Betty Parsons

B. New York, NY, 1900
D. Southold, NY, 1982

Betty Parsons was an abstract painter and sculptor who is best known as a dealer of mid-century art. Throughout her storied career as a gallerist, she maintained a rigorous artistic practice by creating works in a variety of media including paintings, sculpture, and works on paper. Parsons’ eye for innovative talent stemmed from her own artistic training, and her commitment to championing new and emerging artists of her time impacted the canon of twentieth-century art in the United States.

Parsons realized her passion for art early in life when she attended the 1913 Armory Show in New York City, but in her adulthood experienced the educational and professional limitations that faced women of her era. Parsons took lessons with artists in New York City throughout finishing school and during her three-year marriage to Schuyler Livingston Parsons. Upon its dissolution in 1923, Parsons moved to Paris and stayed for ten years to dedicate herself fully to the pursuit of art. At the Academie de la Grande Chaumière, she studied painting and sculpture first with Antoine Bourdelle and later Ossip Zadkine, alongside fellow student Alberto Giacometti. Through her expatriate community of friends and cultural figures —including Sylvia Beach, Gertrude Stein, and Adge Baker— Parsons continued her artistic education outside the classroom. She joined Baker in studying watercolor with Sir Arthur Lindsey and spent summers with them painting en plein air along the Brittany coast. 

After returning to the United States in 1933, Parsons continued to create art both in California and New York. In 1935, she had her first solo exhibition of paintings at Midtown Galleries, New York. She then accepted a position there, installing works and selling paintings on commission which began to establish her professional identity as an art dealer.

Parsons opened her eponymous gallery in New York in 1946. After the closure of Peggy Guggenheim’s Art of This Century Gallery in 1947, she inherited Guggenheim’s roster of artists, including Barnett Newman, Mark Rothko, Jackson Pollock, and Clyfford Still. Although the legacy of the Betty Parsons Gallery is closely tied to these leading figures, Parsons showcased work by women, queer artists, and artists of color. Her diverse program reflected her inclusive values and her profound sense of community.

By the time of her death in 1982, Betty Parsons had created a multi-faceted legacy that extended beyond her successful gallery career. Her activism took the form of championing women and other marginalized artists of her time as well as advocating for the health and preservation of our oceans. With her diverse exhibition history and unique artistic vision, she established herself as an artist in her own right and was an influential force in the art of the mid-twentieth century. A digital catalogue raisonné of her work is in production by the Betty Parsons and William P. Rayner Foundation. Parsons’s work is represented in prominent public collections including the Buffalo AKG Art Museum, NY; Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, PA; Guild Hall, East Hampton, NY; High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA; The Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY; National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, DC; Parrish Art Museum, Water Mill, NY; Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC; and Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY; among others.