FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 2025
Dorothy Rice: From Fashion to Fine Art — exploring the artist’s multi-talented journey from the “Face of Dior” to exhibiting artist
Writer and producer Jonell Lennon, historian and museum educator Tamara Zaks, and gallery director Deborah Blum
host a talk about the multi-talented artist’s life and legacy
Dorothy Rice, To Los Angeles with Love, 7811 Gallery. Photo: Serina Bernstein
Los Angeles, CA – 7811 Gallery hosts an artist talk with writer and producer, Jonell Lennon, historian and museum educator, Tamara Zaks, and gallery director, Deborah Blum, about the late artist Dorothy Rice and her current solo exhibition To Los Angeles with Love on Sunday, April 27, 2025, from 2:00 – 4:00 pm. The exhibition is currently on view through May 1, 2025.
Rice was a painter, sculptor, model and actor, who left art school for an illustrious career as a top fashion model in the 1940s and 50s, became an actor, married producer Stanley Chase, and then returned to her true love of painting, becoming an exhibiting artist and for the rest of her life, exploring several different mediums with astonishing breadth and vibrancy, as she captured the human experience.
At the talk, Lennon, Zaks, and Blum will engage in a dynamic conversation about the late artist, offering insight into Rice’s practice, her place among women artists of the time as well as the fashion and modeling industry, the social circles she inhabited, her worldwide travels, and her ability to continually evolve. Rice’s daring, brave, charming personality informed her life and directly influenced the work on view. As co-director of Rice’s estate, Lennon brings an intimate, personal perspective to Rice’s art, life and persona. As a historian and museum educator at the Getty Villa Museum, Zaks will contextualize Rice’s work within the history of women artists and shed light on the international collections, including the Mexico series created in the 1970s. As gallery director, Blum will speak to the exhibit’s theme “To Los Angeles With Love” and discuss her curation of the exhibit.
The talk will be followed by an opportunity for guests to view exclusive pieces of Rice’s artwork, providing a rare glimpse into the artistic legacy she left behind and a compelling exploration of the intersection of art, culture, and personal history.
About To Los Angeles with Love
To Los Angeles with Love reflects Rice’s decades-long explorations of community, beauty and place. The exhibition stands as a timely celebration of California, specifically Los Angeles, which she called home for over 50 years. It features oil paintings, silkscreens and watercolors depicting California from the 1970s through the 90s, including iconic landmarks, tranquil natural landscapes, and scenes that Rice captured in the moment. Born and raised in New York, Rice learned to be brave and take care of herself. She married the love of her life, producer Stanley Chase, and continued to travel for her artwork. Rice brought what Ray Bradbury—author, native Angeleno, and collector of Rice’s work—described as “fresh eyes and her own palette” to everything from city life to coastal landscapes. She turned to watercolors to capture scenes she witnessed quickly and took more time to complete detailed oil paintings.
The exhibition also features pieces that reflect the wide scope of Rice’s work. Her paintings of New York City, Israel, Japan, and Mexico make an appearance, revealing not only Rice’s cosmopolitan life but her profound interest in depicting shared human experiences across cultures and time.
A portion of proceeds will be donated to the Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation.
“This exhibition encapsulates Dorothy’s entire personality: the New Yorker who went on to become a celebrated model and actor, the Californian who lived in the Hollywood limelight, the world traveler who created art to connect with the people around her—all of it comes together to reveal an extraordinary woman who captured the world as only she could.” – Deborah Blum, Gallery Director and Curator
Dorothy Rice, To Los Angeles with Love, 7811 Gallery. Photo: Serina Bernstein
Rice created art her entire life; she was invited to join the Art Students League in New York at the age of 14. During that time, she was “discovered” at the legendary nightclub El Morocco in Manhattan by Vogue photographer John Rawlings, which led to her remarkable modeling career. Rising to widespread acclaim as the face of the culture-defining “New Look” collection from Christian Dior, Rice worked with top fashion photographers. Her vivacious personality led naturally to a career in acting in theater, television and movies.
She returned to art-making in her 40s, a remarkable shift especially as a woman during the time period. When she transitioned from full-time modeling and acting to painting, she said she was happy to turn the focus away from herself to the world around her. Her paintings allow us to see the world through the eyes of someone who was once a muse, demonstrating an intimate and natural sense of beauty that starkly contrasts with the beauty standards of the fashion industry.
Jonathan Kirsch of The Los Angeles Times wrote that Rice “captured a softer and more romantic aspect of our city than we are accustomed to seeing. There’s an exuberance, almost an innocence to her conception of the cityscape – she has an eye for color and movement and a taste for the quaint.” Army Archerd of Daily Variety wrote: “Beverly Hills never looked lovelier than in Dorothy Rice’s latest [work].”
Dorothy Rice. Photo: Peter Basch
Exhibition Details
On view: March 6 – May 1, 2025
7811 Gallery
7811 Melrose Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90046
Gallery Hours: Tuesday through Friday and Sunday, 12:00 – 5:00 pm, and by appointment.
About Dorothy Rice
Dorothy Rice (1924 – 2023) was a multi-talented painter, sculptor, model and actor.
Rice produced a prolific body of artwork throughout her life, including oil paintings, watercolors, pastels, silk screens and sculptures. Her artistic prowess was first recognized by the Art Students League in New York, who invited her to join at the age of 14. In 1975, Rice held her first solo exhibition Serenata Mexicana at the renowned Southwest Museum. Many of her contemporary critics and publications noted her impressive versatility, including Architectural Digest which dedicated a large spread to her watercolor paintings of New York City.
Rice’s work was also favored internationally: she was the first American woman commissioned to create a mural in Guadalajara, Mexico. She was commissioned by the King of Morocco for a series of paintings; and was hosted by the Mayor of Jerusalem while completing her Israel collection. Rice’s work has been exhibited in galleries, embassies and museums worldwide, and is held in several public and private collections, including those of notable figures like Barbara Walters, Gore Vidal and Ray Bradbury.
Rice’s artistic perspective was informed by her illustrious modeling and acting career, in which she worked with iconic creatives and traveled to regions that inspired her paintings. In addition to being the face of Dior’s “New Look,” and working with the top fashion photographers and designers of the era, Rice appeared in over 100 plays, starred in several prominent television shows, including the Emmy Award-winning Fear on Trial, produced by her husband, the late Stanley Chase.
After returning to her art practice full-time, she exhibited widely in California, New York, Las Vegas and Arizona. And painted on site in Mexico, Morocco, Israel, Egypt, New York City and Beverly Hills. Her work was featured on the television show the View, and in many publications such as Westways, American West and Architectural Digest.
“I am searching for whatever is positive and reinforcing for the human spirit. I value the individual and appreciate the beauty human beings are able to give to each other.” – Dorothy Rice
Website: https://www.dorothyriceart.com
Instagram: @dorothyricearchive
About 7811 Gallery
7811 Gallery features local, emerging and mid-career artists. The gallery connects art-lovers, collectors and artists in a community setting.
Website: https://www.7811gallery.com
Instagram: @7811gallery
About Jonell Lennon
Jonell Lennon is a writer/producer for television and the co-director of Dorothy Rice’s estate. Lennon was extremely close with Rice for many years and spoke extensively with Rice about her life, her art and modeling.
About Tamara Zaks
Tamara Zaks is a Historian and Museum Educator at the Getty Villa Museum. She is a passionate bilingual arts educator with more than two decades of professional experience in museums, galleries, and cultural institutions throughout Mexico, Spain, and the United States. Her academic background in History and Anthropology has informed a multidisciplinary career that integrates scholarly research with educational and curatorial practices.