Macbeth gallery

DEFINITION

Opened in 1892, this was the first commercial gallery in New York City to develop an active and successful business dealing exclusively in American art. The owner was William Macbeth, and his success was doubly important to American painters in that it inspired others to follow in his footsteps. The enormous publicity that these sales generated were a major factor in creating demand for contemporary American painting. Of his exhibits and those by other small galleries with the same purpose, Macbeth was quoted as saying in the publication, "Art Notes", January 1897, that they "offer to picture lovers the best opportunity for properly studying the work of individual groups or schools of painters." Artists who exhibited at Macbeth Gallery include Arthur Davies, Colin Campbell Cooper, Katherine Dreier, Robert Henri, William Keith, and Edward Hopper. Sources: Jack Becker, essay: 'Championing Tonal Painting', "The Poetic Vision: American Tonalism", Spanierman Galleries LLC, Exhibition Catalogue, 2005; AskART biographies