Betty Asher
{{Short description|American art collector and dealer}}
Betty Asher (May 6, 1914 – 1994) was an American art collector and dealer. An ardent supporter of Pop art and Contemporary art, her large collection of cups and saucers by artists was world-famous.{{Cite news|title = Los Angeles Times|last = Muchnic|first = Suzanne|date = May 14, 1994|work = Betty Asher; Collector of Contemporary Art}}{{Cite web|url = http://www.oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/kt0489r5j2/|title = Online Archive of California|access-date = June 21, 2014}}{{Cite web|title=Two Bettys|url=https://lamodern.com/2013/04/the-two-bettys/|website=Los Angeles Modern Auctions Blog}}{{Cite web|title=Property from the Collections of Michael Asher and Betty Asher {{!}} Sold to Benefit The Michael Asher Foundation|url=https://www.sothebys.com/en/articles/property-from-the-collections-of-michael-asher-and-betty-asher-sold-to-benefit-the-michael-asher-foundation|website=Sotheby's|date=31 October 2018 }}
Biography
Asher was born in Chicago on May 4, 1914.{{Cite web|url=http://www.oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/kt0489r5j2/|title=Finding aid for the Betty Asher papers, 1860-1999|website=www.oac.cdlib.org|access-date=2016-12-11}} The family lived behind the drugstore.{{Cite web|url=http://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/interviews/oral-history-interview-betty-m-asher-12547|title=Oral history interview with Betty M. Asher, 1980 June 30 and 1980 July 7 - Oral Histories {{!}} Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution|last=Art|first=Archives of American|website=www.aaa.si.edu|access-date=2016-12-11}} Asher attended a normal school (teacher training college) in Chicago for one year before beginning training to become a nurse at Michael Reese Hospital in Chicago. She graduated as an RN and spent about four years in private nursing.
In 1939, she married Dr. Leonard Asher. They moved to Los Angeles in 1941.{{Cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-04-04-ca-50815-story.html|title=Selling Cream of Art Collector's Crop : Art: Some of Betty Asher's collection, including her artist-designed cups, will be previewed in Beverly Hills before going on the auction block in New York.|last=MUCHNIC|first=SUZANNE|date=1995-04-04|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|language=en-US|issn=0458-3035|access-date=2016-12-11}} The couple had two children, Reina Asher (Allen) and Michael Asher (who would become a well known conceptual artist{{Cite news|last=Kennedy|first=Randy|date=2012-10-17|title=Michael Asher, Conceptual Artist, Dies at 69 (Published 2012)|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/18/arts/design/michael-asher-artist-dies-at-69.html|access-date=2020-11-12|issn=0362-4331}}), and three granddaughters, Pamela, Debra, and Tara.
Aside from being a collector, she was curatorial assistant at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art for 13 years (1966–79), and co-founded and co-owned Asher-Faure Gallery with Patricia Faure from 1979-90.
Asher died at her home in Beverly Hills on May 11, 1994.{{cite web|last=Muchnic|first=Suzanne |date=1994-05-14|title=Betty Asher; Collector of Contemporary Art|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-05-14-mn-57412-story.html|access-date=2020-11-12|website=Los Angeles Times}}{{Cite web|date=1994-06-02|title=Appreciation : Betty Asher: An Artful Evolution : The art collector, curator and dealer helped shape culture in postwar Los Angeles. She will be remembered tonight in a memorial tribute.|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-06-02-ca-65118-story.html|access-date=2020-11-12|website=Los Angeles Times|language=en-US}} Her papers were donated to the Getty Research Institute in 2010.{{cite web|url=http://blogs.artinfo.com/lacmonfire/2010/11/16/betty-asher-archives-to-getty-research-institute/|title=Betty Asher Archives to Getty Research Institute|publisher=Artinfo|last1=Poundstone|first1=William|access-date=22 June 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140826160757/http://blogs.artinfo.com/lacmonfire/2010/11/16/betty-asher-archives-to-getty-research-institute/|archive-date=26 August 2014|url-status=dead}}
Notes
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External links
- [http://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/interviews/oral-history-interview-betty-m-asher-12547 Oral History Interview: Betty Asher (Archives of American Art)]
- Betty Asher Papers, Getty Research Institute
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Category:American art collectors
Category:American women art collectors
Category:American women nurses
Category:American women art dealers
Category:20th-century American women
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