Bert Gallery/The Providence School – 40th Anniversary Exhibit
February 20-28, 2025 11-4
24 Bridge Street, Corliss Landing
www.bertgallery.com

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Marking the 40th anniversary of Bert Gallery, the exhibition “Where It All Began 40 Years Ago For Bert Gallery In 1985,” celebrates Providence School artists with a sampling of important Nineteenth and Twentieth Century painters who were the cornerstone of the cultural history of the capital city. Providence boasts a deep cultural heritage, rare in a modestly sized American city.

In 1985, Bert Gallery opened its gallery to exhibit and research the deep artistic roots of late Nineteenth Century Providence and its place in the national American art scene. For 40 years the gallery has documented and promoted Providence School artists who rallied around the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) and founded an independent art club, the Providence Art Club.

The exhibition runs February 20-28, with a closing 40th anniversary celebration on March 1, from 2-4 pm. Regular gallery hours are Wednesday-Friday, 11 am-4 pm.

Bert Gallery has looked regionally to rediscover what has been lost, forgotten or suppressed in the construction of American art history. The February exhibit of “The Providence School” is the final tribute after 40 years for Bert Gallery to the distinct art culture that resonated in Providence in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries.

Over the decades, Providence was home to several innovative and resourceful artists and collectors. The industrial and manufacturing businesses leaned heavily on the artistic trades attracting a diversified multi-cultural workforce. In the 1880s, the wealth generated in Providence was invested into the foundation of a rich cultural capital city and the coterie of artists became the city’s creative engine. This exhibit examines some of the artists who shaped the cultural scene. Since the 1830s artists set up studios in Providence; entrepreneurs founded galleries: Vose Gallery in 1842 and Bert Gallery 1985; collectors acquired paintings and philanthropists established cultural institutions like the RISD, Providence Art Club, Handicraft Club and the Providence Athenaeum.

On display are artists such as Sydney R. Burleigh (1853-1931), watercolorist and Arts and Crafts “kinder child,” builder of the National Historic Landmark Fleur-de-Lys Studios; Charles Walter Stetson (1858-1911), sensational colorist painter and founder of the Providence Art Club and Art Workers guild; George Whitaker (1840-1916) ardent Barbizon landscape school painter and documenter of the professional artists of the time and a sampling of other talented painters of the time.

This concentrated exhibit is full of many events to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Bert Gallery.

Bert Gallery is at 24 Bridge Street. For more information, 401-751-2628 or www.bertgallery.com.

Where it all began 40 years ago for Bert Gallery in 1985
40th Anniversary Exhibit February 20-28,2025 In Person Exhibition Hours: Wed-Friday 11-4
BERT GALLERY
401.751.2628