Helen Gee (curator)

Helen Gee (1919–2004) was an American photography gallery owner, co-owner of the Limelight in New York City, New York from 1954 to 1961.[1][2] It was New York City's first important post-war photography gallery, pioneering sales of photographs as art. Gee's archive of her work and records pertaining to the Limelight Gallery are located at the Center for Creative Photography at the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona.

In the late 1970s Gee worked as a photography curator, lecturer and writer.

Life and work

Gee was born as Helen Charlotte Wimmer in Jersey City, New Jersey, and went to New York City when she was sixteen to live with renowned modernist painter, Yun Gee.[3] They were married in 1942. They had a daughter, artist Li-lan, in 1943 and were subsequently divorced in 1947.[1][3] She later married Kevin Sullivan, but that ended in divorce.[1]

Gee taught herself transparency retouching for a living.[1] In the 1950s, she came across a photography show at the Museum of Modern Art, which inspired her interest in photography.[1]

In 1954 she opened New York City's first important post-war photography gallery along with her sister and brother in-law, the Limelight, on Seventh Avenue South and Barrow Street.[2] Although the gallery closed in 1961 due to financial pressure, it had pioneered sales of photographs as art.[2]

In the late 1970s Gee worked as a photography curator, lecturer and writer.[1]

In 1997 she published her memoir of her time with the Limelight, itself titled Limelight: A Memoir.[2][4]

The Limelight was inside a coffee shop, and The Village Voice's first Obie Awards ceremony was held at the café.[2]

Publications

  • Limelight: a Greenwich Village Photography Gallery and Coffeehouse in the Fifties: A Memoir. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico, 1997. ISBN 978-0826318176.
    • Limelight: a Greenwich Village Photography Gallery and Coffeehouse in the 1950s. New York: Aperture, 2016. ISBN 9781597113687. With an introduction by Denise Bethel.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Loke, Margaret, "Helen Gee, Pioneer in Sales of Photos as Art, Dies at 85", The New York Times, 13 October 2004, accessed on 21 November 2013
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Aletti, Vince, "Helen Gee 1919–2004", Village Voice (New York City), 12 October 2004, accessed on 21 November 2013
  3. 1 2 Staff, "Helen Gee, 85; Her Gallery Pioneered Sales of Photographs as Art", Los Angeles Times, 14 October 2004, accessed on 21 November 2013
  4. ↑ Tallmer, Jerry, "Helen Gee, 85, proprietor of famed Limelight cafe", The Villager (New York City), 20–26 October 2004, accessed on 12 November 2013
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