To Los Angeles with Love, a new solo exhibition of works by the late artist Dorothy Rice, will debut at 7811 Gallery in Los Angeles from 6th March until 1st May, 2025. A portion of proceeds will be donated to the Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation.
Dorothy Rice was a multi-talented painter, sculptor, model and actor, who had an illustrious career as a top fashion model in the 1940s and 50s, before becoming an exhibiting artist and exploring, throughout the rest of her life and through several different mediums, the breadth and vibrancy of the human experience.
To Los Angeles with Love reflects Rice’s decades-long explorations of community, beauty and place. The exhibition stands as a timely celebration of California, specifically Los Angeles, which she called home for over 50 years. It features oil paintings, silkscreens and watercolors depicting California from the 1970s through the 90s, including iconic landmarks, tranquil natural landscapes, and scenes evocative of a bygone yet recognizable Los Angeles ethos.
Though she was born and raised in New York, Rice’s later life as a renowned model married to a Hollywood producer embodied a Los Angeles fantasy which is palpable in her dreamlike paintings. Rice brought what Ray Bradbury—author, native Angeleno, and collector of Rice’s work—described as “fresh eyes and her own palette” to everything from city life to coastal landscapes.
The exhibition also features selections that reflect the international scope of Rice’s work. New York, Israel, Japan, and Mexico all make an appearance, revealing not only Rice’s cosmopolitan life but her profound interest in depicting shared human experiences across cultures and time.
Culturalee spoke to Deborah Blum, curator of 7811 Gallery, about her reasons for shining a light on the art and legacy of Dorothy Rice and her love of California.
Dorothy Rice To Los Angeles with Love is a kind of visual love letter to California through the eyes of the late artist and actor Dorothy Rice. Is this the first posthumous solo exhibition of Rice’s work and why did you decide to stage an exhibition at 7811 gallery?
Yes, I am excited to present the first solo exhibition of Rice’s work since her death in 2023 at 7811 Gallery. Rice was an iconic artist, who created an impressive body of work and an inspiring, independent woman, who was ahead of her time. As an Angelino, I was struck by the whimsical and lyrical nature of Rice’s Los Angeles collection. Her work really spoke to me.
Did you work closely with Dorothy Rice’s estate on the curation, and have you included paintings and sculpture?
I met Jonell Lennon and Mark Pittman, representatives of Dorothy Rice’s estate several times and they were very helpful not only in sharing Rice’s art but also sharing about her life. My gallery team and I visited the space where the art is stored once to get an overview of all the work; then I went back twice to make the final selections. I learned about Rice’s life and artistic journey and saw the different phases of her artist career from oil paintings to watercolors to sculpture.
When we decided the exhibit would focus on Los Angeles, I selected work that reflected this theme. The watercolor paintings in the exhibit show iconic locations in Los Angeles, New York and Israel but the majority are of Los Angeles. The oil paintings depict landscapes and beaches in Southern California and there are a few of Mexico, two of Israel and one of Japan. So, we chose to leave Rice’s sculptures for another exhibit.
Rice was the face of Dior’s New Look in the late 1940s, becoming a top model and later marrying a Hollywood producer and living in LA. She had her first art exhibition in 1975 at the Southwest Museum and committed herself to painting in her 40s, saying that she was happy to turn the focus away from herself to the world around her. This life experience and statement brings to mind Lee Miller, who was a famous Vogue model in the 1940s but also a brilliant photographer. Miller was quoted as saying “I would rather take a photograph than be one.” Miller is having a Renaissance at the moment with the Kate Winslet biopic ‘LEE’. Do you think the rediscovery of Rice’s art is part of a movement to foreground underappreciated women artists?
Lee was a generation ahead of Rice. However, given their overlapping interests and careers it is not surprising that they had met. Rice was inspired by Lee’s fierce independence, artistic dedication and her ability to chart her own course. Dorothy travelled to England and France immediately after WWII and witnessed the destruction first hand which had a significant impact on her as well.
The movement to shine a light on women artists definitely brings Rice’s art into the foreground at this time and makes this exhibit both timely and relevant. As a model and an iconic face for years in the fashion industry and in television, Rice was used to being in the spotlight and shone most remarkably there. Her poise and confidence comes through in every pose she strikes and in every lip-stick smile she flashes for the camera. She was a vibrant personality. When she acted, it was also with confidence and joy. She came from a family of artists, and, growing up in Manhattan, she was exposed to much art, fashion and theater from a young age.
