Barbaryan Gallery exhibition at Village of the Arts

Stop by the Village of the Arts to view the Barbaryan Gallery, which will show the fashion-illustration work of Susan Barbaryan. Barbaryan's work from the 1950s-1960s embodied the golden age of ad illustration. The artist illustrated for many of the top fashion designers including Anne Klein. Many of Barbaryan's original sketches and prints will be exhibited. Formerly of New York City, the artist and her family moved to Sarasota in 1976 and Barbaryan eventually resided in both the Riverfront and Langdon Hall retirement communities.

From the late 1940s through the early 1970s, Susan was one of the top fashion illustrators in the industry, a time that included the so-called Mad Men era, when advertising began to mesh with pop culture. In the beginning, she worked out of a studio in Hell’s Kitchen New York City (pictured in the gallery) and for most of her career used the easel, brushes and supplies displayed in the exhibit as well. The gallery, located at 1329 11th Street West in Bradenton's Village of the Arts, features many of her surviving fashion illustration originals and prints, as well as some of her nudes and children’s fashion illustration. Susan Barbaryan passed away in the Fall of 2012 in Bradenton, Florida. The gallery will be open through December 22; 12:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays.