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 (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...
, 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.
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 well- ...
,
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 ...
,
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, Kansas City, Miss ...
, and .
In 1978, Kirkeby alongside Mary Margaret "Moo" Anderson, and
Joseph Goldyne
Joseph R. Goldyne (born 1942), is an American artist, curator, and author. He is known for his monotype prints and drawing and he was one of the co-founders of 3EP Ltd. Press.
Biography
Joseph Goldyne was born on 20 April 1942 in Chicago, Ill ...
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 kn ...
,
Enrique Chagoya, 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 for "tall stick") is a charter city in the northwestern corner of Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto.
The city was es ...
,
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
in her home.
After her death, she left her printmaking studio equipment to the
Palo Alto Art Center. 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.
See also
*
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 ...
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 Washingt ...
,
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...
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 historica ...
,
Santa Clara UniversityA 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
Women art dealers
American women printmakers
American art collectors
Art in the San Francisco Bay Area
21st-century American women