Gloria de Herrera (April 26, 1929 – June 24, 1985) was an American art restorer and collector based in France, associated particularly with Henri Matisse.

Early life and education

Gloria Claire de Herrera was born in Los Angeles, California; her mother was named Mildred de Herrera. As a teenager interested in art, she met gallery owner Barbara Byrnes and her husband, curator James Byrnes. Mr. Byrnes offered de Herrera a secretarial job; she learned conservation techniques while working at Los Angeles County Museum of History, Science, and Art.[1]

Career

While she was a young art conservator in Los Angeles, she became acquainted with artist Man Ray and art dealer William Nelson Copley.[2] She was romantically involved with Copley.[3][4] She moved to Paris along with Copley, Man Ray, and his wife Juliette, in 1951, and lived in France for the rest of her life.[5][6]

In Paris, she worked as an art restorer under Maurice LeFebvre-Foinet. It was through that job that she became important to the later works of Henri Matisse, assembling his colorful paper collages with her own glue recipe to hold them firmly in place.[7][8]

Suspected of harboring Algerian Independence movement members in her apartment,[9] Gloria de Herrera was arrested[10] and spent two months in jail.[11] She was exiled from France for several years. She returned to stay in 1968, but her Paris connections were lost, and she moved to the Dordogne region in 1973. While there she was part of the conservation effort at the Lascaux Caves, reproducing the endangered Cro-Magnon paintings at the site; her versions were displayed at the museum in Lascaux.[12]

Legacy

Gloria de Herrera died in June 1985 in Brive-la-Gaillarde, from throat cancer. She was 56 years old. Her papers are at the Getty Research Institute, and they include audio recordings of an interview with de Herrera, conducted by James Byrnes in 1983.[13]

References

  1. ↑ Inventory of the Gloria de Herrera Papers, 1936-1996, Getty Research Institute.
  2. ↑ Susan Kandel, "Man Ray in Los Angeles: Artifacts from Inward Period," Los Angeles Times (October 2, 1996): p. 7 (Orange County Edition).
  3. ↑ Inventory of the Gloria de Herrera Papers, 1936-1996, Getty Research Institute.
  4. ↑ Susan C. Larsen, "Oral History Intereview with Gerald Nordland, 2004," Archives of American Art.
  5. ↑ Burt A. Folkart, "Art Preservationist Gloria deHerrera Dies: Credited with Making Permanent the Paper Collages by Matisse," Los Angeles Times (June 29, 1985).
  6. ↑ Neil Baldwin, Man Ray: American Artist (Da Capo Press 2000): 275. ISBN 030681014X
  7. ↑ Henri Matisse with Pierre Courthion, Chatting with Henri Matisse: The Lost 1941 Interview (Getty Publications 2013): p. 1. ISBN 978-1-60606-129-9
  8. ↑ Burt A. Folkart, "Art Preservationist Gloria deHerrera Dies: Credited with Making Permanent the Paper Collages by Matisse," Los Angeles Times (June 29, 1985).
  9. ↑ "U. S. Paris Aide Visits Spy Suspect from L. B.," Long Beach Independent (February 27, 1960): 2. via Newspapers.comOpen access icon
  10. ↑ "American Woman Held in Paris for Aiding Rebellion," San Bernardino County Sun (February 28, 1960): 2. via Newspapers.comOpen access icon
  11. ↑ "Algeria Bars Citizen Exits Until Feb. 29; Seize U. S. Woman," Chicago Daily Tribune (February 25, 1960): F1: "A young American woman artist Wednesday was arrested in a police roundup of persons suspected of aiding the Algerian nationalist rebels. Police identified the girl as Gloria Deherrera, 20."
  12. ↑ Inventory of the Gloria de Herrera Papers, 1936-1996, Getty Research Institute.
  13. ↑ Inventory of the Gloria de Herrera Papers, 1936-1996, Getty Research Institute.

Other Resources

  • Gloria de Herrera papers, Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles, Accession No. 980024. The papers include correspondence, documents, artworks, photographs, and audiovisual materials documenting De Herrera's milieu and activities.
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