Fleisher/Ollman Gallery

Between 1952 and 1958, Janet Fleisher and her college friend Eunice Leopold co-founded the Little Gallery on Manning Street, Philadelphia. This gallery exhibited the works of both renowned and lesser-known artists. The duo then opened Galerie Philadelphie in Paris in 1958 to create a transatlantic conversation between avant-garde American and European artists. Fleisher became the sole owner in the mid-1960s and operated the gallery until she was joined by John Ollman in 1970. They expanded the gallery's programming and shared a commitment to art that was off the beaten path. They exhibited Folk, African, Oceanic, and Native American art and the American avant-garde and European art. For forty years, Fleisher’s gallery was recognized as the leading source of self-taught and non-mainstream artwork. Fleisher/Ollman helped to establish and supply art for some of the most significant private and public collections. The gallery hosted the first significant exhibitions of work by Henry Darger and Sister Gertrude Morgan. It published the first catalogs of work by James Castle and William Edmondson. Today, the gallery is the main representative of important American vernacular artists, like Felipe Jesus Consalvos, and Philadelphia Wireman.