Betty Parsons was a very important art gallery owner who helped start the careers of some of the most important artists in 20th century American art. These artists included Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, Clyfford Still, Ellsworth Kelly, and many others.

Betty Parsons was also an artist. During much of her life, she devoted her attention to helping other artists and although she was always creating her own artwork, she often did not promote herself.

Young Betty Parsons

Betty Parsons was born on January 31, 1900 at the beginning of a new century. Before she married, her name was Betty Bierne Pierson. She was brought up in a very wealthy family. She had two sisters and was very close to her sister Emily. When Betty was a young girl, her parents sent her to boarding school in Europe. Betty wasn't the best of students. She was bored in class much of the time and did not like to follow all the rules!

Betty Parsons Finds a "New Spirit" in Art! !

In 1913, Betty's life changed forever. At the age of 13, she attended the New York Armory Show, an international exhibit that introduced Americans to modern art. Betty marked her life as an artist from that day. While most people at the exhibit were admiring the works of master artists such as Goya, and Courbet, Betty was excited by the works of Matisse, Picasso, and Marcel Duchamp. Their art was so different and free that most people found it shocking, but Betty thought of it as art that showed a "New Spirit."

Betty Parsons Goes to the Rodeo

As Betty grew up, she studied art with many different artists. She moved to France and enrolled in art school in Paris. She met many famous artists, writers, and performers during her many years there. Betty Parsons moved back to America in 1933 after losing most of her money in the Depression. She moved to California to be near her friends and tried to give art lessons to earn a living. Though she wasn't very successful as a teacher, she did meet many wonderful people while she was out west.

After an illness, Betty's friends took her to a rodeo for fun. She was so excited by all that she saw, the bucking bronco rides, the calf wrestling, and all the activities of the day. When Betty started to paint what she had experienced at the rodeo, she discovered that her emotions could only be painted with colors and movement instead of realistic images. This was her very first Abstract Expressionist painting.

Betty Parsons Opens Art Gallery

In 1936, Betty's love of art brought her back to New York City. An exhibit of her art was shown at the Midtown Galleries and they also offered her a job. This was the beginning of a long and important career for Betty as an art dealer. In 1946, she finally opened her own gallery called simply, The Betty Parsons Gallery. For the next thirty years, she promoted the careers of hundreds of young artists. She was always looking for "The New Spirit" in art. Artists who had something new and different to say in their artwork were welcome to exhibit in her gallery.

Betty Parson's Constructions

Betty's own artwork became more and more abstract as she got older. Many of the paintings in the exhibit are from her Abstract Expressionist period. Toward the end of her life, Betty began to make Constructions. The constructions were made from what she called "carpenter's throwaways" bits of wood and other materials that would wash up on the beach near her home in Southold, L.I. She would take the pieces of wood and hammer and glue them together, creating wonderful and unusual artworks which she then painted with bright primary colors. She gave these constructions different names like Only The Song Was Left. These titles were an extension of the poems that Parsons loved to write.

Betty Parsons died at the age of 82 in 1982. She lived a wonderful and important life, contributing the tremendous gift I of introducing America to "The New Spirit" in art for over forty years.