Palm Desert

EXHIBITIONS        ARTWORK ON VIEW     RELATED NEWS     SERVICES

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Our gallery in Palm Desert is centrally located in the Palm Springs area of California, adjacent to the popular shopping and dining area of El Paseo. Our clientele appreciates our selection of Post War, Modern, and Contemporary art. The gorgeous weather during the winter months draws visitors from all over the world to see our beautiful desert, and stop by our gallery. The mountainous desert landscape outside provides the perfect scenic backdrop to the visual feast that awaits inside.

45188 Portola Avenue
Palm Desert, CA 92260
(760) 346-8926

Hours:
Monday through Saturday: 9am – 5pm

Exhibitions

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Sound and Spectacle: Harry Bertoia and George Rickey
CURRENT

Sound and Spectacle: Harry Bertoia and George Rickey

June 26, 2024 - September 30, 2025
Ansel Adams: Affirmation of Life
CURRENT

Ansel Adams: Affirmation of Life

December 1, 2023 - March 31, 2025
Alexander Calder: Shaping a Primary Universe
CURRENT

Alexander Calder: Shaping a Primary Universe

August 23, 2023 - April 30, 2025
Meeting Life: N.C. Wyeth and the MetLife Murals
CURRENT

Meeting Life: N.C. Wyeth and the MetLife Murals

July 18, 2022 - March 31, 2025
Andy Warhol Polaroids: Wicked Wonders
CURRENT

Andy Warhol Polaroids: Wicked Wonders

December 13, 2021 - March 31, 2025
Hans Hofmann
ARCHIVE

Hans Hofmann

August 14, 2024 - February 28, 2025
Art Under $100,000
ARCHIVE

Art Under $100,000

July 25, 2024 - January 31, 2025
Georgia O’Keeffe and Ansel Adams: Modern Art, Modern Friendship
ARCHIVE

Georgia O’Keeffe and Ansel Adams: Modern Art, Modern Friendship

July 13, 2023 - January 31, 2025
Your Heart’s Blood: Intersections of Art and Literature
ARCHIVE

Your Heart’s Blood: Intersections of Art and Literature

September 12, 2022 - December 31, 2024
No Other Land: A Century of American Landscapes
ARCHIVE

No Other Land: A Century of American Landscapes

September 21, 2023 - December 31, 2024
Art of the American West: A Prominent Collection
ARCHIVE

Art of the American West: A Prominent Collection

August 24, 2023 - August 31, 2024
First Circle: Circles in Art
ARCHIVE

First Circle: Circles in Art

February 14, 2023 - August 31, 2024
Florals for Spring, Groundbreaking
ARCHIVE

Florals for Spring, Groundbreaking

May 8, 2023 - August 31, 2024
Paintings of Dorothy Hood
ARCHIVE

Paintings of Dorothy Hood

March 18 - July 19, 2024
Irving Norman: Dark Matter
ARCHIVE

Irving Norman: Dark Matter

November 27, 2019 - June 30, 2024
Picasso: Beyond the Canvas
ARCHIVE

Picasso: Beyond the Canvas

October 4, 2023 - April 30, 2024
Paper Cut: Unique Works on Paper
ARCHIVE

Paper Cut: Unique Works on Paper

April 27, 2022 - October 31, 2023
Andy Warhol: Glamour at the Edge
ARCHIVE

Andy Warhol: Glamour at the Edge

October 27, 2021 - September 30, 2023
A Beautiful Time: American Art in the Gilded Age
ARCHIVE

A Beautiful Time: American Art in the Gilded Age

June 24, 2021 - August 31, 2023
Alexander Calder: A Universe of Painting
ARCHIVE

Alexander Calder: A Universe of Painting

August 10, 2022 - August 31, 2023
More to Life: Impressionist Dialogues from Monet and Beyond
ARCHIVE

More to Life: Impressionist Dialogues from Monet and Beyond

August 17, 2022 - August 31, 2023
It Was Acceptable in the 80s
ARCHIVE

It Was Acceptable in the 80s

April 27, 2021 - August 31, 2023
N.C. Wyeth: A Decade of Painting
ARCHIVE

N.C. Wyeth: A Decade of Painting

September 29, 2022 - March 31, 2023
Paul Jenkins: Coloring the Phenomenal
ARCHIVE

Paul Jenkins: Coloring the Phenomenal

December 27, 2019 - March 31, 2023
Georgia O’Keeffe and Marsden Hartley: Modern Minds
ARCHIVE

Georgia O’Keeffe and Marsden Hartley: Modern Minds

February 1, 2022 - February 28, 2023
Norman Zammitt: The Progression of Color
ARCHIVE

Norman Zammitt: The Progression of Color

March 19, 2020 - February 28, 2023
Figurative Masters of the Americas
ARCHIVE

Figurative Masters of the Americas

January 4 - February 12, 2023
Abstract Expressionism: Transcending the Radical
ARCHIVE

Abstract Expressionism: Transcending the Radical

January 12, 2022 - January 31, 2023
James Rosenquist: Potent Pop
ARCHIVE

James Rosenquist: Potent Pop

June 7, 2021 - January 31, 2023
My Own Skin: Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera
ARCHIVE

My Own Skin: Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera

June 16 - December 31, 2022
Josef Albers: The Heart of Painting
ARCHIVE

Josef Albers: The Heart of Painting

May 12 - November 30, 2022
Abstract Expressionism: The Persistent Women
ARCHIVE

Abstract Expressionism: The Persistent Women

November 1, 2021 - August 31, 2022
Alexander Calder: Painting the Cosmos
ARCHIVE

Alexander Calder: Painting the Cosmos

March 2 - August 12, 2022
Mercedes Matter: A Miraculous Quality
ARCHIVE

Mercedes Matter: A Miraculous Quality

March 22, 2021 - June 30, 2022
Moore! Moore! Moore! Henry Moore and Sculpture
ARCHIVE

Moore! Moore! Moore! Henry Moore and Sculpture

March 3, 2021 - April 30, 2022
Elaine and Willem de Kooning: Painting in the Light
ARCHIVE

Elaine and Willem de Kooning: Painting in the Light

August 3, 2021 - January 31, 2022
Jewish Modernism Part 2: Figuration from Chagall to Norman
ARCHIVE

Jewish Modernism Part 2: Figuration from Chagall to Norman

April 30, 2020 - December 31, 2021
Andy Warhol Polaroids: Bring It to the Runway
ARCHIVE

Andy Warhol Polaroids: Bring It to the Runway

December 10, 2020 - December 31, 2021
Andy Warhol Polaroids: All That Glitters
ARCHIVE

Andy Warhol Polaroids: All That Glitters

December 10, 2020 - December 31, 2021
Andy Warhol Polaroids: Me, Myself, & I
ARCHIVE

Andy Warhol Polaroids: Me, Myself, & I

December 10, 2020 - December 31, 2021
Andy Warhol Polaroids: Ars Longa
ARCHIVE

Andy Warhol Polaroids: Ars Longa

December 10, 2020 - December 31, 2021
American Eye: Selections from the Pardee Collection
ARCHIVE

American Eye: Selections from the Pardee Collection

February 28 - December 31, 2021
The Gloria Luria Collection
ARCHIVE

The Gloria Luria Collection

March 16, 2020 - October 31, 2021
Vincent van Gogh and The Great Impressionists of the Grand Boulevard
ARCHIVE

Vincent van Gogh and The Great Impressionists of the Grand Boulevard

March 2 - August 10, 2021
Pop Figures: Mel Ramos and Tom Wesselmann
ARCHIVE

Pop Figures: Mel Ramos and Tom Wesselmann

March 26, 2020 - April 30, 2021
Jewels of Impressionism and Modern Art
ARCHIVE

Jewels of Impressionism and Modern Art

February 19 - October 31, 2020
Cool Britannia: The Young British Artists
ARCHIVE

Cool Britannia: The Young British Artists

April 2 - September 30, 2020
The Californians
ARCHIVE

The Californians

November 1, 2019 - February 14, 2020
Sam Francis: From Dusk to Dawn
ARCHIVE

Sam Francis: From Dusk to Dawn

November 15, 2018 - April 29, 2019
N.C. Wyeth: Paintings and Illustrations
ARCHIVE

N.C. Wyeth: Paintings and Illustrations

February 1 - May 31, 2018
The Paintings of Sir Winston Churchill
ARCHIVE

The Paintings of Sir Winston Churchill

March 21 - May 30, 2018
Ferrari and Futurists: An Italian Look at Speed
ARCHIVE

Ferrari and Futurists: An Italian Look at Speed

November 21, 2016 - January 30, 2017
Alexander Calder
ARCHIVE

Alexander Calder

November 21, 2015 - May 28, 2016
Masters of California Impressionism
ARCHIVE

Masters of California Impressionism

November 22, 2014 - May 23, 2015
Painterly Abstraction: Spheres of AbEx
ARCHIVE

Painterly Abstraction: Spheres of AbEx

November 25, 2011 - May 31, 2012
Masters of Impressionism and Modern Art
ARCHIVE

Masters of Impressionism and Modern Art

November 20, 2010 - September 25, 2011
Picasso
ARCHIVE

Picasso

November 20, 2009 - May 25, 2010

ARTWORK ON VIEW

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<div><font face=Lato> </font><font face=Lato size=3 color=black>Diebenkorn’s path to the “<em>Ocean Park”</em> series was as layered and nuanced as his canvases. Born in Portland, Oregon in 1922, he found his artistic footing in the San Francisco Bay Area, where he absorbed the Abstract Expressionism of figures like Clyfford Still and Willem de Kooning. Yet even in his early abstractions, such as those inspired by the aerial views of the Southwestern landscape during flights to New Mexico, Diebenkorn’s work displayed a grounding in the tangible world. His shift to figuration in the mid-1950s, influenced by Bay Area peers like David Park and Elmer Bischoff, was met with surprise but underscored his belief in continuity rather than rupture. “I was never throwing things away,” he reflected. This ethos carried him back to abstraction in 1967 when the “<em>Ocean Park”</em> series began—a natural and revelatory return.</font></div> <br> <br><div><font face=Lato> </font></div> <br> <br><div><font face=Lato size=3 color=black><em>“Ocean Park #108”</em> (1978) showcases the spirit of Diebenkorn’s remarkable ability to translate the visual world into a meditative abstraction laden with intellectual rigor and personal resonance. Part of his acclaimed “<em>Ocean Park”</em> series, which spanned over two decades and more than 140 works, this painting captures the essence of Diebenkorn’s artistic philosophy: a fusion of restraint and spontaneity, where light, geometry, and color converge in perfect equipoise. Birthed in his Santa Monica studio overlooking this coastal neighborhood, the vantage point—framed by urban grids, oceanic expanses, and the shimmering Southern California light—shaped the language of these paintings. Yet <em>“Ocean Park #108,”</em> like its siblings, transcends a specific locality; it is less a depiction of a specific place and more a dialogue with the landscape of memory, perception, and art history.</font></div> <br> <br><div><font face=Lato> </font></div> <br> <br><div><font face=Lato size=3 color=black>In this work, the coral-hued arch hovers above turquoise, ochre, and alabaster bands, evoking the interplay of horizon and sky. Below, an expansive blue-gray plane is bisected by a diagonal line, lending the composition a quiet dynamism. This scaffold of lines and planes—Diebenkorn’s signature vocabulary—draws on his early admiration for Cezanne’s structured landscapes and Mondrian’s architectonic grids but with a distinct California sensibility. The work’s veiled layers and pentimenti reveal the artist’s process: a cycle of addition and erasure, as though the painting itself is a record of thought in motion. “Indecision, conflict, and tinkering” were, as Diebenkorn once noted, essential to his practice, and here, they coalesce into a harmony that feels earned rather than imposed.</font></div> <br> <br><div><font face=Lato> </font></div> <br> <br><div><font face=Lato size=3 color=black>What distinguishes <em>“Ocean Park #108” </em>within this celebrated series is its quiet confidence, a quality Diebenkorn achieved through rigorous exploration rather than easy fluency. While influenced by Matisse—whose luminous color and spatial tension left an indelible mark on his work—Diebenkorn resisted prettiness, instead striving for what he called “tension beneath calm.” In “<em>Ocean Park #108</em>,” this tension is palpable in the interplay between the precision of its linear framework and the softness of its painted surface. The visible corrections and reworkings imbue the painting with a human quality, a sense that it is not merely an object but an ongoing conversation.</font></div> <br> <br><div><font face=Lato> </font></div> <br> <br><div><font face=Lato size=3 color=black>In the context of American abstraction, “<em>Ocean Park #108”</em> is a masterpiece of subtlety and nuance. Its interplay of horizon and sky geometry recalls earlier the desert roads Diebenkorn once photographed from an airplane, while its luminous palette evokes the marine light of the Pacific. But the painting’s emotional resonance—its “breadth of reference,” as one critic noted—elevates it. To stand before “<em>Ocean Park #108” </em>is to be enveloped in a space that feels both constructed and organic, abstract and deeply familiar. It is a testament to Diebenkorn’s lifelong inquiry into what painting could be: not a conclusion, but a possibility, ever unfolding.</font></div>

