Perle Fine: Ninth Street Woman

Berry Campbell is pleased to announce Perle Fine: Ninth Street Woman, an exhibition of paintings by the pioneering Abstract Expressionist Perle Fine (1905-1988). Spanning the 1940s through the early 1960s, Fine's most celebrated period, this exhibition explores an important but long-underrecognized artist from the New York School and a woman who stood at the center of Abstract Expressionism.

This marks Perle Fine's third exhibition at Berry Campbell, and it brings together fifteen of her most rare, important, and coveted paintings and works on paper. The exhibition highlights Fine's remarkable ability to balance gesture, color, and structure in a purely abstract language. The show's centerpiece, Wall of Silence (1961), is a monumental diptych approximately fourteen feet in length, exemplifying Fine's ambitious approach to scale. Coming directly from the artist's estate, this painting juxtaposes Fine's iconic sweeping gestures with its large geometric fields. Other key works from the 1950s include Aftermath of a Sweeping Storm (1958) and Pounding Surf (1959). These works will be presented alongside several paintings from Fine's Prescience Series from the early 1950s, which explore Fine's interest in softer colors, atmosphere, and curvilinear forms, a series that anticipated the Color Field movement by almost a decade. The earliest works in the show from the 1940s include Bristling (1946) and Soft Spot (1945), showcasing Fine's lifelong exploration of the grid.

Perle Fine's commitment to abstraction was grounded in a rigorous artistic education. She studied at the Grand Central Art School and the Art Students League in New York before studying with Hans Hofmann, both in New York and at his summer school in Provincetown. Fine joined the American Abstract Artists group in 1946 and was among the eleven women included in the landmark 1951 Ninth Street Exhibition, the groundbreaking exhibition that brought together the artists who would define the New York School. She was also one of the first women admitted as a voting member of the 8th Street Club, "The Club," the influential gathering place for the downtown avant-garde.

Perle Fine exhibited extensively during her lifetime, including at Art of this Century, Betty Parsons Gallery, Stable Gallery, Tanager Gallery, and Graham Gallery. She is in numerous museum collections, including the Brooklyn Museum; the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; the Metropolitan Museum of Art; the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum; and the Whitney Museum of American Art. Fine's historical significance has received renewed recognition in recent years. Her work was included in the Denver Art Museum's groundbreaking 2016 exhibition Women of Abstract Expressionism, which brought together the work of twelve women artists associated with the movement. She is also currently featured in Abstract Expressionists: The Women, a traveling museum exhibition organized by the American Federation of Arts from the FAMM (Female Artists of the Mougins Museum) collection.

Perle Fine: Ninth Street Woman offers a rare opportunity to explore a group of Fine's most important works from the 1940s to the early 1960s and to recognize her sustained contributions and achievements as part of the New York School. Forthcoming in December 2026, Berry Campbell is producing a fully illustrated 98-page hardcover monograph featuring color reproductions and an essay by art historian and former Director of the Pollock-Krasner House, Helen A. Harrison. The exhibition opens on Thursday, September 10, 2026, with a reception from 6 to 8 pm and continues through October 24, 2026.