Details
Lila Oliver Asher was born in Philadelphia, Pa. She studied there with Joseph Grossman, Frank B.A. Linton and at the Fleischer Memorial Art School. She was also a pupil of Prof. Gonippo Raggi and held a four year scholarship to the now University of the Arts. She moved to Washington D.C. in 1946 and established a studio for painting, sculpture and prints. She taught art at the college level from 1947, as instructor in the Art Department of Howard University 1947-51, at Wilson Teachers College 1953-54, returning to Howard University in 1961, promoted to Assistant Professor in 1964, to Associate Professor in 1966, and to full Professor in 1971. She was named a Howard University Professor Emeritus upon her retirement from teaching in 1991, and continued to work in her studio producing works until her death in February 2021.
Selected One Person Shows
Barnett Aden Gallery, Wash., D.C. 1951; William C. Blood Gallery, Phila., Pa., 1955; Arts Club, Wash., D.C. 1957; Collectors Gallery , Wash., D.C. 1959; Garrett Park Public Library, Garrett Park, Md.; 1960; Burr Galleries, New York, N.Y.; 1963; Gallery Two Twenty Two, El Paso, Tex., 1965; Thomson Gallery, New York, N.Y., 1968; B'nai B'rith Headquarters, Wash., D.C. 1969; Univ. of Virginia, Charlottesville, Va., 1970; Green-Field Gallery, El Paso, Tex., 1972; Northwestern Michigan College, 1972; Franz Bader Gallery, retrospective, Wash., D.C., 1972; American Club, Tokyo, Japan, 1973; USIS Bombay, India, 1974; Iran-America Soc., Teheran, Iran, 1974; Fisk Univ., retrospective, Nashville, Tenn., 1974; USIS Calcutta, Bombay and Madras, India, 1975; USIS Karachi, Lahore, and Islamabad, Pakistan, 1975; USIS Ankara and Adana, Turkey, 1976; Via Gambaro Gallery, Wash., D.C. 1976; Gallery Kormendy, Alexandria, Va. 1978; Howard Univ., retrospective, 1978; Washington Hebrew Cong., Wash., D.C. 1979; Northeastern Univ., Boston, Mass. 1980; Nat. Museum of History, Taipei, Taiwan, 1982; Kastrupgårdsamlingen Kunst Museum, Denmark, 1982; Gallaudet Univ. Wash., D.C. 1985; Mickelson Gallery, Wash., D.C. 1986; UCLA, Los Angeles, Cal., 1986; National Press Club, Washington., DC 1987; Univ. of Virginia, Charlottesville, Va. 1988; Howard Univ. Retrospective, Wash. D.C. 1991; Cosmos Club, Wash., D.C. 1992; Rockville Art Mansion, Rockville, Md. 1992; Georgetown Univ. Wash., D.C 1992; Hood College, Frederick, Md. 1992. Nat. Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Md. 1993. 1997; Goldman Gallery, Jewish Community Center 1997; Cosmos Club, Washington, D,C, 1998; Montpelier Cultural Arts Center, Prince Georges County, Md. 1999. Strathmore Hall Arts Center, North Bethesda, Md. 2001; Henry J. Stimson Center (Institiute for International Peace and Security Washington, DC 2009; Ratner Museum, Bethesda, Md. 2010. The Washington Arts Club , Washington, DC 2010. The Printmakers Gallery, Silver Spring Md. 2011; participant "American Impressions" contemporary printmaking exchange Shanghai ,China.2012.
Selected Permanent Collections
Nat. Museum of American Art, Wash. D.C.; Corcoran Gallery of Art, Wash. D.C.; Howard Univ. Gallery of Art, Wash., D.C.; Barnett Aden Collection, Tampa, Fla.; Univ. of Virginia, Charlottesville, Va.; Sweet Briar College, Sweet Briar, Va.; B'nai B'rith, Wash. D.C.; City of Wolfsburg, Germany; David Lloyd Kreeger Collection, Wash. D.C.; Superior Court of the Dist. of Columbia, Wash., D.C.; Federal Mediation and Conciliation Serv., Wash., D.C.; Center for Research in Education of the Disadvantaged, Jerusalem, Israel; Embassy of the U.S., Tel Aviv, Israel; Embassy of the U.S., Mexico City, Mexico; Fisk Univ., Nashville, Tenn.; Montgomery County Collection of Contemporary Prints, Montgomery County, Md.; Nat. Council on Art in Jewish Life; American Jewish Congress, New York, N.Y.; Georgetown Univ., Wash., D.C.; Nat. Mus. of History, Taipei, Taiwan; Kastrupgårdsamlingen Kunst Museum, Denmark; Nat. Museum of Women in the Arts, Wash. D.C.; Jundt Museum, Gonzaga Univ. Spokane, Wash.; private collections in the U.S. and abroad.