RICHARD DIEBENKORN

<br>In Diego Rivera’s portrait of Enriqueta Dávila, the artist asserts a Mexicanidad, a quality of Mexican-ness, in the work along with his strong feelings towards the sitter. Moreover, this painting is unique amongst his portraiture in its use of symbolism, giving us a strong if opaque picture of the relationship between artist and sitter. <br> <br>Enriqueta, a descendent of the prominent Goldbaum family, was married to the theater entrepreneur, José María Dávila. The two were close friends with Rivera, and the artist initially requested to paint Enriqueta’s portrait. Enriqueta found the request unconventional and relented on the condition that Rivera paints her daughter, Enriqueta “Quetita”. Rivera captures the spirit of the mother through the use of duality in different sections of the painting, from the floorboards to her hands, and even the flowers. Why the split in the horizon of the floorboard? Why the prominent cross while Enriqueta’s family is Jewish? Even her pose is interesting, showcasing a woman in control of her own power, highlighted by her hand on her hip which Rivera referred to as a claw, further complicating our understanding of her stature. <br> <br>This use of flowers, along with her “rebozo” or shawl, asserts a Mexican identity. Rivera was adept at including and centering flowers in his works which became a kind of signature device. The flowers show bromeliads and roselles; the former is epiphytic and the latter known as flor de jamaica and often used in hibiscus tea and aguas frescas. There is a tension then between these two flowers, emphasizing the complicated relationship between Enriqueta and Rivera. On the one hand, Rivera demonstrates both his and the sitter’s Mexican identity despite the foreign root of Enriqueta’s family but there may be more pointed meaning revealing Rivera’s feelings to the subject. The flowers, as they often do in still life paintings, may also refer to the fleeting nature of life and beauty. The portrait for her daughter shares some similarities from the use of shawl and flowers, but through simple changes in gestures and type and placement of flowers, Rivera illuminates a stronger personality in Enriqueta and a more dynamic relationship as filtered through his lens. <br> <br>A closer examination of even her clothing reveals profound meaning. Instead of a dress more in line for a socialite, Rivera has Enriqueta in a regional dress from Jalisco, emphasizing both of their Mexican identities. On the other hand, her coral jewelry, repeated in the color of her shoes, hints at multiple meanings from foreignness and exoticism to protection and vitality. From Ancient Egypt to Classical Rome to today, coral has been used for jewelry and to have been believed to have properties both real and symbolic. Coral jewelry is seen in Renaissance paintings indicating the vitality and purity of woman or as a protective amulet for infants. It is also used as a reminder, when paired with the infant Jesus, of his future sacrifice. Diego’s use of coral recalls these Renaissance portraits, supported by the plain background of the painting and the ribbon indicating the maker and date similar to Old Master works. <br> <br>When combined in the portrait of Enriqueta, we get a layered and tense building of symbolism. Rivera both emphasizes her Mexican identity but also her foreign roots. He symbolizes her beauty and vitality but look closely at half of her face and it is as if Rivera has painted his own features onto hers. The richness of symbolism hints at the complex relationship between artist and sitter.

DIEGO RIVERA

According to the catalogue raisonné compiled by The Brandywine River Museum of Art, the preliminary drawing for Puritan Cod Fishers was completed by N. C Wyeth prior to his death in October 1945. The entry records an image of the sketch as well as the artist’s inscriptions and its title, Puritan Cod Fishers, characterized by the catalogue as ‘alternate’. In either case, the large-scale canvas is a unique work that Andrew Wyeth later recalled was painted solely by his hand, a demarcated collaboration of the father’s design and composition brought to fruition by a remarkable son’s execution. For Andrew, it must have been a deeply felt and emotional experience. Given his father’s attention to detail and authenticity, the lines of the small sailing craft represent a shallot, in use during the sixteenth century. On the other hand, Andrew likely deepened the hues of the restless sea more so than his father might have, a choice that appropriately heightens the perilous nature of the task.

Andrew Wyeth & N. C. Wyeth

WILLEM DE KOONING - Woman in a Rowboat - oil on paper laid on masonite - 47 1/2 x 36 1/4 in.

WILLEM DE KOONING

N.C. Wyeth’s extraordinary skills as an illustrator were borne of impeccable draftsmanship and as a painter, his warmly rich, harmonious sense of color, and ability to capture the quality of light itself. But it is his unmatched artistry in vivifying story and character with a powerful sense of mood that we admire most of all — the ability to transport himself to the world and time of his creation and to convey it with a beguiling sense of conviction. That ability is as apparent in the compositional complexities of Treasure Island’s “One More Step, Mr. Hands!” as it is here, in the summary account of a square-rigged, seventeenth-century merchant ship tossed upon the seas. The Coming of the Mayflower in 1620 is a simple statement of observable facts, yet Wyeth’s impeccable genius as an illustrator imbues it with the bracing salt air and taste that captures the adventuresome spirit of the men and women who are largely credited with the founding of America. That spirit is carried on the wind and tautly billowed sails, the jaunty heeling of the ship at the nose of a stiff gale, the thrusting, streamed-limned clouds, and the gulls jauntily arranged to celebrate an arrival as they are the feathered angels of providence guiding it to safe harbor. <br> <br>The Coming of the Mayflower in 1620 was based on two studies, a composition drawing in graphite and a small presentation painting. The finished mural appears to have been installed in 1941.

N.C. WYETH

<div>Having unwittingly inserted himself into the Pop Art conversation with his Great American Nude series, Tom Wesselmann spent the rest of his career explaining that his motivation was not to focus excessively on a subject matter or to generate social commentary but instead, to give form to what titillated him most as beautiful and exciting. His disembodied Mouth series of 1965 established that an image did not have to rely on extraneous elements to communicate meaning. But it was his follow-up performances with the Smoker series and its seductive, fetish allure that raised his standing among true sybarites everywhere. Apart from perceiving smoking as cool and chic, a painting such as Smoker #21 is the consummate celebration of Wesselmann’s abilities as a painter. Enticed by the undulating smoke, Wesselmann took great pains to accurately depict its sinuous movements and observe the momentary pauses that heightened his appreciation of its sensual nature. Like all of Wesselmann’s prodigious scaled artworks, Smoker #21 has the commanding presence of an altarpiece. It was produced during long hours in his impressive Manhattan studio in Cooper Square, and the result is one of sultry dynamism — evocative, sensual, alluring, sleek, luscious, and perhaps, even sinister — a painting that flaunts his graphic supremacy and potent realism varnished with his patented sex appeal flair.<br> <br><br> <br>Tom Wesselmann expanded upon the success of his Great American Nudes by focusing on singular features of his subjects and began painting his Mouth series in 1965. In 1967, Wesselmann’s friend Peggy Sarno paused for a cigarette while modeling for Wesselmann’s Mouth series, inspiring his Smoker paintings. The whisps of smoke were challenging to paint and required Wesselmann to utilize photographs as source material to capture the smoke’s ephemeral nature properly. The images here show Wesselmann photographing his friend, the screenwriter Danièle Thompson, as she posed for some of Wesselmann’s source images.</div>

TOM WESSELMANN

<div><font face=Lato size=3 color=black>From the earliest days of painting during the nineteenth century, which was precipitated by the advent of Impressionism, Renoir established a reputation as the finest portrait painter among the emerging landscapists. Works such as Lise with a Parasol (1867) demonstrated his ability to capture the essence of his subjects with a distinctive flair, setting him apart from his peers. Inspired by a transformative trip to Italy in 1882, Renoir shifted his approach, emphasizing modeling and contours with smooth, blended handling, integrating a new found rigor and clarity reminiscent of the old masters. Often referred to as Renoir’s “Ingres period,” he retained the reputation of the painter best suited to manage the traditional process of recording a sitter's likeness with the distinctive flair and vibrancy of an Impressionist. </font></div> <br> <br><div><font face=Lato size=3> </font></div> <br> <br><div><font face=Lato size=3 color=black>By 1890, Renoir’s style evolved again. He thinned his pigments to achieve a jewel-like translucence, infusing his works with a tender, ethereal quality. This final phase reflects the physical limitations of encroaching rheumatoid arthritis but also a deeper, more reflective approach to his subjects, capturing their inner light and character with subtle, luminous strokes. </font></div> <br> <br><div><font face=Lato size=3> </font></div> <br> <br><div><font face=Lato size=3 color=black>No longer obliged to rely upon society portrait commissions, by 1900, Renoir began to focus on portraits and studies of family, close friends, and neighbors. “Fillette à l’orange”, painted in 1911, extends our appreciation of his very personal, intimate style and reputation for imbuing his portraits of children with all the affectionate charm he could muster. It avoids the softer, generalized approach that prompted his son Jean’s remark that “we are all Renoir’s children, ”idealized versions of beauty and sensuality expressed in universal rather than with physiognomic specifics. We may never know her identity, but her likeness is vivid because Renoir concentrates on her face and expression. Nevertheless, the interplay of light and color highlights her features and brings to life the tender and affectionate nature characteristic of Renoir’s later portraits. An orange as an accessory is often included in portraiture as a symbol of fertility. Yet, here, it seems to serve as a formal element for the artist to demonstrate his skill at displaying its size, shape, and heft in this young girl's hand.</font></div>

PIERRE-AUGUSTE RENOIR

During the early 1870s, Winslow Homer frequently painted scenes of country living near a small farm hamlet renowned for generations for its remarkable stands of wheat, situated between the Hudson River and the Catskills in New York state. Today Hurley is far more famous for inspiring one of Homer’s greatest works, Snap the Whip painted the summer of 1872. Among the many other paintings inspired by the region, Girl Standing in the Wheatfield is rich in sentiment, but not over sentimentalized. It directly relates to an 1866 study painted in France entitled, In the Wheatfields, and another, painted the following year after he returned to America. But Homer would have undoubtedly been most proud of this one. It is a portrait, a costume study, a genre painting in the great tradition of European pastoral painting, and a dramatically backlit, atmospheric tour de force steeped in the quickly fading gloaming hour light buoyed with lambent, flowery notes and wheat spike touches. In 1874, Homer sent four paintings to the National Academy of Design exhibition. One was titled, “Girl”. Might it not be this one?

WINSLOW HOMER

<div>In the mid-1920s, Rufino Tamayo embarked on the crucial development phase as a sophisticated, contemporary colorist. In New York, he encountered the groundbreaking works of Picasso, Braque, and Giorgio de Chirico, along with the enduring impact of Cubism. Exploring painterly and plastic values through subjects sourced from street scenes, popular culture, and the fabric of daily life, his unique approach to color and form began to take shape. It was a pivotal shift toward cosmopolitan aesthetics, setting him apart from the nationalist fervor championed by the politically charged narratives of the Mexican Muralist movement.  By focusing on the vitality of popular culture, he captured the essential Mexican identity that prioritized universal artistic values over explicit social and political commentary. The approach underscored his commitment to redefining Mexican art on the global stage and highlighted his innovative contributions to the modernist dialogue. </div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div>Like Cézanne, Tamayo elevated the still life genre to some of its most beautifully simple expressions. Yet high sophistication underlies the ease with which Tamayo melds vibrant Mexican motifs with the avant-garde influences of the School of Paris. As "Naturaleza Muerta" of 1935 reveals, Tamayo refused to lapse into the mere decoration that often characterizes the contemporary School of Paris art with which his work draws comparisons. Instead, his arrangement of watermelons, bottles, a coffee pot, and sundry items staged within a sobering, earthbound tonality and indeterminant, shallow space recalls Tamayo's early interest in Surrealism. An overlayed square matrix underscores the contrast between the organic subjects of the painting and the abstract, intellectualized structure imposed upon them, deepening the interpretation of the artist's exploration of visual perception and representation. In this way, the grid serves to navigate between the visible world and the underlying structures that inform our understanding of it, inviting viewers to consider the interplay between reality and abstraction, sensation and analysis.</div>

