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Charlotte Park (1918 – 2010) was a first generation Abstract Expressionist involved with the New York art scene of the 1940s and 1950s.

Early life and Education
Charlotte was born on August 13, 1918 in Concord, Massachusetts to a single mother Harriet and an older brother George. Her father George Coolidge Park Sr. had succumbed to pneumonia earlier in the same year. In 1925 her mother married Harold Shepard, who moved the family to Oregon to work for the forestry service. In 1939 she graduated from the Yale University School of Art at the age of twenty-one.

Wartime 1940-1945
Although she did not have time to develop a career after the entrance of America into the war in 1941. The only art she produced during this period were a few portraits. She lived in Washington, DC during the war initially volunteering with Federal Public Housing and then doing graphic work in the presentation department for the Office of Strategic Services where she would be introduced to her future husband James Brooks.

Marriage
Charlotte Park married fellow artist James Brooks in 1947.

New York in the 1950s
Park and Brooks moved to New York City in 1945 into an apartment that was previously occupied by Jackson Pollock and Lee Krasner. They initially used the small apartment as joint studio space which is reflected in the smaller sizes of their canvases. The couple were heavily involved in the abstract expressionist scene, they attended as many art shows as possible and frequented The Club.

Style
She began studying with Wallace Harrison alongside other upcoming abstractionists such as Helen Frankenthaler which contributed to her interest in Cubism. She experimented with monochrome during this period in order to focus on form, although she was still producing works with vibrant color palettes. Park worked with color fields and strong forms that recall the 1940s and 1950s work of Mark Rothko. In the 1970s and 1980s her compositions opened up to more space between the lines and blocks that has been related to Mondrian's Neoplasticism. She has also experimented in collage work, taking pieces of her own art and recombining them.

Teaching
Park taught children at a private school and then at the Museum of Modern Art for eleven years to supplement the couple's income. This had the added benefit of allowing Park access to various kinds of modern art coming into the museum.

Long Island
A number of the abstract expressionists had summer homes on Montauk which prompted the couple to begin to spend time on there. This home would become where much of the couples' work was stored and where they had adjoining studios. In 1954 this home was destroyed in a hurricane alongside much of Charlotte's work. She would continue to live on Long Island until her death in 2010.

Death and afterward
Charlotte died in The Springs, East Hamptons on December 26, 2010 at the age of 92.

Exhibitions
Charlotte’s first solo show took place at the Tanager Gallery in New York and ran from November 1-21, 1957. She had also been a part of several of the Annual Exhibition of Sculpture and Painting at the Stable Gallery in New York alongside artists such as Lee Krasner, Grace Hartigan, Helen Frankenthaler, Mercedes Matter, Joan Mitchell etc. Park was also apart of Women of the 50’s at the Anita Shapolsky Gallery in 2002, Charlotte Park: The 1950s at the Pollock-Krasner House in 2013 and Women of Abstract Expressionism at the Denver Art Museum in 2016.

SOLO EXHIBITIONS
 * Tanager Gallery, New York, NY, 1957
 * The Benson Gallery, Bridgehampton, NY, 1973
 * The Benson Gallery, Bridgehampton, NY, 1976
 * Guild Hall, East Hampton, NY, 1979
 * Ingber Gallery, New York, NY, 1980
 * Louise Jimelfarb Gallery, (along with James Brooks), Watermill, NY, 1981
 * Parrish Art Museum, 3 East End Artists (along with Dan Christensen and Allan Wexler) NY, 2002-3.
 * Spanierman Modern, New York, 2010
 * Berry Campbell, New York, Charlotte Park (1918-2010), 2016

