Tuesday, June 29

Art's drawing room

It's a not uncommon fantasy: Many of us have daydreamed as we visited an art gallery, wondering what it would be like to stay behind after the doors closed to visitors. At the Louvre would you bed down in front of Mona? Camp out amid the ruins of the Parthenon at the British Museum? Dunk your feet in the pool of the inner peristyle at the Getty Villa in Malibu?

In A.S. Byatt's The Children's Book, a boy turns a gallery into his home. Mary Coleman has done the opposite: She's turned her home into a gallery.

If out-of-towners were to ask me what's the one thing they should see in Lawrenceville, I would say The Gallery on 43rd Street. It's our Versailles. A formerly private space made public. A glimpse into the past, chock-full of current treasures from Western Pennsylvania artists. And it's right in our own backyard.

Paintings by Dylan Critchfield-Sales are currently featured in the former, uh, drawing room.

The purity of his pictures, still lifes and portraits, complement the space. The floorboards, still  rough from when Coleman first moved in and ripped up the carpeting 17 years ago, let the 1881 house breathe. And Minnie the indoor cat, seen in the window at left, is keepin'  it real.


On the other side of the room, you'll find pit-fired pottery by Marlene Boyle. Her pinch pots are so organic they seem to have been created by Mother Nature herself.

Even the hallways are filled with art. I am very fond of the vases by Tracey Seder on the top left of the bookcase.
They remind me of Cycladic jars, an ancient find from an Aegean archaeological dig.

The walls of the hallway are lined with fine art, including Red Face, mixed media by West Virginia artist Robert Villamagna.

And a fruit series by Marian Sallade, who describes her work as "realistic impressionism."

The hallway opens up into what perhaps was the former dining room. Here you'll find all sorts of treasures, including small landscapes by plein air painter Ron Donoughe ...


sweet, hand-knitted baby sweaters by Helene Stokan ...


  ... and a fused glass window designed by Cyndy Mullen, that incorporates bits of bottles and stemware.

I never tire of The Gallery on 43rd Street. There are too many things to see on one visit. Besides, the exhibits change frequently. You never know what you might spy. Earrings made from bottle caps! Who needs Versailles?

The Gallery on 43rd Street
187 43rd Street
Pittsburgh, PA 15201

Open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.
412-683-6488
galleryon43rdstreet@yahoo.com

2 comments:

  1. My mother buys earrings from the gallery every time she's in Lawrenceville to visit!

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  2. Mrs. Carpetbagger's favorite gallery in all of Pittsburgh. Great rotation of local artists, plus a few constants. Always a few surprises.

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