Shirley Gorelick papers
name: label: Creator
content: Gorelick, Shirley, 1924-2000
label: Names
content: Central Hall Gallery (Port Washington, N.Y.)
label: Names
content: Soho 20 (Gallery)
label: Names
content: Gorelick, Leonard
title: label: Topic
content: Sister Chapel (Art installation)
topic: label: Occupation
content: Painters -- New York (State) -- New York
label: Occupation
content: Painters -- Washington (D.C.)
label: Occupation
content: Portrait painters -- New York (State) -- New York
label: Occupation
content: Portrait painters -- Washington (D.C.)
label: Topic
content: Women painters
label: Topic
content: Women artists
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: The collection was donated to the Archives of American Art in 2021 and 2022 by Jamie Gorelick, Shirley Gorelick's daughter.
creator: label: Creator
content: Gorelick, Shirley, 1924-2000
setName: label: See more items in
content: Shirley Gorelick papers
abstract: label: Summary
content: The papers of painter Shirley Gorelick measure 4.8 linear feet and date from 1939-2008, 2016, with the bulk of the material dating from 1939-1980s. The collection documents Gorelick's life and career through biographical material, personal and professional correspondence, scattered writings, professional files recording her involvement with art collectives and galleries owned and/or run by women, printed and photographic material, and nine sketchbooks and loose sketches.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: New York and Washington, D.C. painter Shirley Gorelick (1924-2000) is known primarily for her large-scale portraits in acrylic. Gorelick described her work as "psychological portraiture," that depicted couples and families through an intimate and empathic lens. 

Gorelick was born Shirley Fishman in Brooklyn, New York. Her education involved studying with Chaim Gross, Moses Soyer, and Raphael Soyer, and then with Serge Chermayeff at Brooklyn College where she earned her B. A. in 1944. Gorelick subsequently earned an M. A. at Teachers College, Columbia University, briefly attended the Hans Hofmann School of Art in Provincetown, Massachusetts, and also studied with Betty Holliday in Port Washington, Long Island. In 1944 Gorelick married Leonard Gorelick, a dentist with a passion for art and science.

Gorelick's early work was influenced by Cubism, Surrealism, and Abstract Expressionism, but she ultimately gravitated towards realistic, figurative portraits painted from photographs and direct observation. While working primarily in acrylic, she was also known for her silverpoint drawings and intaglio prints. Working with middle-aged couples and family groups repeatedly in the 1970s and 1980s, Gorelick's work explores the psychological state of her subjects as they directly engage the viewer.

In 1973, Gorelick was a founding member of Central Hall Gallery, a cooperative run by all women artists in Port Washington. She also had six solo exhibitions and participated in numerous group shows at SOHO 20, the second all-women artist-run exhibition space in New York City. She was one of thirteen women artists who collaborated on The Sister Chapel, painting a nine-foot portrait of Frida Kahlo for the installation which premiered at P.S. 1 in Long Island City in 1976.

Gorelick's work was widely exhibited, particularly in the 1970s and 1980s, and she is represented in the collections of the Minneapolis Institute of Art, the National Museum of Women in the Arts, Provincetown Art Association and Museum, the Baltimore Museum of Art, and the Brooklyn Museum, among others.

Gorelick died in Washington D.C. in 2000.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 4.8 Linear Feet
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1939-2008
label: Date
content: 2016
label: Date
content: bulk 1939-1980s
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.goreshir
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Sketchbooks
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: The collection is arranged as seven series.

Series 1: Biographical Material, circa 1942-2000 (Box 1; 7 folders)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1939-1994 (Box 1; 0.7 linear feet)

Series 3: Writings, 1942-circa 1980s (Box 1; 4 folders)

Series 4: Professional Files, circa 1960-1996, 2016 (Box 1; 7 folders)

Series 5: Printed Material, circa 1940s-2008 (Boxes 2-3, OV 7; 1.8 linear feet)

Series 6: Sketchbooks, circa 1960s-circa 1980s (Boxes 2, 6; 0.3 linear feet)

Series 7: Photographic Material, 1960s-1990s (Boxes 3-5; 1.7 linear feet)
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: The collection was processed, and a finding aid prepared by Stephanie Ashley in 2022 and was digitized in 2023 with funding provided by The Shirley Gorelick Foundation.
altformavail: label: Existence and Location of Copies
content: The bulk of the collection was digitized in 2023 and is available on the Archives of American Art website.  

For printed material only covers and relevant pages of publications have been digitized. Items not digitized include duplicates, and some transparencies and negatives for which prints exist.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Sketchbooks
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The papers of painter Shirley Gorelick measure 4.8 linear feet and date from 1939-2008, 2016, with the bulk of the material dating from 1939-1980s. The collection documents Gorelick's life and career through biographical material, personal and professional correspondence, scattered writings, professional files recording her involvement with art collectives and galleries owned and/or run by women, printed and photographic material, and nine sketchbooks and loose sketches.

Biographical material includes resumes and some early employment and education records. Personal correspondence primarily records the first years of Gorelick's marriage and provides insight into her early career through detailed correspondence with her husband, Leonard Gorelick. Professional correspondence is with multiple art galleries, organizations, and institutions primarily relating to exhibitions, pricing of her artwork, sales, and press reviews of her work, including by Lawrence Alloway who corresponded with Gorelick.

Scant writings include artists statements and notes as well as two papers Gorelick wrote as a student.

Professional files include price lists and an inventory of Gorelick's fine art collection, and also document her involvement with SOHO 20 and Central Hall Gallery and her contribution to The Sister Chapel installation.

Printed material documents Gorelick's extensive exhibition history through announcements, catalogs, and press reviews of her solo and group exhibitions and related awards. 

Gorelick's sketchbooks comprise 9 volumes with some additional loose sketches enclosed, primarily containing figure studies in pencil. The series also includes an etching and a pencil study.

Photographic material provides what appears to be a comprehensive catalog of Gorelick's artwork from the 1960s through the 1980s, including slides and photos of many of her paintings, intaglio prints, and silverpoint drawings, as well as some of the models Gorelick worked with repeatedly. Also found are photos of Gorelick including portraits, studio photos, and photos of her with friends, colleagues, and family, and of Gorelick at events including exhibition openings and installations.