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.