of the unsung artists of the Orleans Gallery.

The Orleans Gallery opened in April 1956 at 527 Royal Street in the French Quarter and became the center of the contemporary art world in New Orleans until closing in early 1973. Founded by seven artists including Robert Helmer, Shearly Grode, George Dunbar, Lin Emery, Jack Hastings, Jean Seidenberg, and James Lamantia, the gallery was run as an artist cooperative, a cutting-edge concept at the time. The artists were seeking a forum where they could openly share their ideas and exhibit their art based mainly in abstraction and Modernism that was not readily accepted in New Orleans at the time. By 1960, the Orleans Gallery was established and successful in New Orleans, allowing a true contemporary art scene to thrive in the city and providing the foundation for the robust gallery and art scene of today.   This exhibition is by no means an exhaustive study of the Orleans Gallery and the many artists who had the good fortune to be a part of the collective, but rather a glimpse of a few who have been overlooked and deserve to have their work shown and appreciated. 

Please visit us at 400 Julia St., New Orleans, LA for an opening from 6-8pm on Saturday, December 3rd.  The exhibition will run December 3-17, 2022.  A catalogue has been published in conjunction with the exhibition. Included will be over thirty works by the following artists:

Franklin Adams (1933-2008)

Katherine Choy (1927-58)

Marilyn Conrad (1921-2015)

Lin Emery (1926-2021)

“I imagine that our individual styles would not differ much if we had never met, but I’m sure that we all found our identities faster by being together.”

Shearly Grode (1925-2003)

Robert Helmer (1922-90)

“I think the real reason we opened the Orleans Gallery was we just wanted a group of people that would support each other aesthetically. We wanted to show with a group of people that was a little less commercial.”

Jim Steg (1922-2001)

Mildred Wohl (1906-77)

“The dark and secret places are what intrigue me. Secret places where things are only hinted at and suggested…night, a dark entrance or hidden promises. However, there must be a light somewhere and somehow in this dark. On yes, always some light!”