RUFINO TAMAYO

No artist bridged the gap between European Modernism and American Abstract Expressionism the same way Hans Hofmann did. The reason is simple. He was trained in Parisian academies prior to World War I and was friendly with Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque, and, most significantly, Robert and Sonia Delaunay. Conversely, his endeavors as a teacher and later, as a mature artist in full command of his abilities were stimulated — made possible even — by the exhilarating New York milieu that gave rise to Abstract Expressionism. So perhaps it is not surprising that unlike most of the Abstract Expressionists who pursued a single iconographic look — Rothko’s soft-edged rectangles, Franz Klein’s enlarged calligraphic strokes, Clyfford Still’s dark, ragged shapes — Hofmann was constantly reaching for different and contradictory effects. That meant his paintings were wildly varied and that they carved a wide swath toward the most exciting avenues available to contemporary abstraction. Hofmann proved to be a gallant experimenter, refusing to settle on a single style for long. <br> <br>The Climb was painted in 1960 at a time when most American painters were pushing abstraction in new directions. Not surprisingly, as an outlier, it does not evoke Hofmann’s usual “push and pull’ technique. But it is very much a painting of its time, marked by a sensuousness and a deft, painterly touch. It suggests what Irving Sandler characterized as Hofmann’s hedonistic touch, an optimistic celebration of the lyrical abstraction that overcame the burning darkness of painting in the 40s and trumped even the lighter palette of Pollock or Pousette-Dart that emerged later. While the passages of The Climb are brushed rather than poured or stained, it reflects the delicate lyricism of his former student, Helen Frankenthaler who, since 1952 had experimented with floating areas of color, absorbed into the canvas with watercolor-like ease. She, in turn, had inspired a generation of Color Field painters including Morris Louis and Kenneth Noland. On the other hand, these short bands and prismatic slurries recall those halcyon days in Paris when Hofmann worked through color theory with his good friend Robert Delaunay and thought a lot about prisms. Hofmann not only retained elements of Synthetic Cubism, but the lessons he learned from the Fauves and the artists who verily invented abstraction, Wassily Kandinsky, Kasimir Malevich, Frantisek Kupka, and Piet Mondrian to name a few of the key players. The Climb is a glorious expression of a painter drawing from both the past and the present, painting in a playful, but not frivolous manner fully informed and prepared to express his abilities as a painter, simply, and with great conviction. <br> <br>As New York City became the avant-garde’s global hub in the 1940s, radical, new approaches to art, such as action painting and abstraction, took root among the informally grouped New York School painters. By 1950, Abstract Expressionism was well underway, but the movement was often overlooked by institutions. When the Metropolitan Museum of Art announced its plan to exhibit a survey of contemporary American painting, many of the New York School painters felt there was a bias against more “progressive” art in the museum’s selection process, prompting them to draft an open letter protesting the show. <br> <br>The letter garnered attention, and Life magazine published an article on the protest in January 1951, “The Irascible Group of Advanced Artists Led Fight Against Show.” To accompany the article, Nina Lee photographed 15 of the 18 painters who signed the letter, including Hans Hofmann, Willem de Kooning, Adolph Gottlieb, Ad Reinhardt, Richard Pousette-Dart, William Baziotes, Jackson Pollock, Clyford Still, Robert Motherwell, Barnett Newman, and Mark Rothko. Today, this article is considered a turning point in the prominence of Abstract Expressionism, and the artists involved are often referred to as the “Irascibles.”

HANS HOFMANN

The world of Marc Chagall cannot be contained or limited by the labels we attach to it. It is a world of images and meanings which form their own splendidly mystical discourse. Les Mariés sous le baldaquin (The Bride and Groom under the Canopy) was begun as the artist entered his 90th year, a man who had known tragedy and strife, but who never forgot life’s moments of rapturous pleasure. Here, the dreamy delights of a Russian village wedding with its arrangements of well-worn attendees are brought to us with such happy wit and cheerful innocence that there is no resisting its charm. Using a golden toned emulsion combining oil and opaque, water-based gouache, the warmth, happiness, and optimism of Chagall’s usual positivism is wrapped in a luminous radiance suggesting the influence of gold-leaf religious icons or early Renaissance painting that sought to impart the impression of divine light or spiritual enlightenment. Using a combination of oil and gouache can be challenging. But here, in Les Mariés sous le baldaquin, Chagall employs it to give the scene an otherworldly quality, almost as if it has just materialized out of his mind’s eye. Its textural delicacy creates the impression that light is emanating from the work itself and gives a spectral quality to the figures floating the sky.

MARC CHAGALL

The frame of reference for Irish American Sean Scully’s signature blocks and stripes is vast. From Malevich’s central premise that geometry can provide the means for universal understanding to Rothko’s impassioned approach to color and rendering of the dramatic sublime, Scully learned how to condense the splendor of the natural world into simple modes of color, light, and composition. Born in Dublin in 1945 and London-raised, Scully was well-schooled in figurative drawing when he decided to catch the spirit of his lodestar, Henri Matisse, by visiting Morocco in 1969. He was captivated by the dazzling tessellated mosaics and richly dyed fabrics and began to paint grids and stipes of color. Subsequent adventures provided further inspiration as the play of intense light on the reflective surfaces of Mayan ruins and the ancient slabs of stone at Stonehenge brought the sensation of light, space, and geometric movement to Scully’s paintings. The ability to trace the impact of Scully’s travels throughout his paintings reaffirms the value of abstract art as a touchstone for real-life experience. <br> <br> <br>Painted in rich, deep hues and layered, nuanced surfaces, Grey Red is both poetic and full of muscular formalism. Scully appropriately refers to these elemental forms as ‘bricks,’ suggesting the formal calculations of an architect. As he explained, “these relationships that I see in the street doorways, in windows between buildings, and in the traces of structures that were once full of life, I take for my work. I use these colors and forms and put them together in a way that perhaps reminds you of something, though you’re not sure of that” (David Carrier, Sean Scully, 2004, pg. 98). His approach is organic, less formulaic; intuitive painter’s choices are layering one color upon another so that contrasting hues and colors vibrate with subliminal energy. Diebenkorn comes to mind in his pursuit of radiant light. But here, the radiant bands of terracotta red, gray, taupe, and black of Grey Red resonate with deep, smoldering energy and evoke far more affecting passion than you would think it could impart. As his good friend, Bono wrote, “Sean approaches the canvas like a kickboxer, a plasterer, a builder. The quality of painting screams of a life being lived.”

SEAN SCULLY

<div><font face=Lato size=3 color=black>Hans Hofmann's <em>Baal</em> channels the charged energy of its evocative title, rooted in ancient Semitic tradition. The name refers to a lord or master but also carries associations with primal forces of nature, chaos, and creation. Hofmann's work reflects this duality, blending structured design with the untamed vitality of gestural abstraction to create a composition oscillating between entropy and order.</font></div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div><font face=Lato size=3 color=black>Painted at age 65, <em>Baal</em> also showcases Hofmann's willingness to revisit earlier disciplines while addressing the challenges of mid-century abstraction. Its vibrant palette and bold use of complementary colors, particularly the juxtaposition of red and green, heightens the painting's dynamism. His muscular brushwork also reflects his lifelong experimentation with the tension between form and freedom; undulating lines and biomorphic forms evoke the surrealist influence of Miró and the spiritual resonance of Kandinsky's gestural abstractions. Like these predecessors, Hofmann sought to translate "inner necessity" into visual expression, guided by his fertile imagination. Yet the planal elements and curvilinear shapes of <em>Baal</em> also reflect the influence of improvisational painting, a hallmark of Abstract Expressionism as practiced by contemporaries like Arshile Gorky, among others. It is a composition that teems with movement and energy, suggesting a cosmos in flux—chaotic yet deliberate.</font></div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div><font face=Lato size=3 color=black>Exhibited the same year at Betty Parsons Gallery in New York, <em>Baal</em> signals Hofmann's evolution as a master and innovator. With its vivid dynamism and symbolic title, the painting epitomizes Hofmann's ability to infuse abstraction with elemental power, crafting a deeply personal exploration of form and color.</font></div>

HANS HOFMANN

<div><font face=Lato size=3 color=black>Hans Hofmann's "<em>Astral Image #1"</em> of 1947 captures a pivotal moment in his artistic evolution as he wrestled with the competing forces of linearity and painterly abstraction. Exhibited in the same year at Betty Parsons Gallery in New York—Hofmann's first show with Parsons — the painting represents a phase of intense experimentation in which Cubist-inspired linear elements took center stage. Lines arc and stretch across the canvas, creating a dynamic framework that opens into areas filled with flatly applied alizarin crimson. These contrasting forces give the work a sense of tension and vitality.</font></div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div><font face=Lato size=3 color=black>During this period, Hofmann's reliance on linearity provided a departure from the more fluid, painterly dynamism of his earlier works. From 1944 to 1951, this linear impulse permeated his practice, signaling a prolonged exploration of modes of expression in which he grappled with reconciling abstraction and structure. While some viewed this phase as a retreat from the energetic breakthroughs that defined American art's rise to global prominence, others recognized the distinctiveness of these paintings. <em>Astral Image #1</em> challenged the framework of Hofmann's singular vision, blending Cubist discipline with the vibrant, unruly energy that remained a hallmark of his oeuvre.</font></div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div><font face=Lato size=3 color=black>The work's flat planes of bright alizarin crimson, contrasted with the angular momentum of the lines, evoke a cosmos of restless energy, hinting at the celestial themes suggested by its title. This painting reflects Hofmann's deliberate explorations during the late 1940s that underscore his unique ability to create works that resist easy categorization, standing apart as deeply personal explorations of form and color.</font></div> <br> <br><div> </div>

HANS HOFMANN

<div><font face=Lato size=3 color=black>Exhibited in the seventh Impressionist exhibition in 1882, Gustave Caillebotte's "<em>Vue de mer, Villers</em>" announced a pivotal shift in the artist's oeuvre, marking his transition from the urban realism of Parisian street scenes to the expansive, light-filled landscapes of Normandy. This change aligned Caillebotte more closely with his Impressionist contemporaries and allowed him to explore fresh compositional and stylistic innovations, enriching the movement's diversity.<br> <br></font></div> <br> <br><div><font face=Lato size=3 color=black>Often called the "Urban Impressionist," Caillebotte built his reputation as a genre painter through meticulously rendered depictions of bustling city life. Like his contemporary Edgar Degas, he was a keen observer of modern reality and a superb draftsman. Both artists shared an enthusiastic interest in photography, and integrated elements from the emerging art form related to image cropping, focal length adjustments, and perspective effects. These influences can be seen in the exaggerated, plunging vantage points that became hallmarks of Caillebotte's dynamic compositions, often imbuing his works with thrilling optical depth.<br> <br></font></div> <br> <br><div><font face=Lato size=3 color=black>By the early 1880s, the allure of Normandy — a region deeply connected to Claude Monet and newly accessible by rail — seems to have drawn Caillebotte's attention. Monet, who had an intimate knowledge of the area, may have recommended Villers specifically, although painters interested in landscapes could choose from numerous seaside villages such as Trouville and Honfleur, each a haven for Paris's bourgeoisie. These locales, characterized by their natural beauty and the burgeoning influence of modern leisure culture, provided ample inspiration for Caillebotte's evolving artistic focus. His depictions of these locales celebrate their charm and engage with the Impressionist exploration of the changing relationship between people and their environments.<br> <br></font></div> <br> <br><div><font face=Lato size=3 color=black>Created during one of his first visits to Normandy, "<em>Vue de mer, Villers</em>" reaffirms Caillebotte's skill as a compositional innovator, even as he embraced a new genre. While transitioning to landscape painting, he retained elements of his signature style, notably the detached, elevated vantage point familiar from his urban works. The rolling greenery of the foreground transitions seamlessly into the luminous pastel hues of the distant horizon. A red-roofed villa commands attention with its bold geometry, standing in stark, complementary contrast to the fluid forms of the surrounding natural landscape. The juxtaposition of the villa's pink walls with the greens and blues of the coast underscores the tension between the natural and the constructed, evoking a sense of transformation emblematic of late 19th-century France. At the same time, the painting exudes a quietude and contemplative mood that aligns with the Impressionist emphasis on capturing ephemeral moments and atmospheres rather than explicit narratives. Caillebotte's brushwork here is freer and more painterly than in his earlier works, with vibrant, varied strokes lending the foliage a dynamic, tactile quality. The distant sky, suffused with soft lavenders and blues, evokes the tranquil stillness of an evening on the coast, completing the composition with a sense of serene balance.<br> <br></font></div> <br> <br><div><font face=Lato size=3 color=black>In "<em>Vue de mer, Villers</em>," Caillebotte achieves a masterful fusion of observation and innovation, bridging his roots in urban realism with the Impressionist commitment to capturing the transient effects of light and atmosphere. Its inclusion in the 1882 exhibition reaffirmed Caillebotte's position within the Impressionist circle, demonstrating his ability to expand the movement's reach while maintaining his distinctive perspective. This painting is a celebration of the modern landscape and a profound meditation on the evolving relationship between nature and modernity, offering a timeless vision that continues to resonate.</font></div>

