Press Release

Bethesda Fine Art is proud to present #Corcoran1970s, an exhibition celebrating the circle of abstract artists who showed, taught, and were affiliated with the Corcoran Gallery of Art in the 1970s. The Corcoran Gallery of Art was an artistic center for Washington, D.C. artists, particularly abstractionists, during this time. Active in the Corcoran's orbit were Washington Color School notables such as Leon Berkowitz, Cynthia Bickley-Green, Gene Davis, Sam Gilliam, Mimi Herbert, Dan Yellow Kuhne, Howard Mehring, Paul Reed, and Kenneth Young. While most showed in group shows, a select few, including Berkowitz, Davis, Mehring, Reed, and Young, had their own solo exhibitions.

Two women artists featured in this exhibition participated in important Corcoran historical events. For the Corcoran Bicentennial in 1976, Mimi Herbert was commissioned to create a 175-foot pennant sculpture that spanned the 17th street facade of the museum. In 1972, Cynthia Bickley-Green was a member of the steering committee for the first National Conference for Women in the Visual Arts held at the Corcoran.

This selection of artwork from the 1960s and 1970s features some of the best and brightest involved in the Corcoran during this pivotal period. Interspersed are more recent paintings and sculptures, inviting comparison of how these artists' creative proximity shaped their work over time. Although the Corcoran closed in 2014, the artwork produced by the artists who showed there perpetuate and affirm the museum’s legacy.