Claire Iltis

Fleisher/Ollman Gallery

Fleisher/Ollman Gallery opened in Philadelphia in 1952 as the Janet Fleisher Gallery. Over the course of the next five decades, the gallery established a reputation as one of the world's premiere sources for self-taught art, defining the field and helping to develop major public and private collections of this once-marginalized group of artists. Fleisher/Ollman was among the first to mount major exhibitions of work by Henry Darger, Sister Gertrude Morgan, Bill Traylor, and Martin Ramirez, and published early catalogues on James Castle, William Edmondson, and Joseph Yoakum. Since 1997, when John Ollman became the gallery's sole owner, emphasis has shifted toward the exhibition of contemporary artists who reflect the influence of the self-taught. The gallery continues to showcase the most significant American vernacular artists of the 20th Century, including the exclusive representation of Felipe Jesus Consalvos and the Philadelphia Wireman.