GUSTAVE CAILLEBOTTE

<div><font face=Calibri size=3 color=black>Fernando Botero's legendary ascension as an international sensation began when Museum of Modern Art curator Dorothy Miller stumbled upon his Greenwich Village studio in 1961 and purchased "<em>Mona Lisa, Age Twelve</em>." His trademark portly figures and playful, lighthearted humor became known as "Boterismo." More importantly, the art leaving his easel revealed an unbridled respect for the Old Masters, the compelling chiaroscuro of a Zurbarán still life, the sfumato of da Vinci, and always the craftsmanship of van Eyck, Dürer, or Rubens. Botero continues that thread of technical mastery with "<em>L'Atelier de Sánchez Cotán</em>" even as he reshapes these classical themes through his unique lens. A mixed media collage and oil on canvas, the work pays homage to the Spanish Baroque still life painter Juan Sánchez Cotán by subverting and modernizing the traditional still life genre. Botero captures Cotán's hyperrealism with a surreal, almost whimsical aesthetic. An oversized apple suspended on a string dominates the composition, a nod to Cotán's meticulously arranged still life paintings, known for the striking suspended effect of fruit or vegetables. Botero's rendition, however, imbues the scene with a sense of playfulness and detachment from reality, as seen in the box-like contraption, resembling a stage or a viewing device containing miniature versions of objects within the painting. The stark, flat backdrop, devoid of Cotán's characteristic chiaroscuro, accentuates the sense of artifice.</font></div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div><font face=Calibri size=3 color=black>Fernando Botero's death on September 15, 2023, was a significant loss for the art world. Although his roots are deeply Colombian, his appeal is global, coupling commercial success with critical acclaim—a balance few artists have achieved. Works such as “<em>L'Atelier de Sánchez Cotán</em>” are not just whimsical or aesthetic; they prompt the viewer to appreciate the enduring dialogue between tradition and innovation, showcasing an artist of great technical finesse and mastery.</font></div>

FERNANDO BOTERO

PIERRE BONNARD - Soleil Couchant - oil on canvas - 14 1/2 x 22 1/2 in.

PIERRE BONNARD

DAMIEN HIRST - Forgotten Thoughts - butterflies and household gloss on canvas - 48 x 48 in.

DAMIEN HIRST

<div><font face=Lato size=3 color=black>Any analysis of Hans Hofmann’s oeuvre is incomplete without considering his small landscapes, which occupied him between 1940 and 1944. These works capture a pivotal moment in his artistic evolution, transitioning from Matisse-inspired figurative still lifes, portraits, and interiors to the pure abstraction that would later define his career. “Landscape #108” exemplifies this shift. Its compressed composition and severe clustering of intense colors prefigure the artist’s mature works, channeling the same ferocious dynamism that is the hallmark of our appreciation for the artist. The Fauvist palette and electric strokes vibrate with energy, their interplay of light and dark creating a rhythmic tension that feels almost musical. While modest in scale, the painting’s boldness and dynamism hint at the daring risks Hofmann would later embrace in his larger abstractions. Rooted in Fauvism and resonant with Kandinsky’s early work, “Landscape #108” remains a robust testament to Hofmann’s evolving visual language during this transformative period.</font></div>

HANS HOFMANN

<div><font face=Lato size=3 color=black>Hans Hofmann explored linearity and color with persistence during the late 1940s, creating a tension between Cubist structure and gestural abstraction. In this painting, <em>Fruit Bowl #1</em>, the linear impulse takes center stage, with dynamic black contours weaving and unspooling across the canvas, limning forms that merely hint at a still-life composition. Hofmann's approach is far from conventional; the traditional fruit bowl is fractured and reimagined into an abstract interplay of geometric and organic shapes. The addition of bright, flatly applied patches and demarcation of green, red, and yellow punctuates the composition, adding an energetic entropy and vitality. Hofmann's raw, alluring, yet slightly uncomfortable palette and gestural freedom elevate the piece beyond its Cubist origins, revealing an artist deeply engaged with the challenges of mid-20th-century abstraction. Hofmann's lines and color fields balance spontaneity with control, oscillating between chaos and structure.</font></div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div><font face=Lato size=3 color=black><em>Fruit Bowl #1</em> reflects Hofmann's ongoing dialogue with earlier European modernists while pushing toward the freer instincts of American Abstract Expressionism. Often criticized as misaligned with the rising dominance of gestural abstraction, paintings from this period in Hofmann's career remain his own—vibrant, exploratory, and unapologetically personal.</font></div>

HANS HOFMANN

<div><font face=Lato size=3 color=black>Hans Hofmann's <em>The Zoo</em> (1944) brims with playful energy, its abstract forms suggesting a whimsical exploration of animalistic shapes and gestures. Dominated by a vivid blue field punctuated by bold strokes of red, green, and yellow, the formal elements and composition provide a lively interplay of color. While the title invites the viewer to seek out zoo-like references, the forms are ambiguous yet evocative: sweeping red arcs might suggest the curve of a tail, while the triangular green shape evokes the profile of an enclosure or a cage. The painting captures not the literal essence of a zoo but the dynamism and movement one might associate with such a space.</font></div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div><font face=Lato size=3 color=black>Heavily influenced by Surrealist automatism and the biomorphic forms of Joan Miró, the organic shapes and bold colors seem to pulse with life, blurring the boundary between abstraction and figuration. Yet, unlike Miró's delicate dreamscapes, Hofmann's brushwork carries a muscular energy, grounding the composition in his signature gestural style.</font></div> <br> <br><div><font face=Lato size=3 color=black><em>The Zoo</em> reflects Hofmann's ability to balance spontaneity with deliberate compositional choices. The result is a vibrant, joy-filled work that celebrates the world's visual complexity and the boundless creative freedom of abstraction during this pivotal phase of his career.</font></div>

HANS HOFMANN

A major figure in both the Abstract Expressionist and American Figurative Expressionist movements of the 1940s and 1950s, Elaine de Kooning's prolific output defied singular categorization. Her versatile styles explored the spectrum of realism to abstraction, resulting in a career characterized by intense expression and artistic boundary-pushing. A striking example of de Kooning's explosive creativity is Untitled (Totem Pole), an extremely rare sculptural painting by the artist that showcases her command of color.  <br> <br>She created this piece around 1960, the same period as her well-known bullfight paintings. She left New York in 1957 to begin teaching at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, and from there would visit Ciudad Juárez, where she observed the bullfights that inspired her work. An avid traveler, de Kooning drew inspiration from various sources, resulting in a diverse and experimental body of work.

ELAINE DE KOONING

Théo van Rysselberghe’s Portrait de Sylvie Lacombe, painted in 1906, is a classic masterwork by one of the most refined and consistent portrait painters of his time. The color is harmonious, the brushwork vigorous and tailored to its material task, her body and countenance true and revealing. The sitter is the daughter of his good friend, the painter Georges Lacombe, who shared a close association with Gauguin, and was a member of Les Nabis with artists Bonnard, Denis, and Vuillard, among others. We now know about Sylvie Lacombe because Van Rysselberghe is so skilled at rendering subtle facial expressions and through careful observation and attention to detail, provided insights into her inner world. He has chosen a direct gaze, her eyes to yours, an inescapable covenant between subject and viewer regardless of our physical relationship to the painting. Van Rysselberghe had largely abandoned the Pointillist technique when he painted this portrait. But he continued to apply color theory guidelines by using tints of red — pinks and mauves — against greens to create a harmonious ameliorated palette of complementary colors to which he added a strong accent to draw the eye – an intensely saturated, red bow asymmetrically laid to the side of her head.

THÉO VAN RYSSELBERGHE

<div><font face=Lato size=3 color=black>Known for his ability to blend traditional Japanese techniques with modern aesthetics, Hiroshi Senju's sublime depictions of bands of cascading veils of paint evoke sensations of tranquility and awe. Senju began exploring waterfall imagery in the early 1990s, pouring translucent pigment onto mulberry paper mounted on board, creating cascading movement. In this work, "<em>Waterfall," </em>he masterfully bonds ribbons of cascading water into two curtain-like ethereal panels. Senju's interest in synesthesia is undeniable. "<em>Waterfall</em>" conjures sound, smell, and feel sensations as much as the rushing water's appearance. In the present work, he placed these dynamic elements in a context that grounds the viewer's sense of place within the natural world. A wedge of blue in the upper left corner contrasts the otherwise monochromatic palette, providing a sky association bounded by a hillside or cliff (for which Senju is known). Additionally, as the cascading water descends, it reaches a destination expanse at the bottom of the picture plane, where the force of the water disperses into a fine mist at the point of contact, serving as a visual anchor. </font></div> <br> <br><div><font face=Lato size=3 color=black> </font></div> <br> <br><div><font face=Lato size=3 color=black>Senju's finesse is evident throughout. He uses mulberry paper, a traditional Japanese material known for its delicate texture and strength. The paper's natural fibers absorb pigments in ways that create subtle gradients and fluidity, enhancing the visual effect of the cascading water. He employs traditional Nihonga techniques, such as layering washes to build depth and movement and utilizing varied brush strokes to achieve different effects. Additionally, he incorporates modern methods like the airbrush to apply fine mists of pigment, creating smooth and seamless gradients that mimic the delicate spray and vapor associated with cascading water.</font></div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div><font face=Lato size=3 color=black>Hiroshi Senju pays homage to the traditional art forms of his heritage while pushing the boundaries of contemporary art. His ability to convey the sublime through simplicity and abstraction makes this artwork a testament to his unique vision and artistic mastery. It stands as a serene reminder of nature's timeless beauty, captured through the ability of a master painter and artist.  </font></div>

HIROSHI SENJU

HANS HOFMANN - Untitled - oil on canvas - 25 x 30 1/4 in.

HANS HOFMANN

HANS HOFMANN - Song of Love - oil on canvas - 36 1/4 x 48 1/4 in.

HANS HOFMANN

HERB ALPERT - Arrowhead - bronze - 201 x 48 x 48 in.

HERB ALPERT

ANDREW WYETH - Quart and a Half - watercolor on paper - 21 x 29 1/4 in.

ANDREW WYETH

Mel Ramos is best known for his paintings of superheroes and female nudes juxtaposed with pop culture imagery. Many of the subjects in his paintings emerge from iconic brands or cultural touchstones like Chiquita bananas, M&M bags, or Snickers. In these works, visual delight is combined with suggested edible and commercial indulgence. <br> <br>Leta and the Hill Myna diverges from some of Ramos’ other nudes. Here Ramos depicts his wife, whom he spoke of as his greatest muse. Like his works depicting superheroes, Leta and the Hill Myna is imbued with mythos and lore. Myna birds are native to South Asia where some are taught to speak, often to recite religious. Furthermore, playing on his wife’s name and the avian theme, Ramos is referencing the famous tale of Leda and the Swan in which Zeus embodies a bird to rape Leda. The story has been reinterpreted throughout history, including by great artists such as Paul Cezanne, Cy Twombly and Fernando Botero. With this depiction, Ramos places himself in that same art historical lineage.

MEL RAMOS

CAMILLE PISSARRO - Paysage avec batteuse a Montfoucault - pastel on paper laid down on board - 10 3/8 x 14 3/4 in.

CAMILLE PISSARRO

Max Weber moved to Paris in 1905 when the city was the epicenter of artistic innovation. His early works demonstrate the contemporaneous influence of Fauvism’s bold color palette and Cubism’s fragmented representation of reality. However, Weber did not merely imitate these styles; he integrated and reinterpreted them to create something his own. Weber’s importance lies not just with his abstract works, but also in his role as a conduit of modernist ideas. Weber played a crucial role in the transatlantic dialogue that helped shape the course of American art in the twentieth century. His depictions of female figures showcase a synthesis of the abstract and the representational, capturing the essence of his subjects while breaking away from traditional figurative works.

