DescriptionDorothy Gillespie was an artist, a feminist activist, and a philanthropist. Her artwork, except for a few early paintings and several happenings in the 1960s, was entirely abstract. Gillespie was influenced by Abstract Expressionism, Happenings, Pop Art, and Feminism. In the 1970s, she became involved in the Women’s Interart Center, New York Professional Women Artists, and the feminist art movement. She organized exhibitions, created a collection of women’s art, compiled statistics, and took part in protests against galleries. The bright and fun style of her sculptural abstractions was a hallmark and created various public art opportunities for her in the 1980s. In the 1980s and 1990s, she donated many pieces from her own art collection, as well as her own artwork, to various universities in order to create university art collections. In the 1990s, Gillespie created smaller sculptures that were more accessible for beginning collectors. The collection documents her art production from roughly the early 1940s through 2010, her involvement in New York artists associations and galleries, her pioneer course at the New School for Social Research “Functioning in the Art World,” correspondence between her and art institutions, and her public and commercial artworks.

Note4 Dolls (1 image) -- Guide To The Hand (1 image) -- Rain Dance Red Bank Blue 1 (1 image) -- Rain Dance Red Bank Blue 2 (1 image) -- 6 Dolls (1971) (1 image) -- Untitled 1 (4 images) -- Untitled 2 (4 images) -- Untitled 3 (1 image) -- Untitled 4 (3 images) -- Untitled 5 (4 images)

NoteThis digital project has been made possible by a generous gift from the Dorothy M. Gillespie Foundation.

NoteThe front and back sides of some photographs have been scanned.

Persistent URLhttps://doi.org/doi:10.7282/t3-s581-5627

CollectionDorothy Gillespie Papers image collection

Organization NameRutgers University. Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives

RightsThis Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).

Now Playing: FoDoll-01Close

Now Playing: GuiHan-01Close

Now Playing: RDRBB1-01Close

Now Playing: RDRBB2-01Close

Now Playing: SiDoll-01Close

Now Playing: Unt01-01Close

Now Playing: Unt01-02Close

Now Playing: Unt01-03Close

Now Playing: Unt01-04Close

Now Playing: Unt02-01Close

Now Playing: Unt02-02Close

Now Playing: Unt02-03Close

Now Playing: Unt02-04Close

Now Playing: Unt03-01Close

Now Playing: Unt04-01Close

Now Playing: Unt04-02Close

Now Playing: Unt04-03Close

Now Playing: Unt05-01Close

Now Playing: Unt05-02Close

Now Playing: Unt05-03Close

Now Playing: Unt05-04Close

Citations & ExportHide

Citations

Export

Description

Now Playing: FoDoll-01
Close

Now Playing: GuiHan-01
Close

Now Playing: RDRBB1-01
Close

Now Playing: RDRBB2-01
Close

Now Playing: SiDoll-01
Close

Now Playing: Unt01-01
Close

Now Playing: Unt01-02
Close

Now Playing: Unt01-03
Close

Now Playing: Unt01-04
Close

Now Playing: Unt02-01
Close

Now Playing: Unt02-02
Close

Now Playing: Unt02-03
Close

Now Playing: Unt02-04
Close

Now Playing: Unt03-01
Close

Now Playing: Unt04-01
Close

Now Playing: Unt04-02
Close

Now Playing: Unt04-03
Close

Now Playing: Unt05-01
Close

Now Playing: Unt05-02
Close

Now Playing: Unt05-03
Close

Now Playing: Unt05-04
Close

Citations & Export
Hide