By Michael Gabriele
NEW YORK—The Allied Artists of America will feature a new, generous cash prize for its juried 108th annual exhibition: the $5,000 “Audrey Love Memorial Award,” which will honor Audrey Love’s many years of devotion to the arts.
An art collector, philanthropist and an ardent patron of the arts, Ms. Love passed away on Nov. 22, 2003, at her home in Key Biscayne, FL, at the age of 100. According to an obituary in The New York Times, she graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Smith College, Northampton, MA, and met her future husband, C. Ruxton Love Jr., in 1926 during a trip to India. Together, they were prolific art collectors and in 1978 exhibited their collection of Napoleonic art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
In addition, she was a founding member of the Lowe Art Museum of the University of Miami and pieces from her collection of Georgian silver were exhibited at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London in 2002. Mr. Love, a diplomat and Wall Street financier, died in 1971.
Gabriela Gonzalez Dellosso, vice president of Allied Artists of America, praised the new memorial award, noting that it will help support the mission of the organization and the artists that it serves. “A $5000 award is a significant amount of money,” Dellosso said. “How is it likely to inspire AAA artists? The artist who receives it will not only receive a prestigious recognition, but a substantial amount of money, which will help to fund their creative process, which is expensive. It’s wonderful to reward artists for their hard work.”
Gary T. Erbe, a member of the Allied Artists presidential advisory committee and a former president of the group, was instrumental in obtaining the memorial award. “Audrey Love was a great supporter and a great lover of the arts,” Erbe said. “She also was an art collector. This award is a great way to memorialize and commemorate her with Allied Artists of America. By offering this award, she continues her long-time support for artists and the fine arts. Winning this award would be a big boost for any artist to support their creativity.”
The Allied Artists’ 2021 exhibition is slated to open to the public on Sept. 2 at the historic Salmagundi Club, 47 Fifth Ave. (between West 12th and West 11th streets). Details regarding the exhibition can be found on the organization’s website (www.alliedartistsofamerica.org).
Mitzura Salgian is the president of the Allied Artists of America, a national 501(c) (3) non-profit organization, founded in New York in 1914 to further the cause of contemporary American artists. The organization’s offices and exhibition galleries are located at the Salmagundi Club.
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