Covering exhibition of Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall's collection at the Schoelkopf Gallery for Mansion Global

From reveling miners lounging against a California desert-meets-industrial landscape in Paul Sharrett Sample’s 1933 painting “Celebration,” to a line of women cheering on a parade of the men who comprised the all-Black 369th Infantry—known as the Harlem Hellfighters—in Helen Wessells’s “The Negro Troop,” the paintings on display at the Schoelkopf Gallery’s latest exhibition collectively depict an expansive narrative of the U.S.

They are part of “American Stories: The Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall Collection,” on view through Feb. 28 at the gallery in New York City’s Tribeca neighborhood. It’s an exhibition of 38 works in Hollywood producer power-couple Kennedy and Marshall’s expansive private collection of regionalist and social realist American art, dating from 1920 to 1970. The collection features a diverse range of sculptures, paintings and works on paper from the likes of Romare Bearden, Thomas Hart Benton, Jared French, Jacob Lawrence and Ben Shahn.

I spoke with Schoelkopf Gallery owner Andrew Schoelkopf about the unique works that are part of the collection and what they say about America’s ever-evolving story.

When asked about the through line of social justice and depictions of American labor movements that connect these 20th century pieces, Schoelkopf said:

"What is going on with the Farm Security Administration and the WPA [Works Progress Administration] in the ’20s and ’30s—[during that period] the artist is playing a significant role in our cultural history in a very different way than previous generations. The art becomes less academic and more interested in reflecting the mores and the cultural themes of the day. Artists were reporting on the incredible tumult and dislocation of the times."

Check out more from our Mansion Global conversation here.

(Below: Photos I took during my visit to the see the exhibition last week)

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