Vera A. Allison (1902–1993) also known as Vera Gaethke, was an American

Modernist Modernism is both a philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new forms of art, philosophy, an ...

jeweler, and abstract painter. She was a co-founder of the Metal Arts Guild of San Francisco, a non-profit, arts educational organization. Allison had lived in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

Berkeley Berkeley most often refers to: *Berkeley, California, a city in the United States **University of California, Berkeley, a public university in Berkeley, California * George Berkeley (1685–1753), Anglo-Irish philosopher Berkeley may also refer ...

, and

Mill Valley Mill Valley is a city in Marin County, California, United States, located about north of San Francisco via the Golden Gate Bridge and from Napa Valley. The population was 14,231 at the 2020 census. Mill Valley is located on the western and ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

; and in San Cristobal,

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...

Early life and education

Vera Allison was born December 5, 1902, in San Francisco. She attended

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

(U.C. Berkeley), where she received a B.A. degree in Art. In 1929, she married painter and printmaker George Gaethke (1898–1982), and they had a child.

Career

After graduation, she travelled in Europe and made paintings in oil paint and watercolors. When she returned to San Francisco, Allison worked as a commercial designer at Foster & Kleiser advertising company. When she was returning to work after a period of maternity leave, Allison took adult education classes in jewelry and studied under Loyola Lawson Fourtane (1899–1976) of

Sausalito Sausalito (Spanish for "small willow grove") is a city in Marin County, California, United States, located southeast of Marin City, south-southeast of San Rafael, and about north of San Francisco from the Golden Gate Bridge. Sausalito's p ...

. In 1951, Allison was one of the founding members of the Metal Arts Guild of San Francisco (MAG), a metal arts organization led by

Margaret De Patta Margaret De Patta ('' née'' Strong; 1903–1964) was an American jewelry designer and educator, active in the mid-century jewelry movement. Early life and education She was born in 1903 in Tacoma, Washington, and grew up in San Diego, Califo ...

. Other founding members of MAG included Merry Renk, Irena Brynner,

Florence Resnikoff Florence Lisa Resnikoff ( Herman; 1920–2013) was an American artist and educator in the fields of metals and jewelry. Early life and education Florence Lisa Herman was born in 1920 in Fort Worth, Texas. She began making jewelry in 1948 whi ...

, Byron August Wilson,

Peter Macchiarini Peter Macchiarini (August 27, 1909 – July 3, 2001) was an American Modernist jeweler and sculptor, who was a pioneer in the field of avant-garde jewelry. He maintained an art studio and shop on Grant Avenue in San Francisco, California, for m ...

, Virginia Macchiarini, Francis Sperisen, and Bob Winston. From 1967 to 1986, Allison lived in Mill Valley, Marin County, California; where she was an active member of the

Marin Society of Artists The Marin Society of Artists (MSA) is an arts nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization founded in 1927, and located at 1515 3rd Street in San Rafael, California. It is the first and the oldest art organization in Marin County. Formerly known as the Mari ...

. She was part of the group exhibition, ''Jewelry by Peter Macchiarini, Vera Allison, and Irena Brynner'' (1952) at

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) is a modern and contemporary art museum located in San Francisco, California. A nonprofit organization, SFMOMA holds an internationally recognized collection of modern and contemporary art, and was ...

(SFMoMA). In 1962, Allison was part of an annual members group exhibition with the Society of San Francisco Women Artists (now

San Francisco Women Artists San Francisco Women Artists (SFWA) is one of California's oldest arts organizations. Created in 1887 as the Sketch Club, the organization was created by local San Francisco Bay Area women to support and promote the talents of established and emerg ...

) arts organizations at SFMoMA, where she won an award for her jewelry. In 1976, she served as a jury member for the ''30th Annual Art Festival'' (1976) in

Civic Center A civic center or civic centre is a prominent land area within a community that is constructed to be its focal point or center. It usually contains one or more dominant public buildings, which may also include a government building. Recently, the ...

, San Francisco.

End of life, death, and legacy

She continued to be active in the arts into the late 1970s. In 1986, Allison moved to New Mexico to live with her daughter. She died on August 20, 1993, in La Lama (now

Lama Foundation Lama Foundation is a spiritual community founded in 1967, located in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains of northern New Mexico, seventeen miles north of Taos. The original commune was co-founded by Barbara Durkee (now known as Asha Greer or Asha vo ...

) in San Cristobal, New Mexico at the age of 90. Her artist files are located in the Smithsonian American Art and Portrait Gallery Library in Washington, D.C..

Exhibitions

* 1947, ''Vera Allison and George Gaethke'',

Gump's Gump's is a luxury American home furnishings and home décor retailer, founded in 1861 in San Francisco, California. The company was acquired by the Chachas family in June 2019 and announced that it would be opening a San Francisco location for th ...

gallery, San Francisco, California * 1950, solo exhibition, Barry Lambert Gallery,

Santa Rosa Santa Rosa is the Italian, Portuguese and Spanish name for Saint Rose. Santa Rosa may also refer to: Places Argentina *Santa Rosa, Mendoza, a city * Santa Rosa, Tinogasta, Catamarca * Santa Rosa, Valle Viejo, Catamarca *Santa Rosa, La Pampa * Sa ...

, California * 1955, ''Jack London Square Art Festival'', Oakland, California * 1952, ''Jewelry by Peter Macchiarini, Vera Allison, and Irena Brynner'', San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, California * 1961, ''Contemporary Craftsmen of the Far West'',

Museum of Contemporary Crafts The Museum of Arts and Design (MAD), based in Manhattan, New York City, collects, displays, and interprets objects that document contemporary and historic innovation in craft, art, and design. In its exhibitions and educational programs, the mus ...

, New York City, New York * 1962, ''Annual Exhibition of the Society of San Francisco Women Artists'', San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, California * 1966, ''The Art of Personal Adornment'', the Museum West of the American Craftsman Council, San Francisco, California

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Allison, Vera 1902 births 1993 deaths Artists from San Francisco Artists from Berkeley, California People from Mill Valley, California University of California, Berkeley alumni Modernist designers American jewelry designers Women jewellers