GROUP EXHIBITIONS SELECTED COLLECTIONS
 * Peridot Gallery, Invitational Show, New York, NY, 1952
 * Whitney Museum of American Art, Painting Annual, New York, NY, 1953
 * Tanager Gallery, Annual Show, New York, NY, 1953
 * Tanager Gallery, Annual Show, New York, NY, 1954
 * Stable Gallery, Annual Show, New York, NY, 1954
 * Hampton Gallery and Workshop, Amagansett, NY, 1954
 * Guild Hall, 15 Artists of the Region, East Hampton, NY, 1954
 * Tanager Gallery, Annual Show, New York, NY, 1955
 * Stable Gallery, Annual Show, New York, NY, 1955
 * Watkins Gallery of the American University, Washington D.C., 1955
 * Tanager Gallery, Annual Show, New York, NY, 1956
 * Stable Gallery, Annual Show, New York, NY, 1956
 * Camino Gallery, June Salon – 120 Sculptors, Painters, New York, NY, 1956
 * Stable Gallery, Annual Show, New York, NY, 1957
 * Signa Gallery, A Review of the Season, East Hampton, NY, 1957
 * Abstract American Painters, Invitational, New York, NY, 1957
 * Signa Gallery, Third Exhibition, East Hampton, New York, 1957
 * Signa Gallery, 8 Painters, East Hampton, NY, 1957
 * Stable Gallery, Annual Show, New York, NY, 1958
 * James Gallery, Invitational Annual, New York, NY, 1960
 * Guild Hall, Festival of the Arts, East Hampton, New York, 1960-61
 * Gallery North, Seven East Hampton Artists, Setauket, NY, 1965
 * Alonzo Gallery, His and Hers, New York, NY, 1969
 * Parrish Art Museum, The Summer Place, Southampton, NY, 1970
 * Guild Hall, Interaction of Color, East Hampton, NY, 1972
 * Guild Halll, Young Collectors Gallery, East Hampton, NY, 1970-73
 * Upstairs Gallery, Group Show, East Hampton, NY, 1974
 * Landmark Gallery, 1 18 Artists, New York, NY, 1974-74
 * Guild Hall, Artists of the Hamptons, Paintings, Sculpture, Auction Exhibitions, East Hampton, NY, and Sotheby Park,
 * Bernet, NY, 1975
 * Guild Hall, Artists of the Region, East Hampton, NY, 1976
 * Guild Hall, Points of View, East Hampton, NY, 1977
 * The Laundry, Three Person Show, East Hampton, NY, 1978
 * The Laundry, Women at the Laundry, East Hampton, NY, 1979
 * American Cultural Center of the U.S. Embassy, The Pollock Years, 1946-1956, Paris, France, 1979
 * Zabrieskie Gallery, Seventeen Abstract Artists of East Hampton, The Pollock Years, 1946-56, New York, NY, 1980
 * Elaine Benson Gallery, Then and Now: Part 11,Bridgehampton, NY, 1984
 * Bologna/Landi Gallery, The Hampton Scene: Then and Now, East Hampton, NY, 1984
 * 383 West Broadway, 5 Artists, New York, NY, 1984
 * Artviews, Celebration: East End Artists, East Hampton, NY, 1985
 * Ingber Gallery, Guild Hall, Survival of the Fittest, New York, NY, 1985
 * Guild Hall, East Hampton Star 100th Anniversary Portfolio, East Hampton, NY, 1985
 * Arbitrage Gallery, Hampton Artists, New York, NY, 1985
 * Fine Arts Museum of Long Island, Hempstead, NY, 1985
 * Benton Gallery, Opening Show, Southampton, NY, 1986
 * Guild Hall, East Hampton Avant Garde – A Salute to the Signa Gallery 1957-1960, East Hampton, NY, 1990
 * Elston Fine Arts, The New York School – Works on Paper 1950’s – 1960’s, New York, NY, 1991
 * Sidney Mishkin Gallery, Baruch College, Paths to Discovery, The New York School Works on Paper from the 1950’s & 1960’s,curated by Ellen Russotto, New York, NY, 1992
 * Renee Fotouhi Gallery, Twentieth Century Prints of the East End, East Hampton, NY, 1992
 * Stuart Levy Gallery, American Vanguard – Jackson Pollock, Lee Krasner & Friends, New York, NY, 1992
 * Nassau County Museum of Art, Intimates &Confidants in Art: Husbands, Wives, Lovers & Friends, Nassau, NY, 1994
 * Anita Shapolsky Gallery, Women of the Fifties, New York, NY, 1995
 * Anita Shapolsky Gallery, Artists of the Fifties, New York, NY, 1995
 * Anita Shapolsky Gallery, The Fifties, New York, NY, 1995
 * Arlene Bujese Gallery, A Matter of Synthesis: Collage & Assemblage, East Hampton, NY, 1995
 * Arlene Bujese Gallery, The Reach of Abstraction, East Hampton, NY, 1995
 * Ashawagh Hall, Artists of The Springs Invitational Exhibit, East Hampton, NY, 1995
 * Arlene Bujese Gallery, Abstraction: The Subjective Impulse, East Hampton, NY, 1996
 * Anita Shapolsky Gallery, Abstract Paintings and Sculpture Part 11, New York, NY, 1996
 * Arlene Bujese Gallery, Affairs of The Heart, East Hampton, NY, 1997
 * Ashawagh Hall, Artists of The Springs Invitational Exhibit, East Hampton, NY, 1997
 * Arlene Bujese Gallery, Wall to Wall, East Hampton, NY, 1997
 * The Parrish Art Museum, The Centennial Open, Southampton, NY, 1998
 * Elaine Bensen Gallery, Old Friends, Bridgehampton, NY, 1998
 * Ashawaugh Hall, Artists of the Springs Invitational Exhibit, East Hampton, NY, 1998
 * Katharina Rich Perlow Gallery, A Winter Group of Artist Couples, New York, NY, 1998
 * Artsensry Gallery, In Context: An Intimate View; Syd Solomon & His Circle of Friends, Sarasota, FL, 1998
 * Ashawagh Hall, Artists of the Springs Invitation Exhibit, East Hampton, NY, 2002
 * Anita Shapolsky Gallery, Women of the 50’s, New York, NY, 2002
 * Parrish Art Museum, Charotte Park: Work From the Fifties, Southampton, NY, 2002
 * Parrish Art Museum, Three East End Artists, Southampton, NY, 2002-3
 * Spanierman Modern, New York, Hot and Cool Abstractions: 1940s to the Present, 2009
 * Spanierman Modern, New York, Gallery Selections, 2010
 * Spanierman Modern, New York, Abstract Expressionism and Its Legacy, 2011
 * Spanierman Modern, New York, Gallery Selections, 2012
 * Spanierman Modern, New York, Abstract Strength, 2012
 * McCormick Gallery, Chicago, Her Work, 2015.
 * Art Miami, Berry Campbell, 2015.
 * Berry Campbell, New York, Summer Selections, 2015
 * Art Southampton, Berry Campbell, 2015, 2016.
 * Quidley & Company, Nantucket, Savage Nature: The Importance of Place in Early American Modernism, 2016.
 * Berry Campbell, New York, Summer Selections, 2017
 * Eric Firestone Gallery, East Hampton, New York, Montauk Highway: Postwar Abstraction in the Hamptons, 2017.
 * Berry Campbell, New York, Summer Selections, 2018.


 * The Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
 * Columbia Museum of Art, South Carolina
 * Guild Hall, East Hampton, New York
 * The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
 * The Parrish Museum of Art, Southampton, New York
 * Telfair Museum of Art, Savannah, Georgia