MAX WEBER

<div><font face=Calibri size=3 color=black>Standing at an impressive 103 inches, this elegantly spare “Sonambient” sculpture by Harry Bertoia allows us to marvel at one of the finest artisans of his generation. This piece, the tallest in the series currently available here at Heather James Fine Art, features a precise arrangement of 36 slender tines in a 6 x 6 grid. This arrangement's uniformity and symmetry are visually captivating and crucial for the sculpture's acoustic properties. The rods, austere and uncapped by finials, have an aged patina with copper undertones, suggesting Bertoia's use of copper or a similar alloy known for its resonant qualities and distinctive coloration. Given the outstanding length of these rods, the attachment method is particularly noteworthy. Bertoia meticulously inserted each rod into individual holes in the base plate using precision drilling and securing techniques such as welding that ensured the rods were firmly anchored and stable, maintaining the structural integrity essential for consistent acoustic performance.</font></div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div><font face=Calibri size=3 color=black>Beyond his uncompromising nature, Bertoia's work draws significant inspiration from natural elements. This sculpture's tall, slender rods evoke images of reeds or tall grasses swaying gently in the wind. This dynamic interaction between the sculpture and its environment mirrors the movement of plants, creating an immersive, naturalistic experience. Yet when activated or moved by air currents, the rods of this monumental work initiate metallic undertones that confirm its materiality without betraying its profound connection to the natural world.</font></div> <br> <br><div><font face=Calibri size=3 color=black>Integrating technical precision and natural inspiration depends on exacting construction that ensures durability and acoustic consistency, while its kinetic and auditory nature imbues the piece with a sense of vitality. This fusion invites viewers to engage with the sculpture on multiple sensory levels, appreciating its robust craftsmanship and evocative, naturalistic qualities. Bertoia's ability to blend these elements results in a work that is both a technical marvel and a tribute to the beauty of the natural world.</font></div>

HARRY BERTOIA

Of Herb Albert’s many bronze cast, silky-black patinated spirit totems, few have the distinctively masculine feel of Warrior. Topped with a descending, serrated crown that could as easily refer to the crest of a bird of prey as the headdress of a Plains Indian chief the title “Warrior” is an apt description that addresses the attributes of strength, courage, and unbreakable spirit among others. Much like the work of Henry Moore, those associations depend, in part, upon negative space to create the dynamic and strong impression this formidable sculpture makes.

HERB ALPERT

This painting has remained in the same private collection since its creation. Along with its companion work, "Untitled" (1991) was on display in the lobby of Chicago's Heller International Building at 500 West Monroe Street from the building's opening in 1992 until its renovation in 2015. <br> <br>The November 2018 sale of Schnabel's "Large Rose Painting, (Near Van Gogh's Grave)" for $1.2 million at auction demonstrates a strong demand for the artist's work. This major sale was only the second-highest price paid for a Schnabel at auction: the record was set in November of 2017 when "Ethnic Type #14" sold for $1.4 million. <br> <br>A recent museum exhibition, "Julian Schnabel: Symbols of Actual Life" at the Legion of Honor, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, in 2018, featured several of Schnabel's large-scale paintings.

JULIAN SCHNABEL

Roger Brown is known for his personal and often fantastical imagery and highly stylized paintings with figures and objects that reflect his interest in everyday experiences. Acid Rain explores themes of modern life and social commentary that reflect the role of the artist in society and the potential of art to instigate change. On a more personal level, the theme of acid rain may symbolize corrosive emotional or psychological states, such as depression, anxiety, or the feeling of being overwhelmed by circumstances beyond one's control. Just as acid rain was a largely unseen but devastating environmental problem, the crisis of the emerging HIV/AIDS epidemic likely motivated Brown to create the work to process personal grief, critique the inadequate response from political leaders, and advocate for compassion, understanding, and medical research.

ROGER BROWN

<div><font face=Lato size=3 color=black>Executed in mixed media on paper, <em>The Indian</em> from 1944 showcases Hofmann’s ability to offer a powerful interplay between abstraction and figuration. Surrounded by an atmospheric expanse of deep blues and punctuated by vivid accents of red and yellow, the central form suggests the stylized head of a Native American. Shaped not by direct detailing techniques but subtractive reduction, Hofmann shaped the figure by enclosing it with dynamic strokes of the deep blue surround, punctuated by vivid reds and yellows, as if carving the form out of the surrounding space. This approach emphasizes the figure’s presence while allowing it to remain enigmatic, suspended within an atmospheric mélange of bold, gestural marks.</font></div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div><font face=Lato size=3 color=black>The tension between the central form and its vibrant background exemplifies Hofmann’s transition during the 1940s from Cubist rigor to more unrestricted, expressionistic techniques. <em>The Indian</em> captures the energy of this pivotal period, with its layered abstraction and symbolic undertones reflecting Hofmann’s ability to unite gestural spontaneity with deliberate compositional balance.</font></div>

HANS HOFMANN

JOHN CHAMBERLAIN - ASARABACA - industrial weight aluminum foil with acrylic lacquer and polyester resin - 20 x 23 x 22 in.

JOHN CHAMBERLAIN

GEORGE RICKEY - Space Churn with Squares - kinetic sculpture in stainless steel - 35 1/2 x 20 x 13 in.

GEORGE RICKEY

Andy Warhol is synonymous with American art in the second half of the 20th century and is known for his iconic portraits and consumer products, mixing popular culture and fine art, redefining what art could be and how we approach art. While many of Warhol’s works may not represent famed individuals, his depictions of inanimate objects elevate his subjects to a level of celebrity. Warhol first depicted shoes early in his career when he worked as a fashion illustrator and returned to the theme in the 1980s, combining his fascination with consumerism and glamour. With his constant desire to fuse high and low culture, Warhol chose to highlight something that is so ubiquitous as shoes. The subject can denote poverty or wealth, function, or fashion. Warhol glamorizes the pile of footwear, covering them with a patina of glitzy diamond dust, further blurring the meaning between utilitarian need and stylized statement piece.

ANDY WARHOL

Alexander Calder's Rouge Mouille (Wet Red) features a background of red circles, some dispersing like explosions, creating a sense of energetic expansion, and others running downward as if streaming trails of a firework display. This animated backdrop is adorned with numerous opaque round balls, predominantly black, but interspersed with striking blue, red, and subtle yellow spheres. The strategic placement of the colorful spheres against the explosive reds captures the awe and spectacle of a fireworks show, transforming the painting into a visual metaphor for this dazzling and celebratory event. The artwork resonates with excitement and vibrancy, encapsulating its ephemeral beauty in a static medium.

ALEXANDER CALDER

© 2023 Calder Foundation, New York / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

ALEXANDER CALDER

© 2023 Calder Foundation, New York / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York <br>Two Crosses by Alexander Calder is a striking work on paper, blending transparent watercolor and gouache, showcasing his signature repertoire of shapes and symbols. At its heart lies a large, black 'X' on a fluid, grayish wash, and nearby, a smaller, opaque black cross overlapping a semi-opaque red ball, and to its left, a roundish transparent wash patch hosts a black crescent shape. Several spheres in black provide accompaniment, and the artist's favored primary colors, and at the lower margin, his charming undulating line. Calder's sparing use of watercolor allows the paper's white to showcase the forms and symbols, creating a dynamic, impactful artwork where simplicity and the interplay of transparent and opaque elements captivate the viewer.

ALEXANDER CALDER

JOAN MIRO - L'Oiseau - bronze and cinderblock - 23 7/8 x 20 x 16 1/8 in.

JOAN MIRO

<div><font face=Aptos size=3 color=black>Michael Corinne West’s story is a significant one. A prolific painter and poet at the forefront of the Abstract Expressionist movement, West is the artist least likely to be acknowledged as standing among the first generation with the core group of male artists. Placed in a confrontational role as one of the few women defying a male-dominated mythology, she shifted to gestural painting in the mid-1940s, often laying the canvases on the floor and working like Jackson Pollock. Her earliest work in black and white predates Franz Kline’s by several years. It included “<em>Black and White” </em>of 1947, which impressed Clement Greenberg, who was never inclined to dish a gratuitous compliment. Despite the changing tides of art and fashion, her devotion to mysticism, inner emotional states, and the subconscious as they relate to Abstract Expressionism continued unfazed and steady.  </font></div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div><font face=Aptos size=3 color=black>“<em>The Day After</em>,” painted in 1963, is West’s visceral, abstract response to a pivotal moment in American history — the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. The overlapping layers of saturated blood-red tones clashing with forceful strokes of black suggest the rupture in the national consciousness and evoke feelings of disruption and confusion, embodying the artist’s internalized grief. West transformed the event into a deeply personal expression of mourning, capturing the weight of a nation’s sorrow in a form that defies literal representation yet speaks volumes emotionally.  </font></div>

MICHAEL CORINNE WEST

<div><font face=Calibri size=3 color=black>Richard Prince's "<em>Untitled</em>" from 2009 is a provocative and multilayered piece that engages with the themes of censorship, appropriation, and the boundaries of art. Prince uses a photographic montage of naked, intertwined bodies—imagery that evokes the explicit nature of an orgy and obscures its tawdry nature with a pattern of pink, egg-shaped acrylic elements covering much of the underlying image. The placement of these shapes is seemingly arbitrary, yet they play a crucial role in how the viewer perceives the piece. This obscuring overlay can be interpreted as a visual metaphor for censorship, alluding to how society imposes restrictions on what is deemed acceptable for public consumption. By covering parts of the bodies, Prince draws attention to the act of censorship itself rather than merely the content being censored. The viewer is left to imagine what lies beneath, heightening the sense of curiosity and the taboo.</font></div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div><font face=Calibri size=3 color=black>Prince's work often critiques mass media and the commercialization of culture, and this piece is no exception. By altering found images, he questions the ownership and authorship of visual culture. The "censorship" elements in this work might also reference the commodification of sex and how the media sanitizes or obscures the raw, human aspects of such imagery to make it more palatable for the public.</font></div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div><font face=Calibri size=3 color=black>In "<em>Untitled</em>," Prince challenges viewers to confront their perceptions of morality, art, and the power dynamics inherent in censorship. The work serves as a commentary on how images are manipulated and controlled in society, pushing the boundaries of what is considered art and what is considered obscene. Through this layered approach, Prince continues his exploration of the intersections between art, culture, and societal norms.</font></div>

RICHARD PRINCE

"Wigwam rouge et jaune", a captivating gouache painting by Alexander Calder, is a vibrant exploration of design and color. Dominated by a lattice of diagonal lines intersecting near their pinnacle, the composition exudes a dynamic balance. Calder introduces an element of whimsy with red and yellow diamond shapes, infusing the piece with playfulness and creating a festive atmosphere. Red balls at the right-leaning lines' apex evoke a whimsical impression, while smaller gray spheres atop left-leaning lines offer contrast and equilibrium. Calder's masterful fusion of simplicity and vital design elements makes Wigwam rouge et jaune a visual delight.

ALEXANDER CALDER

The daughter of minimalist sculptor Tony Smith, Kiki's art is not limited to any single medium or technique, and her work often invites multiple interpretations. Club embodies the form and dimensions of a human leg, the essential element for movement and stability. Smith's title invites the viewer to reimagine a leg as a weapon and consider the fragility of the human condition, the power dynamics of bodily autonomy, and the complex interplay between strength and vulnerability. Such a transformation of a body part into an object conveys both protection and aggression and reflects upon how gender-specific bodies navigate our social and personal environment. Club exemplifies Smith's ability to create pieces rich in symbolism, open to interpretation, and provoke thought about the human experience.

KIKI SMITH

When a horse lies down, it is because it feels safe, which, for Deborah Butterfield, is a way of saying that it is okay to make ourselves vulnerable. "Echo", constructed in ways that respect her foraging skills and ability to weld metalwork, does not adhere to a traditional portrayal of a horse but instead reveals something of its essential nature. Constructed from pieced-together steel sheets, some rippled, others folded or crimped, it is a piece that bears the mark of time, aged to a rust-brown patina, imperfections celebrated rather than concealed. Butterfield's deliberate choice of materials and their treatment adds depth and character, transforming Untitled, Echo into more than just an equine representation — it reflects the rugged beauty and the resilience of the animal it represents.

DEBORAH BUTTERFIELD

An undisputed master of the booming Belgian Neo-Impressionist movement from 1887 onward, Théo van Rysselberghe painted this portrait of his wife, Maria (née Monnom) during the first decade of the twentieth century. He had pressed onward from the influence of Whistler’s Tonalism, Impressionism, and the Pointillism of Seurat to perfect a highly refined understanding of color, its harmonic resonances, and a meticulous rendering of formal elements. An exemplary draftsman, optical impressions based on color interactions remained a principal concern for Van Rysselberghe. Here, short strokes of color replaced the small dots of a Pointillist, and the color scheme is not the homogenized, harmonious one for which the artist has a well-deserved reputation. Rather, this portrait advances color theory in an entirely different manner. Its visual interest rests with the dynamic contrasts of his wife’s silvered coiffure, her platinum-hued dress, and the stark-white fireplace mantle — all staged within the optical vibrancy of the surround dominated by complementary reds and greens. It is a visually stimulating demonstration by a painter who understood the dynamic impact of this unusual color scheme and who arranged the sitter with a strong accent on a diagonal and executed the formula with the craft and agility of a painter in full control of his painterly assets.

