Don’t miss Ernestine Betsberg: A Retrospective, which opened at Philip Slein Gallery, 4735 McPherson on February 23. It’s delightful.
Betsberg (1909-2007) and her husband, artist Arthur Osver (1912-2006), met at the Art Institute in Chicago, and subsequently lived in New York, Italy, Florida and eventually moved to St. Louis in 1960 when Osver accepted a one-year teaching job at Washington University. They settled into a pre-Civil War house in Webster Groves and never left.
Gallerist Philip Slein, middle above, is photographed with artist and gallerist Charlie Houska, left, and gallerist Jim Schmidt, right.
Slein has wanted to show Betsberg’s work for a while (the gallery exhibited her husband’s work in 2019), but he wanted to wait until the release of a book of the artist’s paintings, which happened to coincide with the opening. Ernestine Betsberg Paintings was published by the Estate of Arthur Osver and Ernestine Betsberg and made its debut on February 23.
During a recent conversation, Slein explained that during the ’50s and ’60s, female artists were eclipsed by their more famous husbands. “The art world has shifted tremendously over the past 75 years due to cultural changes in our society,” Slein said. But during what has become known in popular culture as the ‘Mad Men’ era, Ernestine’s Betsberg’s art was eclipsed by Arthur Osver’s. Another example is Lee Krasner, whose art was less well known than her husband Jackson Pollock’s.”
Slein expanded on this theme by noting that Betsberg headed to New York first and blazed a trail for her husband there. She had numerous showings in NY, including several solo exhibitions, at a time when not many women artists were exhibiting in solo shows at all.
Betsberg’s Family Portrait, 1945, oil on canvas, 46 x 20 in.
Fish Market, oil on canvas, 1951, 35 x 40 in.
Slein said Betsberg’s paintings are about the “little things in life that we all care about. She was ahead of her time depicting flower shops, markets, garden scenes, and cats. These are subjects that are popular today.” 
CWE-based artist Nancy Newman Rice, center above, studied under Arthur Osver at Washington University where she earned both her BFA and her MFA. Rice said that she considered Ernestine Betsberg to be her “art mother.” Osver’s W.U. students became like family to the couple, who were childless, and many made trips out to the house to help in the garden, which was Betsberg’s passion. Both artists had studios in the house and Rice said she learned so much just by being in proximity to Betsberg’s work. She wrote the essay for the book, which is shown at the end of the post.
In a testament to the following Betsberg and Osver garnered in St. Louis, the opening drew a large crowd that included art dealers, artists, collectors, neighbors, and former students from Florida and Colorado.
The most interesting guest (not photographed) was a neighborhood cat. According to Nancy Newman Rice: “The cat walked in the front door, checked out the work throughout the gallery, surveyed the crowd, and left. Everyone who knew Ernestine, and her fondness for cats, knew the visitor was there in her place.”
The Mirror, 1938, oil on canvas, 30 x 40 in.
On the wall, Sisters, 1936, oil on canvas, 30 x 36 in.
Decatur Street Florist, 1994, oil on canvas, 72 x 84 in.
Top: Self Portrait, 1938, oil on canvas. Bottom: Ernestine by Arthur Osver, 1948, oil on canvas, 18 x 15 in.
Slein generously donated all proceeds from Ernestine Betsberg books sold at the opening to Left Bank Books, 399 N. Euclid. The neighborhood bookstore is the exclusive distributor of this delightful book.
Ernestine Betsberg: A Retrospective will remain on view until at least April 20.
Philip Slein Gallery, 4735 McPherson, Thurs. to Sat. 11 to 4, or by appt.: [email protected]