When she turned to art full-time, she pursued it with the same dedication and hard work and was able to show the world what captured her attention, what she could create from the world around her. Rice evolved into a full-time artist at a point in her life when she would have been receiving less work as a model and actor. Ageism was a factor and still is. Yes, Rice turned the tables on what could have been an inevitable slide into obscurity and the role of a dutiful Hollywood wife and instead she let her artistic talent shine brightly. She depicted places, buildings, landscapes and people that spoke to her personally and was able to share with the world all that she enjoyed and found fascinating, intriguing, inspiring and beautiful. She did not have to justify her choices to anyone. She was free to create and share her artistic and creative passion fully.
Dorothy Rice lived in LA for 50 years and she captures its landscape and beauty in her artworks. The exhibition will also feature works made in New York, Israel, Japan, and Mexico. Are these all locations that Rice travelled to and depicted in her art?
All of the locations depicted in Rice’s paintings are from locations she travelled to. Her watercolours were typically painted on location as she captured the vibrancy of the subject she had selected. For her oil paintings she would photograph her subject and paint in a studio. Rice grew up in New York and went back there especially to paint some of her favourite buildings and locations. She also travelled to Israel, England, Morocco, and France for significant periods of time and specifically to create and exhibit her art. She lived in Mexico on and off for three years to create her Serenata Mexicana collection. A trip to Japan was brief, yet yielded a few remarkable paintings, one of which is in the exhibition. In addition to these locations, Rice travelled to China, Egypt, Portugal and Spain.
There is a beautiful colourful painting featured in the show which appears to be a bird’s eye view of legendary Hollywood hangout Chateau Marmont. The palette and style are reminiscent of early 20th century Fauvist paintings of the French Riviera, such as Raoul Dufy’s ‘Window opening on Nice’ or Matisse’s ‘The Open Window, Collioure’. Do you think Rice was inspired by Fauvism and impressionism?
Growing up in the late 1920s and 30s, and a young adult in the 40s and 50s, Rice was undoubtedly influenced by Fauvism and Impressionism. Rice’s father was a successful commercial artist in Manhattan and she attended the prestigious Art Students League of New York at the age of 14, while still in high school. One of her classmates was realist painter Philip Pearlstein, who also may have influenced her work.
As a world traveler, Rice was able to see Hollywood from a unique perspective. In the painting The Hills of Beverly, Rice uses rich colors, the bird’s eye perspective, and a somewhat ironic, playful title to turn our attention away from the glamour of Beverly Hills to the natural landscape, placing the building firmly inside abundant flora and foliage. The lush hills draw us in, much as Matisse draws us in in his painting of the town of Collioure through an open window. We are presented with a view of a possibly iconic building without drama, and with a healthy dose of sensuality. We experience the peace and tranquility one feels when sitting in a backyard in Hollywood. Sunset Blvd may be whizzing along below, yet we experience life sustaining, holistic energy that Dorothy Rice embodied through colorful forms and playful juxtapositions.
One of the more abstract paintings featured in the 7811 exhibition depicts a California highway with cars disappearing into the distance, flanked by mountains in highly saturated colours, evoking the feel of an Ed Ruscha artwork. Did you curate the exhibition with a desire to capture the essence of LA through Rice’s lens?
We did desire to capture the essence of Los Angeles in the exhibition. Yet is there one essence to Los Angeles? Is there one essence to any person or place? Or could it be that we are all constantly evolving, learning and growing? We grow through our challenges, our travels and our experiences.
This silkscreen, Mountain View, seems to be saying: Take off! Travel! This is how you will learn and grow! It evokes the Hippie lifestyle of the late 60s and 70s, when people drove off to find themselves. People are still doing this today. The beauty of life in Malibu or Topanga Canyon is its rustic quality. One climbs windy roads to one’s home to achieve a remoteness found near few other major cities in the world. Yet, this remoteness also has its dangers, as the recent fires have shown us. Living in these locations can leave one vulnerable. Yet, this is not the feeling Rice conveys in this piece. The adventure of the road trip and the wonder of traveling into the unknown are captured here with bliss and abandon. This is a feeling that is essential to the Los Angeles area and I hope it never leaves us.
A portion of proceeds from the exhibition will be donated to the Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation. How has the creative community of LA come together since the terrible fires?
The creative community has come together in many ways since the fires occurred. It has been heartening to see donation centers that have popped up to provide new and gently used clothing to people who lost their belongings. Many other art galleries have been collecting art supplies for artists who lost their studios. Others are offering storage space for free. And still others are offering free meditation classes for those affected by the fires. As a part of this community, we simply wanted to do our part during this time with this exhibition and know that Dorothy would have done the same.
Dorothy Rice: To Los Angeles with Love is at 7811 Gallery in Los Angeles from 6th March to 1st May, 2025.
