Ellison Lieberman & Gallery 2
Ellison Lieberman and Gallery 2
by Matthew Powers
“She created a whole new idea of a regional culture. This was all about skill—something will emerge that you’ve never seen before, if you can just let the spirit go. This is what Ellison helped us do.”
—Charlet Davenport. Woodstock Magazine.
Ellison Cooper was born in Montreal in 1919 to Scottish parents. At age 12, she attended boarding school in Surrey, England and later studied art at the Beaux Arts School in Paris. She furthered her art education at London’s Central School of Arts and Crafts. She longed to go to Mexico in order to study with Diego Rivera. Instead, she and her mother returned to London during World War II after her father died when she was 15. She worked for British intelligence, in communications and code-breaking.
She met Frank Lieberman in London, where he was working in the U.S. War Information Office. The couple moved to New York after the war and were soon married in 1946. They had planned to make a life in New York City as Frank had found a job a printing company. However, Ellison contracted tuberculosis and spent a year in a Saranac Lake, N.Y. sanitarium to recover. She thought New York City was a dirty and dismal place and wanted to move to the countryside. Ellison loved the Vermont landscape as it reminded her of Devonshire, England. She told her husband, after visiting the Elm Tree Press in Woodstock, that she would love to move there. Though she doubted they would.
Fate intervened and Frank found a job as art director at the Elm Tree Press in Woodstock, after being recruited by its owner, William Rudge. The couple moved here in 1948 and they rented a small cottage on Rose Hill. She notes, in an oral history in the collection of the Woodstock History Center, that the Emmons/Barlow, Mertens, and Odell families were especially supportive and kind to her when they moved here.
“They had all these little schemes for making money,” Ann Bower said. Frank favored Ascot ties and they tried to start the Woodstock Ascot Co. They also tried to make and sell spice wheels for cooks. Neither venture took off and Frank established himself as a freelance graphic designer.” (1)
She eventually began to travel with her friend and Woodstock artist, Byron Thomas, to meet artists around the state. “It was on one of these trips that she met the Lowell Naeve family, a young couple who made beautiful prints in their studio in Jamaica, Vermont. ‘And that saved the day. Because I had made up my mind that I had nothing to give to them. But they clearly did need interest and help,” Ellison said. “There was no high-fallutin’ philosophy thought behind starting it. it was very practical: Let’s try to sell some paintings for the artists that were in the area.” (2)
In the early 1950s, she started a summer gallery in the small, old kitchen at the White Cupboard Inn. She moved her gallery around the village quite a bit due to space constraints, eventually arriving at the Martin House on The Green. She stayed there for two summers until the house was sold. She then moved to a space on Central Street next to the old Fruit Store. The space proved to be too small and she again moved to the “Pumpkin House”, and then again to the Village Hotel (eventually owned by the Gratio’s). Eventually she settled at 65 Central Street. It was later that Ellison opened a second gallery on Elm Street to exhibit folk art and prints.
Lieberman’s gallery is thought to be the first private art gallery in the state that was dedicated to showing the work of Vermont artists. Her aim was to earn a living and to help the artists she represented do the same. Her venture nurtured two generations of visual artists.
“People flocked to show me work because there were no galleries! They had to show in New York or Montreal. Our shows lasted only two weeks because I had so many people! Frank made very striking announcements.
We gave Tad Bailey several shows. Tad made wonderful watercolors. We showed Barbara Kaufman, who work got larger and large- she did some magnificent things. Judith Brown was one of the most extraordinary artists I ever worked with, a brilliant interpreter of metal. It was a great privilege to watch her develop.”
The roster of artists whose work she exhibited ranges across the state and the decades. Byron Thomas was especially influential as she travelled with him around the state in his jeep and he introduced her to young artists that he knew about. Artists in the Upper Valley alone include: Byron Thomas, Charlet Davenport, Wimby Hoyt, Sabra Field, Georgina Forbes, Clay Kanzler, Barbara Kaufman, Lolo Sarnoff, Sanford Ross, Judith Brown, George Tooker, Jim Richmond and Virginia Webb.
Ellison Liberman’s Birthday. 1955. William James. Collection of the Woodstock History Center.
Hans Meijer and Sabra Field.
Ellison’s good friend Hans Meijer, who began helping Lieberman in the gallery in 1981. He has said that they drove to galleries around the state every Thursday. Hans bought the gallery in 1986, and after one last owner, it finally closed its doors in 2001. At the time, Gallery 2 was the oldest private art gallery in Vermont.
Lieberman’s influence on the visual arts in Vermont was significant enough to merit a pair of awards from the Vermont Arts Council in 1979.
In 2003, the Woodstock Historical Society (now Woodstock History Center) presented Ellison with its Citizen of the Year Award “in recognition of a half-century of achievement and service to the Woodstock community.”
“The relationship between an artist and a gallerist is essential, and not always well understood. A good gallery owner can make an artist’s reputation, and Lieberman had the eye, the business acumen and the social grace to help many artists to early success.”
(1) Woodstock Magazine, Winter 2009-2010, Pages 34-40
(2) The Burlington Free Press. March 14, 1993, Page 31
Woodstock History Center archives
Ellison Lieberman. Oil on Panel. William B. Hoyt. Courtesy of the artist.
Gallery 2 sign. Donated by Hans Meijer.
Ellison has told the story of how her husband, Frank, designed the sign as he like the numeral 2 and it was graphically interesting.
Ellison and Frank Lieberman talking to guests at one of her openings. She created glamorous galas and events
Ellison Lieberman (1919-2012)
Ellison Lieberman: A Chronology
Born and raised Ellison Cooper in Montreal
At age 12, attends a Surrey, England boarding school
Studies art at the Beaux Arts School in Paris
Furthers art education at London’s Central School of Arts and Crafts
Formally presented to Canadian society
Copper family returns to England at outbreak of World War II
Serves in British Foreign Office
Meets during war future husband Frank Lieberman
Marries Frank in 1946 and settles in New York City
Lieberman’s move to Woodstock in 1948
1951: With husband Frank, is one of the founders of the Woolhouse Players. Both author and co-author articles for Vermont Life Magazine
White Cupboard Inn owner, Allen Darrow, provides space for a summer gallery in 1956. Gallery 2 is the state’s first commercial art gallery promoting Vermont artists
1956: Gallery 2 moves to John Martin home on The Green, then to 8 Central Street, and finally to 65 Central Street
Vermont Council of the Arts presents Ellison with a merit award in 1979
Lieberman’s donate 60 works by Vermont artists to Pentangle Arts Council in 1987
The Lieberman collection is donated to the Fleming Museum in 1991
Ellison retires from Gallery 2 in 1992
Recipient of the Robert C. Yoh Award in 1999 for her support of youth in theater arts
In 2003, the Woodstock Historical Society (now Woodstock History Center) presents Ellison with its Citizen of the Year Award “in recognition of a half-century of achievement and service to the Woodstock community.”