Hollis Taggart

About the Gallery
Founded in 1979, Hollis Taggart presents significant works of American art, showcasing the trajectory of American art movements from the Hudson River School to American Modernism and the Post-War and Contemporary eras. Its program is characterized by a deep commitment to scholarship and bringing to the fore the work of under-recognized artists. The gallery has sponsored several catalogue raisonné projects, most recently for the American Surrealist artist Kay Sage, and has been instrumental in advancing knowledge of such artists as Alfred Maurer, Arthur B. Carles, and more recently, Theodoros Stamos, Marjorie Strider, and Michael (Corinne) West. In the summer of 2019, the gallery announced the formal expansion of its primary market business and focus on the presentation of contemporary work. It continues to expand its roster of contemporary artists, focusing on emerging and mid-career talents. With more than 40 years of experience, Hollis Taggart is widely recognized by collectors and curators for its leadership, expertise, and openness, on matters of art history, market trends and opportunities.

About the Presentation
Hollis Taggart will present work by Frank Diaz Escalet in a solo presentation at Independent 20th Century. Puerto Rican-born American artist Frank Diaz Escalet’s (1930-2012) extraordinary body of work and critical contributions to post-war American art history have gone largely unrecognized. Escalet was a self-taught painter and master leathercrafter whose work ranged from quotidian scenes of vibrant nights at New York jazz clubs to cowboys in Western landscapes and pared-down geometric compositions. His canvases are deeply personal expressions of his own lived experiences as a Puerto Rican immigrant in New York, as well as a more universalized, abstracted commitment to humanizing and dignifying fellow immigrants and the working class. We believe that Escalet's works - though they come to us from a different time - are an urgent, powerful antidote to current-day equity issues.