From Humble Beginnings: Vose Galleries in the 1840s

Vose & Huxford, Providence, Rhode Island,  circa 1841

Joseph Vose (1793-1873)

Joseph Vose worked as a shoe manufacturer before expanding his business into the arts. In 1841, he purchased the Westminster Art Gallery of Providence, Rhode Island, from local artist Ransom Hicks. This gallery dealt primarily in the sale of moldings, prints, and picture frames, and was only marginally involved in what was then a quiet art market that revolved around commissioned works.