Brilliant but brief describes the existence of an art gallery in Portland—and no gallery could have had a shorter, more dazzling career than the Garden Gallery which closed this week after 10 roller-coaster months of operation.

Located in a posh area near the southwest outskirts of the city, it was opened last December by William C. Kremmel, a former interior decorator. The little enterprise, sandwiched into a shopping center, offered for sale literally everything from mosaic murals to manure (dried). Yet, with lucrative sidelines of garden supplies, the Garden Gallery failed. In so doing it