THÉO VAN RYSSELBERGHE

<div><font face=Aptos size=3 color=black>María Blanchard, born in 1881, initially emerged as a committed Cubist painter, heavily influenced by her friendships with Juan Gris and other avant-garde figures. Her work in the 1910s showcased rigorous geometric abstraction, yet by the early 1920s, she began to transition toward a more figurative style. This shift aligned her with the “<em>Retour à l'ordre”</em> movement, in which many artists returned to more classical forms after the upheavals of war and early avant-garde experimentation. Blanchard's increasing focus on emotional depth and human subjects became a defining feature of these later works, culminating in pieces like "<em>Fillette à la pomme</em>."</font></div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div><font face=Aptos size=3 color=black>Blanchard's Cubist roots, prominent in the angular treatment of the hands and apple, are softened throughout the girl's modest attire, suggesting a spiritual or religious significance. The model's pious countenance and the muted palette of browns, grays, and blues further reinforce that the painting continues a thread of religious themes, as seen in Picasso's early masterwork, "<em>The First Communion</em>," and Blanchard's own "<em>Girl at her First Communion</em>." The apple held in hand introduces layers of symbolism, often representing knowledge, innocence, or temptation, an association that suggests an emotional transition, bridging childhood and deeper awareness.</font></div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div><font face=Aptos size=3 color=black>Blanchard's ability to fuse Cubist form with symbolic narrative and emotional complexity makes this painting a poignant reflection of her evolution as an artist. She humanizes the rigid forms of Cubism while imbuing her subjects with depth and inner life.</font></div>

MARIA BLANCHARD

<div><font face=Aptos size=3 color=black>Born in 1881, the same year as fellow Spaniard Pablo Picasso, María Blanchard carved her distinct path within modernist art, blending Cubist influences with emotional depth. <em>"La Comida" </em>demonstrates Blanchard's evolution towards a more figurative style while retaining explicit Cubist references. This shift aligns her work with the “<em>Retour à l'ordre”</em> movement, a tendency many fellow artists embraced at the time. Thematically, “<em>La  Comida</em>” recalls van Gogh's early works, particularly "<em>The Potato Eaters</em>" (1885), in both palette and subject matter. Like van Gogh, Blanchard draws attention to the simplicity of rural life, using muted tones of browns, reds, and ochres to convey the grounded, almost austere nature of the figures around the table.</font></div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div><font face=Aptos size=3 color=black>Blanchard’s work after 1921 progressively bridged the gap between the rigid forms of early Cubism and a more emotive, personal representation of her subjects. Geometric rigors are present, but the scene's naturalistic light and volumetric composition echo Cézanne's influence. The sharp brushstrokes and angular figures evoke a sense of protection, reflecting Blanchard's intention to shield the inner spirit of her characters from the gaze of others. Yet, her sensitive portrayal invites viewers to connect emotionally with her work, engendering a sense of intimacy and quiet communion. Despite the somber palette, there is a subtle warmth, with the figures' inner spirit shielded from judgment, much like those in van Gogh's painting. Yet in synthesizing elements of Cubism, Blanchard added emotional complexity to the rural themes van Gogh explored, making her contribution distinct yet reflective of earlier artistic traditions.</font></div>

MARIA BLANCHARD

Manuel Neri's early paper mâché works broke ground in sculptural technique, and his approach to painting his sculptures reflects his deep engagement with the expressive potential of color and form. The choice and placement of colors in Hombre Colorado II create a particularly visceral response that reflects his nuanced understanding of the psychological and emotional dimension of color. Conceptualized and produced in 1958, Hombre Colorado II reflects a time when Neri and his wife Joan Brown were engaged in a rich artistic exchange of creativity and contributed significantly to the evolution of their respective styles and the Bay Area Figurative Movement, in which they played vital roles.

MANUEL NERI

"A Dream Within a Dream" is a significant series of paintings and silkscreens by Ryan McGinnes that takes its name from a famous poem by Edgar Allan Poe. Exploring themes of perception, reality, and the subconscious mind, McGinnes incorporates a variety of symbols and motifs, including geometric shapes, botanical elements, and figurative motifs, which he arranges in intricate patterns that seem to shift and morph before the viewer's eyes. The title suggests a sense of ambiguity and uncertainty, reflecting the elusive nature of reality and the fleeing quality of human experience. By engaging with themes of perception and illusion, McGinnes encourages viewers to question their assumptions about the world and to consider the possibility that reality may be more fluid and subjective than it appears.

RYAN MCGINNESS

Deborah Butterfield is an American sculptor, best known for her sculptures of horses made of objects ranging from wood, metal, and other found objects. The 1981 piece, Untitled (Horse), is comprised of sticks and paper on wire armature. The impressive scale of this piece creates a remarkable effect in person, presenting a striking example of Butterfield's celebrated subject matter. Butterfield originally created the horses from wood and other materials found on her property in Bozeman, Montana and saw the horses as a metaphorical self-portrait, mining the emotional resonance of these forms.

DEBORAH BUTTERFIELD

HERB ALPERT - Vibrato - bronze - 93 x 14 in.

HERB ALPERT

HERB ALPERT - Inspired - bronze - 108 x 30 x 26 in.

HERB ALPERT

<div><font face=Lato size=3 color=black>The monotype holds a distinctive place within Gauguin's oeuvre, offering a window into the artist's innovative process and his quest to reconcile the challenge of unifying painting and drawing. This medium became the foundation of an impressive corpus that evolved from his innovative Brittany woodcuts and, later, as the means to reimagine the boundaries between printmaking, drawing, and painting during his years in Tahiti and the Marquesas. </font></div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div><font face=Lato size=3 color=black>“<em>Bathers”</em> belongs to Gauguin's 1899–1903 series of "traced monotypes," a technique where the artist drew or pressed on the back of paper placed over an inked or painted surface, resulting in a single reversed impression. This process introduced subtle textures and a sense of immediacy while allowing Gauguin to explore the interplay of positive and negative forms. By late 1902, the artist had begun keying the drawings on the versos of these monotypes to the direction of his paintings, resulting in a deliberate reversal of themes. The reversed orientation of this monotype, for example, is associated with the painting "<em>Famille tahitienne</em>" (W.618, Stephen A. Cohen collection, a.k.a., “<em>A Walk by the Sea</em>”), and it exemplifies this practice, raising intriguing questions about the creation sequence.</font></div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div><font face=Lato size=3 color=black>The reversed orientation offers a compelling argument for understanding the monotype as a concurrent experiment rather than a preparatory study. Rather than serving as a preliminary blueprint, the monotype served as a dynamic tool for experimentation, allowing Gauguin to analyze and retest compositional ideas, color harmonies, and spatial relationships in real-time. The act of transferring the image introduced an element of unpredictability—textures softened, colors became more fluid, and linear forms took on painterly qualities. This spontaneity enabled Gauguin to step outside the constraints of oil painting, offering him fresh insights into how elements of the composition could evolve. Through this iterative process, the monotype would have informed adjustments to “<em>Famille tahitienne</em>,” enriching the painting's vibrancy, depth, and compositional balance. The interplay between the two mediums underscores Gauguin's innovative approach, treating the monotype not as a secondary exercise but as an integral part of his artistic vision.</font></div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div><font face=Lato size=3 color=black>While the monotype lacks the polished refinement of the painting, its raw immediacy and formal sensitivity reveal Gauguin's fascination with experimentation and spontaneity. Far from being a preparatory study, “<em>Bathers”</em> likely enabled Gauguin to deconstruct and reimagine <em>“Famille tahitienne” </em>as he worked. This creative interplay underscores Gauguin's broader artistic quest during his later years: to distill the essence of life and nature into forms that combine immediacy with timeless resonance.</font></div>

PAUL GAUGUIN

Manuel Neri was a central figure in the Bay Area Figurative Movement in the 1960s. Instead of abstract forms, the group emphasized emotion through the power of the human form. The present work, "Untitled" (1982), explores the female form on a life-sized scale. Neri preferred to work with just one model throughout his 60-year career, Maria Julia Klimenko. The absence of a face in many of the sculptures adds an element of mystery and ambiguity. The focus of the composition in "Untitled" is the structure and form of the figure. Manuel Neri is represented in numerous museum collections worldwide, including the Addison Gallery/Phillips Academy; Anderson Collection at Stanford University; Art Institute of Chicago; Cantor Arts Center, Stanford University; Cincinnati Art Museum; Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, CA; Denver Art Museum, the El Paso Museum of Art, Texas; Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco; Harvard University Art Museums; Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C.; Honolulu Museum of Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York and the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC.

MANUEL NERI

Known for his fascination with fame, celebrity, and cultural icons, Andy Warhol occasionally reached beyond his contemporaries to include historical figures. Of particular interest, Goethe's theories on color emphasized how colors are perceived and their psychological impact, contrasting with the prevailing Newtonian physics-based understanding of color as a scientific phenomenon. Although there is no direct link that Goethe's color theory directly inspired Warhol to select him as a subject, it thematically highlights how we view Warhol's art as engaging with historical traditions to symbolize a bond between their respective fields and eras. In this sense, the work serves as an homage and a cross-temporal collaboration, linking Warhol's visual language with Goethe's awareness of color as a potent, stimulating element in perception.

ANDY WARHOL

During the late 1990s, Manuel Neri began to transform numerous plaster sculptures into bronze, frequently returning to earlier works to produce newly imagined renditions of each piece. These series, nearly indistinguishable in shape and surface detail, explore the impact of varying color schemes and mark-making that involve various actions, including incising brushing, scraping, or layering materials. By experimenting with different marking techniques, Neri could explore the interplay between form, color, texture, and light. In the context of Standing Figure No. 3, Neri limited his palette to an analogous color scheme, thinning the paint to create subtle gradations that enhance the sculpture's sleek, refined exterior.

MANUEL NERI

<div><font face=Calibri size=3 color=black>Harry Bertoia was an authentic visionary in art, and they are rare. Of those whose métier is sculpture, Alexander Calder and Harry Bertoia are the twentieth-century American standouts. They are engineers of beauty; their creative currency is feats of invention and pure artistry that honor our experience of them (if we are willing to quiet our mind) as if a sacred event. It was Duchamp who suggested Calder call his kinetic works “mobiles”, but it was up to Bertoia himself to coin a word to describe something for which there was little precedent. Visually precise, kinetic, and offering resonant, vibratory sound, a “Sonambient” sculpture is at once a metaphor for our sentient experience in the world yet capable of inducing an aura of transcendent experience. Given that insight, it is easy to understand Bertoia’s view that “I don’t hold onto terms like music and sculpture anymore. Those old distinctions have lost all their meaning.”</font></div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div><font face=Calibri size=3 color=black>The present “Sonambient” sculpture is a forty-eight-inch-tall curtain of thin-gauged tines. Once activated, it becomes a 15 3/4 inch long, 8 inches deep wall of sound. Five rows of narrow tines are staggered in number, alternating between 30 and 29 tines that, when activated, present as an undulating wall of sound. When touched or moved by air currents, the rods produce a sound that, while metallic, does not betray its source of inspiration: the serene connection Bertoia felt in observing the gentle undulating movement of desert grasses. As always, this is a Bertoia sculpture that invites participation in the experience of changing shapes and sounds, a participatory work that asks us to be present in the moment, to connect across time with the object and its creator.</font></div>

HARRY BERTOIA

The Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD) was a prosperous period that helped shape Chinese history's foundations for future centuries. This era was marked by notable technological and cultural advances, including gunpowder and printing. Among artistic advances during this period was the perfection of the sancai glaze technique, which was a prominent attribute of sculpture during this period. Sancai (tri-colored) glazing used the three glaze-colors were ochre or brown, green and clear. Glazed wares were much more costly to produce than other terracotta wares, and were therefore only reserved for the wealthiest patrons. <br> <br>This Sancai-Glazed Horse would have been an incredible status symbol for its owner and many have been lost to time. This sculpture is comparable to examples held in museum collections worldwide, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

CHINESE

The Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD) was a prosperous cultural period that helped shape Chinese history's foundations for future centuries. This era was marked by notable technological and cultural advances, including gunpowder and printing. Among artistic advances during this period was the perfection of the sancai glaze technique, which was a prominent attribute of sculpture during this period. Sancai (tri-colored) glazing; the three glaze-colors used were ochre or brown, green and clear. Glazed wares where much more costly to produce than other terracotta wares, and were therefore only reserved for the wealthiest patrons. <br> <br>The Sancai-Glazed Earth Spirit offered here depicts a "Zhenmushou." These are mythical hybrid creatures whose bodies are a combination of dogs, lions, boars and other animals. These fierce looking beasts would be found in pairs guarding the entrance of Tang Dynasty tombs.

