During its tenure in Minneapolis, Dayton’s Gallery 12 was a powerhouse in the American contemporary art scene. While it was originally greeted with disdain by the art world at its founding in 1964 because it was a department store gallery, it soon gained a reputation as a serious player in the art scene, showing works by the biggest names in the contemporary art world, such as Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, and Jasper Johns. Dayton’s Gallery 12 played a unique role in shaping the Midwest art scene, and the American art scene more broadly.
It kickstarted the contemporary art market in the Midwest, a market that many critics had doubted existed. Dayton’s Gallery 12 was strengthened by the unique opportunities it provided. Dayton’s Gallery 12 was able to exhibit large collections with huge ranges of works in ways that would not be available elsewhere due to space and other concerns, allowing artists–and even gallery owners such as Leo Castelli–to display large volumes and varieties of works, creating a unique experience which benefited both artists and local viewers.
A list of exhibitions at Dayton’s Gallery 12 follows:
Pavlos Paper Constructions
Morris Louis
Ellsworth Kelly
Castelli at Dayton’s
Stella, Noland, and Caro
Sugarman: Sculpture and Lithographs
Calder
David Hockney: Drawings
Rauschenberg: Currents
Charles Ross: Prisms
OR: an Introduction (Jud Fine)
Charles Biederman
Tom Wesselmann
Jasper Johns
Robert Indiana
Lia Acconi
Josef Albers
Horst Antes
Shusaku Arakawa
Enrico Baj
Revere Auctions is dedicated to finding and preserving these important works from Dayton’s Gallery 12.