Artist Biography

Joan Erbe, a native Baltimorean, received her early instruction at the Maryland Institute College of Art, which – following high school – she later attended as a scholarship student. At Eastern High School she was one of the first students to major in art through the Carnegie Art Program. During her teen years she was a private student of Louis Bouche in upstate New York.

Ms. Erbe has had more than 60 one artist shows (*) since 1952. They are included in some of the major public exhibitions she has had at the Baltimore Museum of Art (*); the Johns Hopkins, Towson State (*), Morgan State, Pennsylvania State (*) and George Washington Universities; St. John’s and Goucher Colleges; the Corcoran Galleries; the Smithsonian Institutions; The Library of Congress; the Butler Institute of Art; the Peale, the Cooperstown and the Birmingham (Alabama) (*) Museums; the Philadelphia Art Alliance(*); the Enoch Pratt Library; the Baltimore Hebrew Congregation (*); the Jewish Community Center (2*); the Catholic Diocese of Baltimore (*); the Theatre Project (*), the Rehoboth Art League (*) and in 1980 she was honored with an exhibition at the National Academy of Arts and Letters (*).

Privately Ms. Erbe has been represented by and has had one artist shows at the Salpeter Gallery (*) in New York City; the Zenith Gallery (*) in Washington, D.C., the Vanderlitz Gallery (*) in Provincetown, the Arts Gallery (*) , Revelations (*) and the Phoenix Galleries (*) in Baltimore and the Aart Vark Galleries (*) in Philadelphia. From 1958 through 1982 she was represented by the IFA Galleries (20*) in Washington, D.C. from 1988 through 1990 by Partners Galleries (3*) in Bethesda, from 1991 to 1992 showed at the Faith Nightingale Gallery (*) in San Diego and from 1992 to 1992 at Originals, an Art Gallery (*) in del Mar, California. Since 1990 Ms. Erbe had been represented by the Gomez Gallery (5*) in Baltimore and was also affiliated with the Freites-Revilla Gallery in Boca Raton, the Telluride Gallery of Fine Art (*) in Colorado, the Treasures Gallery in Denver, the Lightside Gallery in Santa Fe, the Hand Artes Gallery (*) in Truchas, New Mexico and New Castle, Pennsylvania, the Aaron Gallery in Washington, D.C., the Carol Behrman Gallery in Los Angeles, Kent Gallery (*) in Key West, and the Heineman Myers Gallery (*) in Bethesda. She is currently represented by Fleckenstein Gallery in Baltimore.

Ms. Erbe’s work has received many honors, awards and prizes including purchase awards at the Baltimore Museum of Art, Morgan State University, the Corcoran Galleries, the Smithsonian and The Library of Congress. She has also received numerous commissions including work for the District Courts of the District of Columbia and Choice Finance Corporation of Maryland Building. Her work is included in the David Lloyd Kreegar Collection, the Samuel Greenbaum Family Collection, The Baltimore Museum of Art Permanent Collection, the Morgan State University Collection and the University College Center of the University of Maryland Collection as well as in many other fine collections.