CHINESE

<div><font face=Lato size=3 color=black>In Harry Bertoia's oeuvre, "<em>Willow</em>" stands apart as an extraordinary synthesis of natural inspiration and innovative metalwork. Its cascading strands of stainless-steel capture the weeping elegance of a willow tree's drooping branches while introducing a dynamic, interactive quality through its shimmering surface and subtle responsiveness to movement. The strands—whether referred to as "tinsels," "filaments," or "tendrils"—reflect the delicacy of natural forms, blending artistry with technical mastery.</font></div> <br> <br><div><font face=Lato size=3> </font></div> <br> <br><div><font face=Lato size=3 color=black>Bertoia, a visionary sculptor with an unparalleled ability to transform industrial materials into organic beauty, likely employed meticulous processes to create "<em>Willow,</em>" cutting thin sheets of stainless steel into fine strips and expertly attaching them to a central core, positioning each strand to flow like water or sway like leaves in the breeze. The tactile quality of the strands, which respond to air currents or touch, invites the viewer into a contemplative engagement with the work, much like one might feel beneath the canopy of a willow tree.</font></div> <br> <br><div><font face=Lato size=3> </font></div> <br> <br><div><font face=Lato size=3 color=black>This piece epitomizes Bertoia's lifelong fascination with nature, stemming from his early years in the rural village of San Lorenzo, Italy. His sensitivity to the organic world continually informed his artistic practice, from his celebrated Sonambient sound sculptures to creations like “<em>Willow</em>, “which reimagine the relationship between form and environment. As he once said, "I no longer hold onto terms like music and sculpture. Those old distinctions have lost all their meaning."</font></div> <br> <br><div><font face=Lato size=3> </font></div> <br> <br><div><font face=Lato size=3 color=black>Once again , Bertoia captivates us by reaching beyond the traditional boundaries of sculpture, delivering a work that is as much a sensory experience as a visual one. It is a harmonious blend of natural inspiration and innovative artistry, a reminder of the sacred beauty found in the intersection of art and the natural world.</font></div>

HARRY BERTOIA

Shaped by his native Italy and adopted America, Joseph Stella investigated an extraordinary range of styles and mediums in artworks of astonishing diversity and originality. In 1911, Stella rode the avant-garde wave of Fauvist, Cubist, and Futurist trends, but he was the only American modernist who lived day-to-day with the Italian Old Masters. The pose and handling of "Reclining Nude" relates to a series of works Stella painted during the 1920s depicting seductive women from mythological or fantasy sources such as "Leda and the Swan" and Ondine, a beautiful water nymph from a popular 19th-century romantic German fairy tale. Portrayed instead without floral or symbolist imagery, Reclining Nude, painted in the 1930s, more appropriately reflects that sobering time.

JOSEPH STELLA

ALEX KATZ - Peter - oil on masonite board - 15 7/8 x 7 1/8 in.

ALEX KATZ

WILLIAM WENDT - Laguna Hills - oil on canvas - 25 x 30 in.

WILLIAM WENDT

RICHARD ANUSZKIEWICZ - Pale Pink - acrylic - 48 1/4 x 48 1/4 in.

RICHARD ANUSZKIEWICZ

MARC QUINN - Lovebomb - photo laminate on aluminum - 108 1/4 x 71 3/4 x 37 3/4 in.

MARC QUINN

Jaudon was one of the founders of the Pattern and Decoration movement. With a foundation of feminist theory, Jaudon repositioned what were considered trivial art forms and minor visual images. These forms and symbols were relegated because of their association with the feminine or non-Western. <br> <br>At the same time, Palmyra exemplifies the ability of Jaudon to create aesthetically beautiful works. Jaudon interweaves shades of red into ornate arabesques recalling gothic stonework, celtic knots, and Islamic calligraphy. The crispness of the lines against the impasto and the layering of red tones makes it appear that the lines are carved like stone.

VALERIE JAUDON

<div><font size=3 color=black>Harry Bertoia's “Sonambient” sculptures are renowned for their meditative qualities, inviting viewers into a serene and contemplative state. Among the five “Sonambients” in our exhibition, even this most petite sculpture stands out with its remarkable sonic capabilities. This work, with its 64 tines, each capped with long, slender finials, produces a high-timbered sonority that is surprisingly robust. The delicate yet powerful sound offers an auditory experience that encourages reflection and heightened awareness.</font></div> <br> <br><div><font size=3> </font></div> <br> <br><div><font size=3 color=black>A pivotal aspect of the “Sonambient” sculptures' evolution was the involvement of Bertoia's brother, Oreste, whose expertise as a musician enabled him to help Harry reconceptualize these sculptures, not just as visual or kinetic art but as instruments capable of producing an immersive soundscape. This collaboration highlighted the interdisciplinary nature of Bertoia's work, merging the worlds of sculpture and music. Experimenting with rods and tines of different metals, varying in length and thickness, he discovered a wide range of tones and textural droning sounds. Exhilarated by their ethereal, otherworldly resonance and his brother's encouragement, Bertoia filled his historic barn in Bally, Pennsylvania, with more than sixty “Sonambient” sculptures. It became a kind of orchestral studio and laboratory where he recorded albums and held concerts, and the once lowly barn became a hallowed place—a chapel of sorts—where visitors experienced it as a pilgrimage and a place of profound inspiration and meditation.</font></div>

HARRY BERTOIA

EDGAR ALWIN PAYNE - Venetian Boats at Sotto Marino - oil on panel - 23 3/8 x 26 1/4 in.

EDGAR ALWIN PAYNE

SETH KAUFMAN - Lignum Spire - bronze with green patina - 103 1/2 x 22 x 17 in.

SETH KAUFMAN

JOANNA POUSETTE-DART - Untitled (Red Desert Study) - acrylic on wood panel - 33 1/2 x 42 x 3/4 in.

JOANNA POUSETTE-DART

The Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD) was a prosperous cultural period that helped shape Chinese history's foundations for future centuries. This era was marked by notable technological and cultural advances, including gunpowder and printing. Among artistic advances during this period was the perfection of the sancai glaze technique, which was a prominent attribute of sculpture during this period. Sancai (tri-colored) glazing; the three glaze-colors used were ochre or brown, green and clear. Glazed wares where much more costly to produce than other terracotta wares, and were therefore only reserved for the wealthiest patrons. <br> <br>The Sancai-Glazed Earth Spirit offered here depicts a "Zhenmushou." These are mythical hybrid creatures whose bodies are a combination of dogs, lions, boars and other animals. These fierce looking beasts would be found in pairs guarding the entrance of Tang Dynasty tombs.

CHINESE

"Interior" is one of Maurice Askenazy’s more modern compositions, calling to mind the work of Bonnard or Vuillard. The intimate scene shows a nude female model, dramatically seen in profile, posing for a painter in a sun-drenched studio. The door to the room is open, giving the impression that the viewer is stealing a glimpse of a private interaction between artist and model. A cleverly placed mirror on the back of the open door reveals the reflection of the painter, who we are meant to take as Askenazy himself, at work. Askenazy takes great care to depict the details of the room, from the patterned ottoman to the framed paintings on the walls, each a mosaic of Impressionistic color.

MAURICE ASKENAZY

FRANCISCO TOLEDO - Untitled - mixed media on paper - 8 x 10 1/4 in.

FRANCISCO TOLEDO

MEL RAMOS - Tomato Catsup; A.C. Annie; Lola Cola; Tobacco Red - four offset lithographs printed in colors - 30 3/4 x 25 1/4 in. ea.

MEL RAMOS

DAVID HOCKNEY - Two Pembroke Studio Chairs - lithograph in colors - 18 3/4 x 21 7/8 in.

DAVID HOCKNEY

AI WEIWEI - "Fairytale" Chairs - wood - 49 x 45 x 17 1/2 in.

AI WEIWEI

Provenance: <br>Heather James, CA <br>Private collection, NV (acquired from above May, 2000)

CHINESE

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FEATURED ART

<br>In Diego Rivera’s portrait of Enriqueta Dávila, the artist asserts a Mexicanidad, a quality of Mexican-ness, in the work along with his strong feelings towards the sitter. Moreover, this painting is unique amongst his portraiture in its use of symbolism, giving us a strong if opaque picture of the relationship between artist and sitter. <br> <br>Enriqueta, a descendent of the prominent Goldbaum family, was married to the theater entrepreneur, José María Dávila. The two were close friends with Rivera, and the artist initially requested to paint Enriqueta’s portrait. Enriqueta found the request unconventional and relented on the condition that Rivera paints her daughter, Enriqueta “Quetita”. Rivera captures the spirit of the mother through the use of duality in different sections of the painting, from the floorboards to her hands, and even the flowers. Why the split in the horizon of the floorboard? Why the prominent cross while Enriqueta’s family is Jewish? Even her pose is interesting, showcasing a woman in control of her own power, highlighted by her hand on her hip which Rivera referred to as a claw, further complicating our understanding of her stature. <br> <br>This use of flowers, along with her “rebozo” or shawl, asserts a Mexican identity. Rivera was adept at including and centering flowers in his works which became a kind of signature device. The flowers show bromeliads and roselles; the former is epiphytic and the latter known as flor de jamaica and often used in hibiscus tea and aguas frescas. There is a tension then between these two flowers, emphasizing the complicated relationship between Enriqueta and Rivera. On the one hand, Rivera demonstrates both his and the sitter’s Mexican identity despite the foreign root of Enriqueta’s family but there may be more pointed meaning revealing Rivera’s feelings to the subject. The flowers, as they often do in still life paintings, may also refer to the fleeting nature of life and beauty. The portrait for her daughter shares some similarities from the use of shawl and flowers, but through simple changes in gestures and type and placement of flowers, Rivera illuminates a stronger personality in Enriqueta and a more dynamic relationship as filtered through his lens. <br> <br>A closer examination of even her clothing reveals profound meaning. Instead of a dress more in line for a socialite, Rivera has Enriqueta in a regional dress from Jalisco, emphasizing both of their Mexican identities. On the other hand, her coral jewelry, repeated in the color of her shoes, hints at multiple meanings from foreignness and exoticism to protection and vitality. From Ancient Egypt to Classical Rome to today, coral has been used for jewelry and to have been believed to have properties both real and symbolic. Coral jewelry is seen in Renaissance paintings indicating the vitality and purity of woman or as a protective amulet for infants. It is also used as a reminder, when paired with the infant Jesus, of his future sacrifice. Diego’s use of coral recalls these Renaissance portraits, supported by the plain background of the painting and the ribbon indicating the maker and date similar to Old Master works. <br> <br>When combined in the portrait of Enriqueta, we get a layered and tense building of symbolism. Rivera both emphasizes her Mexican identity but also her foreign roots. He symbolizes her beauty and vitality but look closely at half of her face and it is as if Rivera has painted his own features onto hers. The richness of symbolism hints at the complex relationship between artist and sitter.

DIEGO RIVERA

According to the catalogue raisonné compiled by The Brandywine River Museum of Art, the preliminary drawing for Puritan Cod Fishers was completed by N. C Wyeth prior to his death in October 1945. The entry records an image of the sketch as well as the artist’s inscriptions and its title, Puritan Cod Fishers, characterized by the catalogue as ‘alternate’. In either case, the large-scale canvas is a unique work that Andrew Wyeth later recalled was painted solely by his hand, a demarcated collaboration of the father’s design and composition brought to fruition by a remarkable son’s execution. For Andrew, it must have been a deeply felt and emotional experience. Given his father’s attention to detail and authenticity, the lines of the small sailing craft represent a shallot, in use during the sixteenth century. On the other hand, Andrew likely deepened the hues of the restless sea more so than his father might have, a choice that appropriately heightens the perilous nature of the task.

Andrew Wyeth & N. C. Wyeth

N.C. Wyeth’s extraordinary skills as an illustrator were borne of impeccable draftsmanship and as a painter, his warmly rich, harmonious sense of color, and ability to capture the quality of light itself. But it is his unmatched artistry in vivifying story and character with a powerful sense of mood that we admire most of all — the ability to transport himself to the world and time of his creation and to convey it with a beguiling sense of conviction. That ability is as apparent in the compositional complexities of Treasure Island’s “One More Step, Mr. Hands!” as it is here, in the summary account of a square-rigged, seventeenth-century merchant ship tossed upon the seas. The Coming of the Mayflower in 1620 is a simple statement of observable facts, yet Wyeth’s impeccable genius as an illustrator imbues it with the bracing salt air and taste that captures the adventuresome spirit of the men and women who are largely credited with the founding of America. That spirit is carried on the wind and tautly billowed sails, the jaunty heeling of the ship at the nose of a stiff gale, the thrusting, streamed-limned clouds, and the gulls jauntily arranged to celebrate an arrival as they are the feathered angels of providence guiding it to safe harbor. <br> <br>The Coming of the Mayflower in 1620 was based on two studies, a composition drawing in graphite and a small presentation painting. The finished mural appears to have been installed in 1941.

