Paintings by Margaret Tomkins, March 11-April 13, 1947

Sub-Series

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

An exhibition of 26 paintings by American Abstract Expressionist artist Margaret Tomkins.
The exhibition records span four folders and include an artist biography, price list, correspondence with the artist, and registration receipts. A photograph of the artist is in the photograph collection.

Dates

Creation: March 11-April 13, 1947

Creator

Tomkins, Margaret, 1916-2001 (Artist, Person)

Conditions Governing Access

The price list must be redacted before viewing.

Biographical / Historical

Margaret Tomkins (September 11, 1916-March 2002) was an American Surrealist/Abstract Expressionist painter. Though born, raised, and educated in Southern California, she spent most of her life in the Pacific Northwest, where she was well known both for her art and her energetic, outspoken art activism. Her Surrealist works of the 1940s earned considerable national attention, and as her work evolved in the 1950s and 1960s, she came to be known as a pioneer in Abstract Expressionism. Tomkins was the driving force behind the first artist-owned gallery in Seattle, Washington. Though friends with many of the artists of the Northwest School, she denied any artistic connection to these "mystic" painters, at times deriding their claims of quasi-magical inspiration from nature as "silly". She was similarly dismissive of any categorization based on her gender. She was married to painter and sculptor James Fitzgerald, who died in 1973. She spent most of the last thirty years of her life living in a rustic home-studio in the San Juan Islands. She continued painting until a few days before her death in March 2002, maintaining a distinctive abstract style in various phases.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Tomkins

Extent

0.1 Linear Feet (The exhibition records span four folders.)

Language of Materials

From the Collection: English

Additional Description

Abstract

An exhibition of 26 paintings by American Abstract Expressionist artist Margaret Tomkins. The exhibition records span four folders.

Arrangement

The materials are separated by content and type and organized chronologically.

Related Exhibitions

Legion of Honor: Western Oil Painting (1934)
de Young: California Watercolor Society (1940)
de Young: Color Drawings by Gerrie von Pribosic (1949)
de Young: Paintings and Drawings by Gerrie Gutmann (1952)
de Young: Paintings by David Friend (1954)
de Young: Paintings by Milton Resnick (1955)
de Young: Paintings by Paul Wonner (1956)
de Young: Paintings by Glenn Wessels (1959)
de Young: Paintings by John Saccaro (1961)
de Young: Paintings by Sam Tchakalian (1962)
de Young: Paintings by Gerrie Gutmann (1962)
de Young: Paintings by Kenzo Okada (1966)
de Young: Between Abstract Expressionism and Pop Art: Johns, Rauschenberg, and the de Young: Aesthetic of Indifference Curated by Louise Simmons at Sonoma (2008)

Separated Materials

The photograph is housed in the Legion of Honor Exhibition Photograph collection in box 3.