Our gallery offers over 40 works in oil, watercolor, gouache, pencil, and pastel executed between 1932 and 1967 to complement the traveling museum exhibition Simple Pleasures: The Art of Doris Lee as it begins its four museum tour.  The New York Times named the museum catalogue one of its Top Art Books of the Year.  Doris Lee was the subject of an article that appeared in The New York Times on January 2, 2022.

Doris Lee (1904-1983) rose to national fame when her painting Thanksgiving won the Logan Prize at the Art Institute of Chicago in 1935. Lee’s ebullient painting   of multiple figures in action as they prepare a holiday meal was praised by the jury and her peers, but the prize donor’s outrage at its lack of beauty created national notoriety for Lee. Soon after Chicago, Lee received an important mural commission for the Post Office Building in Washington, DC. Gallery representation and further commissions followed. In 1936 Maynard  Walker Galleries in New York and the Phillips Memorial Art Gallery in DC gave   her solo exhibitions. Lee’s success continued with representation by Associated American Artists starting in 1941 and a close relationship with Life magazine. Life sent Lee on trips to the South, Hollywood, Mexico, and North Africa for illustrated articles on her travels. Our exhibition includes gouaches from these trips. These commissions provided funds, travel opportunities, and kept Lee on the mind of the general public. Lee balanced her museum, gallery, and commercial presence   astutely, turning her early fame into a successful career that stayed strong  over four decades.

The first paintings Doris Lee exhibited at museum invitationals were in the tight style of American Scene painting with touches of wry humor seen throughout her career. By 1940, Lee developed her personal voice by fusing folk art with strong color and pattern. She selected subjects from everyday life using sketches, photography, and memory. Lee said memory was a tool that clarified her subjects, emphasizing some elements and eliminating others. During decades that saw The Great Depression, World War II, and the rise of the Cold War, Lee presented works that suggest simple pleasures are available to all and joy can be found in the small things.  Our exhibition presents Doris Lee’s art from the 1930s into the 1960s showing how she continued to develop and invigorate her style. We see how Lee approached the world with curiosity and amusement, whether in intimate moments of chance encounters, recording a special plant, or preserving interesting shapes she came across. Like Doris Lee, the aim of our exhibition is to give you moments of joy.