N.C. WYETH

WILLEM DE KOONING - Woman in a Rowboat - oil on paper laid on masonite - 47 1/2 x 36 1/4 in.

WILLEM DE KOONING

Between Île-de-France and Burgundy and on the edge of the Fontainebleau Forest lies the medieval village of Moret-sur-Loing, established in the 12th century. When Alfred Sisley described its character to Monet in a letter dated 31 August 1881 as “a chocolate-box landscape…” he meant it as a memento of enticement; that its keep, the ramparts, the church, the fortified gates, and the ornate facades nestled along the river were, for a painter, a setting of unmatched charm. An ancient church, always the most striking townscape feature along the Seine Valley, would be a presence in Sisley’s townscape views as it was for Corot, and for Monet at Vétheuil. But unlike Monet whose thirty views of Rouen Cathedral were executed so he could trace the play of light and shadow across the cathedral façade and capture the ephemeral nature of moment-to-moment changes of light and atmosphere, Sisley set out to affirm the permanent nature of the church of Notre-Dame at Moret-sur-Loing. Monet’s sole concern was air and light, and Sisley’s appears to be an homage keepsake. The painting exudes respect for the original architects and builders of a structure so impregnable and resolute, it stood then as it did in those medieval times, and which for us, stands today, as it will, for time immemorial. <br> <br>Nevertheless, Sisley strived to show the changing appearance of the motif through a series of atmospheric changes. He gave the works titles such as “In Sunshine”, “Under Frost”, and “In Rain” and exhibited them as a group at the Salon du Champ-de-Mars in 1894, factors that suggest he thought of them as serial interpretations. Nevertheless, unlike Monet’s work, l’église de Moret, le Soir reveals that Sisley chose to display the motif within a spatial context that accentuates its compositional attributes — the plunging perspective of the narrow street at left, the strong diagonal recession of the building lines as a counterbalance to the right, and the imposing weight of the stony building above the line of sight.

ALFRED SISLEY

Trained as a woodcarver, Emil Nolde was almost 30 years old before he made his first paintings. The early paintings resembled his drawings and woodcuts: grotesque figures with bold lines and strong contrasts. The style was new, and it inspired the nascent movement Die Brücke (The Bridge), whose members invited Nolde to join them in 1906. But, it was not until the garden became his locus operandi by 1915 that he built upon his mastery of contrasting luminosities to focus on color as the supreme means of expression. Later, Nolde claimed “color is strength, strength is life,” and he could not have better characterized why his flower paintings reinvigorate our perception of color. <br> <br>Much of the strength of Nolde’s dramatic, Wagnerian-like color sensibilities is the effect of staging primary colors, such as the deep reds and golden yellows of Sonnenblumen, Abend II, against a somber palette. The contrast highlights and deepens the luminosity of the flowers, not just visually, but emotionally as well. In 1937, when Nolde’s art was rejected, confiscated, and defiled, his paintings were paraded as “degenerate art” throughout Nazi Germany in dimly lit galleries. Despite that treatment, Nolde’s status as a degenerate artist gave his art more breathing space because he seized the opportunity to produce more than 1,300 watercolors, which he called “unpainted pictures.” No novice in handling watercolor, his free-flowing style of painting had been a hallmark of his highly-charge, transparent washes since 1918. Sonnenblumen, Abend II, painted in 1944, is a rare wartime oil. He let his imagination run wild with this work, and his utilization of wet-on-wet techniques heightened the drama of each petal. <br> <br>Nolde’s intense preoccupation with color and flowers, particularly sunflowers, reflects his continuing devotion to van Gogh. He was aware of van Gogh as early as 1899 and, during the 1920s and early 1930s, visited several exhibitions of the Dutch artist’s work. They shared a profound love of nature. Nolde’s dedication to expression and the symbolic use of color found fullness in the sunflower subject, and it became a personal symbol for him, as it did for Van Gogh.

EMIL NOLDE

During the early 1870s, Winslow Homer frequently painted scenes of country living near a small farm hamlet renowned for generations for its remarkable stands of wheat, situated between the Hudson River and the Catskills in New York state. Today Hurley is far more famous for inspiring one of Homer’s greatest works, Snap the Whip painted the summer of 1872. Among the many other paintings inspired by the region, Girl Standing in the Wheatfield is rich in sentiment, but not over sentimentalized. It directly relates to an 1866 study painted in France entitled, In the Wheatfields, and another, painted the following year after he returned to America. But Homer would have undoubtedly been most proud of this one. It is a portrait, a costume study, a genre painting in the great tradition of European pastoral painting, and a dramatically backlit, atmospheric tour de force steeped in the quickly fading gloaming hour light buoyed with lambent, flowery notes and wheat spike touches. In 1874, Homer sent four paintings to the National Academy of Design exhibition. One was titled, “Girl”. Might it not be this one?

WINSLOW HOMER

Widely recognized as one of the most consequential artists of our time, Gerhard Richters career now rivals that of Picasso's in terms of productivity and genius. The multi-faceted subject matter, ranging from slightly out-of-focus photographic oil paintings to Kelly-esque grid paintings to his "squeegee" works, Richter never settles for repeating the same thought- but is constantly evolving his vision. Richter has been honored by significant retrospective exhibitions, including the pivotal 2002 show, "Gerhard Richter: Forty Years of Painting," at the Museum of Modern Art, New York. <br> <br>"Abstraktes Bild 758-2" (1992) comes from a purely abstract period in Richter's work- where the message is conveyed using a truly physical painting style, where applied paint layers are distorted with a wooden "Squeegee" tool. Essentially, Richter is sculpting the layers of paint, revealing the underlayers and their unique color combinations; there is a degree of "art by chance". If the painting does not work, Richter will move on- a method pioneered by Jackson Pollock decades earlier. <br> <br>Richter is included in prominent museums and collections worldwide, including the Tate, London, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, among many others.

GERHARD RICHTER

The world of Marc Chagall cannot be contained or limited by the labels we attach to it. It is a world of images and meanings which form their own splendidly mystical discourse. Les Mariés sous le baldaquin (The Bride and Groom under the Canopy) was begun as the artist entered his 90th year, a man who had known tragedy and strife, but who never forgot life’s moments of rapturous pleasure. Here, the dreamy delights of a Russian village wedding with its arrangements of well-worn attendees are brought to us with such happy wit and cheerful innocence that there is no resisting its charm. Using a golden toned emulsion combining oil and opaque, water-based gouache, the warmth, happiness, and optimism of Chagall’s usual positivism is wrapped in a luminous radiance suggesting the influence of gold-leaf religious icons or early Renaissance painting that sought to impart the impression of divine light or spiritual enlightenment. Using a combination of oil and gouache can be challenging. But here, in Les Mariés sous le baldaquin, Chagall employs it to give the scene an otherworldly quality, almost as if it has just materialized out of his mind’s eye. Its textural delicacy creates the impression that light is emanating from the work itself and gives a spectral quality to the figures floating the sky.

MARC CHAGALL

The frame of reference for Irish American Sean Scully’s signature blocks and stripes is vast. From Malevich’s central premise that geometry can provide the means for universal understanding to Rothko’s impassioned approach to color and rendering of the dramatic sublime, Scully learned how to condense the splendor of the natural world into simple modes of color, light, and composition. Born in Dublin in 1945 and London-raised, Scully was well-schooled in figurative drawing when he decided to catch the spirit of his lodestar, Henri Matisse, by visiting Morocco in 1969. He was captivated by the dazzling tessellated mosaics and richly dyed fabrics and began to paint grids and stipes of color. Subsequent adventures provided further inspiration as the play of intense light on the reflective surfaces of Mayan ruins and the ancient slabs of stone at Stonehenge brought the sensation of light, space, and geometric movement to Scully’s paintings. The ability to trace the impact of Scully’s travels throughout his paintings reaffirms the value of abstract art as a touchstone for real-life experience. <br> <br> <br>Painted in rich, deep hues and layered, nuanced surfaces, Grey Red is both poetic and full of muscular formalism. Scully appropriately refers to these elemental forms as ‘bricks,’ suggesting the formal calculations of an architect. As he explained, “these relationships that I see in the street doorways, in windows between buildings, and in the traces of structures that were once full of life, I take for my work. I use these colors and forms and put them together in a way that perhaps reminds you of something, though you’re not sure of that” (David Carrier, Sean Scully, 2004, pg. 98). His approach is organic, less formulaic; intuitive painter’s choices are layering one color upon another so that contrasting hues and colors vibrate with subliminal energy. Diebenkorn comes to mind in his pursuit of radiant light. But here, the radiant bands of terracotta red, gray, taupe, and black of Grey Red resonate with deep, smoldering energy and evoke far more affecting passion than you would think it could impart. As his good friend, Bono wrote, “Sean approaches the canvas like a kickboxer, a plasterer, a builder. The quality of painting screams of a life being lived.”

SEAN SCULLY

Tom Wesselmann will undoubtedly be remembered for associating his erotic themes with the colors of the American flag. But Wesselmann had considerable gifts as a draftsman, and the line was his principal preoccupation, first as a cartoonist and later as an ardent admirer of Matisse. That he also pioneered a method of turning drawings into laser-cut steel wall reliefs proved a revelation. He began to focus ever more on drawing for the sake of drawing, enchanted that the new medium could be lifted and held: “It really is like being able to pick up a delicate line drawing from the paper.” <br> <br>The Steel Drawings caused both excitement and confusion in the art world. After acquiring one of the ground-breaking works in 1985, the Whitney Museum of American Art wrote Wesselmann wondering if it should be cataloged as a drawing or a sculpture. The work had caused such a stir that when Eric Fischl visited Wesselmann at his studio and saw steel-cut works for the first time, he remembered feeling jealous. He wanted to try it but dared not. It was clear: ‘Tom owned the technique completely.’ <br> <br>Wesselmann owed much of that technique to his year-long collaboration with metalwork fabricator Alfred Lippincott. Together, in 1984 they honed a method for cutting the steel with a laser that provided the precision he needed to show the spontaneity of his sketches. Wesselmann called it ‘the best year of my life’, elated at the results that he never fully achieved with aluminum that required each shape be hand-cut. “I anticipated how exciting it would be for me to get a drawing back in steel. I could hold it in my hands. I could pick it up by the lines…it was so exciting…a kind of near ecstasy, anyway, but there’s really been something about the new work that grabbed me.” <br> <br>Bedroom Brunette with Irises is a Steel Drawing masterwork that despite its uber-generous scale, utilizes tight cropping to provide an unimposing intimacy while maintaining a free and spontaneous quality. The figure’s outstretched arms and limbs and body intertwine with the petals and the interior elements providing a flowing investigative foray of black lines and white ‘drop out’ shapes provided by the wall. It recalls Matisse and any number of his reclining odalisque paintings. Wesselmann often tested monochromatic values to discover the extent to which color would transform his hybrid objects into newly developed Steel Drawing works and, in this case, continued with a color steel-cut version of the composition Bedroom Blonde with Irises (1987) and later still, in 1993 with a large-scale drawing in charcoal and pastel on paper.

TOM WESSELMANN

Théo van Rysselberghe’s Portrait de Sylvie Lacombe, painted in 1906, is a classic masterwork by one of the most refined and consistent portrait painters of his time. The color is harmonious, the brushwork vigorous and tailored to its material task, her body and countenance true and revealing. The sitter is the daughter of his good friend, the painter Georges Lacombe, who shared a close association with Gauguin, and was a member of Les Nabis with artists Bonnard, Denis, and Vuillard, among others. We now know about Sylvie Lacombe because Van Rysselberghe is so skilled at rendering subtle facial expressions and through careful observation and attention to detail, provided insights into her inner world. He has chosen a direct gaze, her eyes to yours, an inescapable covenant between subject and viewer regardless of our physical relationship to the painting. Van Rysselberghe had largely abandoned the Pointillist technique when he painted this portrait. But he continued to apply color theory guidelines by using tints of red — pinks and mauves — against greens to create a harmonious ameliorated palette of complementary colors to which he added a strong accent to draw the eye – an intensely saturated, red bow asymmetrically laid to the side of her head.

THÉO VAN RYSSELBERGHE

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