Angela Flowers
British Gallerist Angela Mary Flowers was born in Croydon on December 19, 1932.[1] She is the founder of Flowers Gallery, a commercial art gallery that currently operates in New York City, London and Hong Kong. She remains a Director of the gallery and is currently based between Ramsgate in Kent and Cork in Ireland.[2]
Angela Flowers | |
|---|---|
| Born | December 19, 1932 |
| Nationality | British |
| Occupation | Gallerist |
Biography
On February 10 1970 Angela opened her first eponymous gallery space on Lisle Street in London, above the Artists International Association (AIA), a cooperative of artists who offered the space to her rent-free in exchange for commission. At this time, Angela was also working as a book keeper at Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA). The gallery stayed there for just over a year and a half, with Tom Phillips, Derek Hirst, Jeff Nuttall, Penelope Slinger, Ian Breakwell, Patrick Hughes, Jeanne Masoero and Nancy Fouts amongst the first artists shown in the space. The initial exhibitions included Postcard Show, for which Angela commissioned original works of art to be made into postcards by artists including Joseph Beuys, David Hockney, Richard Hamilton and Peter Blake.[3] Since, the gallery has held spaces in: Portland Mews, London, in 1972; Tottenham Mews, London, in 1979; Richmond Road, Hackney, in September 1988; Bergamot Station in Santa Monica, California, in 1998; Cork Street, Mayfair, in 2000; Kingsland Road, Shoreditch, in 2002; Madison Avenue, New York, in 2003; Chelsea, New York, in 2009; Tung Street, Hong Kong, in 2020; as well as holding summer exhibitions at Angela Flowers (Ireland) Inc., Downeen, Rosscarbery, Co. Cork.[4]
Early & personal life
Angela was the first of two daughters to Geoffrey and Olive Holland. The family had settled in the Croydon area when her great grandfather founded the Croydon Advertiser. When World War II broke out Geoffrey Holland was at first a fireman on the river Thames before joining military intelligence in the army. Olive Holland volunteered for war work putting caps in shells in a factory in Herefordshire. Angela attended Westonbirt school in Kent followed by Wychwood school in Oxford. After school she lived briefly in Paris where she was an au-pair before she came back to London to study music and drama at the Webber-Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art. After college she took on some minor acting roles, tried to revive her musical career and did a stint in advertising.[1]
In 1952, aged 19, she met fashion and portrait photographer Adrian Flowers, marrying him just seven weeks after their first meeting. Angela's career in the arts began following a family holiday with husband Adrian to St Ives, where they met many of the resident artists. Adrian began taking pictures of the artworks and artists for catalogues and together they began collecting art, with a particular focus on emerging British artists. Angela and Adrian had 4 children together, Adam, Matthew, Daniel and Francesca. Matthew Flowers, her second son, worked on and off for the gallery from 1970 until 1983 when he moved to the business full time. He has remained since, becoming its Managing Director in 1989.[3]
In 1970, the year Flowers Gallery was founded, Angela Flowers met the writer and business journalist Robert Heller. Already an art collector, he became a great support in the management of the gallery. She and Adrian Flowers divorced, and she and Heller stayed together (they married in 2003) until his death in 2012.[1] Angela and Robert had a daughter, Rachel Heller, who was born with Down's syndrome. Rachel is an artist and is represented by Flowers Gallery.
References
- Staff, Guardian (Apr 3, 1999). "Angela Flowers: Playing to the gallery" – via www.theguardian.com.
- "Flowers Gallery". Flowers Gallery.
- "Subscribe to read | Financial Times". www.ft.com. Cite uses generic title (help)
- "About the gallery". Flowers Gallery.