Archives Directory for the History of Collecting in America

Barnett-Aden Gallery print view role Dealer/Gallery dates 1943-1969 city Wahsington state DC sex n/a historical notes The Barnett-Aden Gallery was one of the first Black-owned galleries in the United States, founded in 1943 by Professor James V. Herring and Alonzo J. Aden in Washington, D.C. Aden and Herring were influenced by Alain Locke, whose The New Negro (1925) explored intellectual and philosophical approaches to art. Their mission was to provide exhibition space for talented artists without regard to ethnicity or national origin. Over the next 25 years, the gallery became a unique site for cross-cultural exchange, where artists, writers, musicians, and politicians of all races met for social, professional, and aesthetic discourse. By placing the work of Black artists, such as Elizabeth Catlett, Lois Mailou Jones, Alma Thomas, and Charles White, alongside honored Black predecessors, such as Henry Ossawa Tanner and Edward Bannister, the gallery validated their artistic identity and situated them within an art historical tradition. The gallery slowly began to decline in the late 1950s. With Aden's death in 1961, it was a challenge for Herring to keep it going. After Herring's death in 1969, the gallery closed. In the early 1970s there were two exhibitions of the collection at the Anacostia Neighborhood Museum (now the Anacostia Museum and Center for African American History and Culture, Smithsonian Institution) and the Corcoran Gallery of Art. The majority of the collection was acquired by the Florida Education Fund of Tampa, Florida. In 1998, it was sold to Robert L. Johnson and relocated to Washington, D.C. The collection of more than 250 pieces is now part of Johnson's Black Entertainment Television (BET) art collection. decades of activity 1940-1950 1950-1960 1960-1970 updated 10/31/2024 13:33:25 bibliographic search Search Frick Art Reference Library Catalog Search Photoarchive Search Worldcat Search Library of Congress Name Authority File (LCNAF) Search Virtual International Authority File (VIAF) Search Wikidata Entry Archives/Repository Collection Title Collection Details Anacostia Community Museum Archives 1901 Fort Place, SE Barnett-Aden Collection Exhibition records see details... National Museum of African American History and Culture The Historical Records of the Barnett-Aden Gallery see details... Archives of American Art Victor Building, Suite 2200 Alma Thomas papers, circa 1894-2001 see details... Emory University Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library Cedric Dover papers, 1881-2007 see details... Archives of American Art Victor Building, Suite 2200 Charles W. White papers see details... Anacostia Community Museum Archives 1901 Fort Place, SE Edith T. Martin papers see details... Archives of American Art Victor Building, Suite 2200 William H. Johnson papers see details... «  back