Murals
Teller Auditorium, Cong. Rodeph Shalom, Phila. Pa.; Bolling Field Officers Club, Wash., D.C.; Washingtonian Motel, Gaithersburg, Md.; Indian Springs Country Club, two works, Glenmont, Md; others in private buildings.
Selected Portraits
Cong. James C. Auchincloss; Justice Harold H. Burton; Mrs. Harold H. Burton; Hon. Luther Evans; Hon. Cyrus Ching; Joseph C. Harsch; Dean Dinwoody, Esq.; Mrs. Louis Ottenberg; Philip Sterling, Esq.; Hon. Howland Shaw; Sturgis Warner, Esq.; John Stewart, Esq.; Walter McArdle; Edward McArdle; John Fantozzi and others.
Professional Associations
Soc. of Washington Artists (President 1962-64); Soc. of Washington Printmakers; Artists Equity; Washington Water Color Assoc.; The Washington Print Club; The Print Club, Phila, Pa.; Print Consortium, Kansas City, Mo.; The Maryland Printmakers; The Cosmos Club, Wash., D.C.
Listed in
Who's Who in America; Who's Who of American Women; Who's Who in the South and Southwest; Who's Who in American Art; Dictionary of International Biography; Two Thousand Women of Achievement; Who's Who in American Jewry; Personalities of the South; Washington Artists Today, A Directory; American Biographical Institute; Who's Who in World Jewry; The World Who's Who of Women; Work included in the catalog, "American Prints from Wood" a traveling exhibition sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution.
Selected Group Exhibits
Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Phila, Pa.; Corcoran Gallery of Art, Wash., D.C.; Howard Univ., Wash., D.C.; Pan American Union, Wash.; D.C. Library of Congress, Wash., D.C.; Univ. of Maine, Orono, Me.; Baltimore Mus. of Art, Baltimore, Md.; Philadelphia College of Art, Phila., Pa.; Riverside Mus., New York, N.Y.; Arts Club, Wash., D.C.; Rochester Mus. Memorial Art Gallery, Rochester, N.Y.; Garden Pier, Atlantic City, N.J.; Virginia Intermont College, Bristol, Va.; Longwood College, Va.; Rockville Civic Center, Rockville, Md.; New York World Fair, New York, N.Y.; U.S. Department of State, Wash., D.C.; Univ. of Illinois Krammet Mus., Champaign, Ill.; Woodmere Gallery, Phila., Pa.; Nat. Collection of Fine Arts, Wash., D.C.; Smithsonian Institution, Wash., D.C.; Univ. of Virginia, Charlottesville, Va.; Virginia Museum, Richmond, Va.; Sweet Briar College, Sweetbriar, Va.; Dimock Gallery, Geo. Washington Univ. Wash., D.C.; Studio Museum, Harlem, New York, N.Y.; Univ. of Texas, Auburn, Tex.; Appalachian State Univ. N.C.; Montgomery College, Montgomery County, Md.; International Monetary Fund, Wash., D.C.; Atlanta College of Art, Atlanta, Ga.; others.
Miscellaneous
A volunteer of U.S.O. Camp Shows in World War II, did approximately 3600 charcoal sketches of members of the U.S. Armed Forces; invited as guest artist by the City of Wolfsburg, Germany, to live and work in Wolfsburg Castle 1968, 1971, 1975, 1981. Print included in Art in Washington 1970 (a calendar); Guest artist, Univ. of Texas, El Paso 1972; Lectured and conducted workshop demonstrations under the auspices of the USIS in Japan and India, 1973-74. Honoree, 1981, School Graphic Exhibits, National Museum of American Art, Wash. D. C. Instructor Plastic Surgery Fellows, Georgetown Univ. 1991-1993, "Lila Asher, Printmaker Artist" Montgomery County Television Series "Art Strokes" 1993, 1999, Talks at Farquhar School, Montgomery County Resource Bank 1996, Conducted printmaking workshops for Virginia Museum of Art, 2001.