In 1946 Betty Parsons opened the doors of her fifth-floor gallery space at 11 East 57th Street. Parsons was a champion of an older generation of Abstract Expressionist painters, including Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, Barnett Newman, and Hedda Sterne. Rauschenberg recalled bringing his paintings to her in 1950 when he was 25 years old. "I just wanted to know what she thought. Really.... And she says, in her gravel voice, 'Well, I look at new works on Tuesday. And this isn’t Tuesday.' So I was busy leaving; she said, 'OK, put ’em down here, and—and—and I'll look.' And I was so nervous by then that—that—I mean...she was a real priestess," Rauschenberg recalled. When just about to leave with his paintings in tow, Parsons surprised the young artist: "Well, I can’t give you a show until May." Rauschenberg’s first New York solo exhibition took place at the Parsons Gallery in May 1951.