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Halper Collection

Halper

Overview

Nathan and Marjorie Windhurst Halper were steadfast fixtures of the Provincetown art community for most of their lives. Marjorie came in 1926 to study with Charles W. Hawthorne, and both Marjorie and Nathan returned together at the end of World War II, after "Nat" was discharged from the service, to settle in for the summer months on an annual basis. Each of them contributed to the protean mix that developed with increasing momentum during the 1950's and 1960's as the gallery scene fairly exploded in Provincetown. "Nat" Halper, as he was known locally, was well positioned in the midst of this activity in 1952, for he became director of the Samuel Kootz Gallery which he and Marjorie had arranged to build on their waterfront property, as a real estate exchange, with Kootz. Samuel Kootz brought to Provincetown some members of his New York stable: Motherwell, Hofmann, Baziotes, Bultman and Gottlieb, among others, and Halper continued to represent these artists after Kootz returned to New York and left the gallery to Halper who changed the name to the HCE. Membership in the gallery was augmented by artists from Gallery 256 and from the Sun Gallery, which closed permanently in 1961 and its' famed "happenings" no longer lighted up the horizon. The HCE continued successfully throughout the 1960's and was considered to represent the cutting edge for abstract art in Provincetown. [More...]

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  • The Cracker Barrel - February 1937 Copy
    Photocopy of The Cracker Barrel, a literature magazine. Vol. 1 No. 1 February 1937 published in...
    Collection: Halper
    Format: Text
    Subjects: Advertising, Cracker Barrel, The, Editorials, Essays, Fisheries--Massachusetts--Provincetown--History, and Literature
  • Forum 49 Art Forums August 4, - Sept. 1, 1949
    "Forum 49" Art Forums August 4, - Sept. 1, 1949 Flyer advertising series of seminars on...
    Collection: Halper
    Format: Text
    Subjects: Advertising fliers, Art, Modernism, and Poetry
  • Pilgrim's Guide to Provincetown
    "A Modern Pilgrim's Guide to Provincetown" is a 27-page tourist guide published by Paul...
    Collection: Halper
    Format: Text
    Subjects: Art, Cape Cod (Mass.) Description and travel, Cape Cod (Mass.) History, Cape Cod houses, Commercial Street (Provincetown, Mass.), Cottages, Fisheries--Massachusetts--Provincetown--History, Guesthouses, and Historic buildings--Massachusetts-Provincetown
  • Forum 49 Art Forums July 3, - 28, 1949
    "Forum 49" Art Forums July 3, - 28, 1949 Flyer advertising series of seminars on art,...
    Collection: Halper
    Format: Text
    Subjects: Advertising fliers, Art, Modernism, and Modernism (Art)
  • The Cape Ender - August 11, 1938
    The August 11, 1937 issue of The Cape-Ender, published by Elizabeth L. Duval. Includes local news...
    Collection: Halper
    Format: Newsprint
    Subjects: Advertising and Theaters
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