AMERICAN PAINTINGS

Giorgio Cavallon was a pioneer of the American Abstract Expressionist movement and a charter member of the American Abstract Artists group. Born in Sorio, near Vicenza, Italy, in 1904, the artist immigrated to the United States in 1920. He began his formal training at the National Academy of Design in New York in 1926 and spent two summers in Provincetown studying with Charles Hawthorne. The artist described Hawthorne’s approach as “much more open, much more free than the other Academicians…He never believed in drawing; he believed that if you put the right color in the right place you didn’t need to draw.” In the 1930s, Cavallon was contracted by the Works Progress Administration to work as Arshile Gorky’s assistant in the Easel and Mural Division while simultaneously studying under Hans Hofmann in the evenings and in the summer.

Cavallon exhibited with the American Abstract Artists group from its inception in 1936. He had a long and celebrated career, never departing from his commitment to the exploration of color and form. Cavallon’s signature white pigment and chalky patches of interlocking color slabs are constants in his work, and present a more luminous and softer composition in comparison to many of his American Abstract Expressionist peers.

1

GIORGIO CAVALLON

(American, 1904–1989) Untitled 1979, oil on canvas signed and dated Giorgio Cavallon 79 lower right 68 x 60 in., frame: 68 1/2 x 60 3/4 in. $20,000–30,000

Provenance: The Collection of the Late John and Marilyn Keane, Boston and Cohasset, Massachusetts.

2

Giorgio Cavallon

(American, 1904–1989) Untitled 1977, oil on canvas signed and dated Giorgio Cavallon 77 lower right signed and dated Giorgio Cavallon 1977 verso 60 x 52 in., frame: 60 1/2 x 52 1/2 in.

$20,000–30,000

Provenance: The Collection of the Late John and Marilyn Keane, Boston and Cohasset, Massachusetts.

Other Notes: Gruenebaum Gallery (New York) label verso.

Gy Rgy Kepes

(American, 1906–2001)

Tinkertoy Orchard 1982, oil and sand on canvas signed, titled, dated, and numbered G. Kepes Tinkertoy Orchard 1982 16 verso 40 x 30 in. frame: 41 3/4 x 31 3/4 in. $2,000–4,000

György Kepes explored the interconnectedness of art and science as a photographer, filmmaker, graphic designer, and painter. He embraced 20th century modernity and was influenced by the technological advances and turmoil in his society. He was a member of the European Bauhaus before emigrating from Hungary to the United States in 1937 to join the New Bauhaus in Chicago, upon the invitation of Laszlo Maholy–Nagy. At the New Bauhaus (later the School of Design), Kepes developed light and color workshops to research the psychological impact of color, technique, and forms. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, the school offered a full program of “National Defense Courses” including a course designed by Kepes entitled “Principles of Camouflage.” In 1945, Kepes was invited to create a series of design courses in the School of Architecture and Planning at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He subsequently founded and was the director of the Center for Advanced Visual Studies (CAVS) at MIT, promoting art as a vital component of interdisciplinary study. Kepes ultimately spent the bulk of his career at MIT, working as a scholar and professor from 1946-1974. This collection of six important Kepes paintings come to auction from the estate of a notable Massachusetts architect, who was for many years a close friend of the artist.

Gy Rgy Kepes

(American, 1906–2001)

Perplexed Glow 1968, oil and sand on canvas signed, titled, and dated G. Kepes Perplexed Glow 1968 verso 47 3/4 x 47 3/4 in., frame: 50 x 50 in. $3,000–5,000

5

Gy Rgy Kepes

(American, 1906–2001)

Note 1983, oil and sand on canvas signed, titled, dated, and numbered G. Kepes Note 1983 verso 42 x 44 in., frame: 43 3/4 x 46 in.

$3,000–5,000

6

Gy Rgy Kepes

(American, 1906–2001) Far East, Monument 1950, oil and sand on canvas signed and dated GK 50 upper left 72 x 36 in. frame: 72 3/4 x 37 in.

$3,000–5,000

Exhibitions: Busch–Reisinger Museum/ Harvard Art Museums loan label verso.

GYÖRGY KEPES

(American, 1906–2001) Roma

1961, oil and sand on canvas signed, dated, and titled G. Kepes Roma 1961 verso 27 3/4 x 17 3/4 in., frame: 28 1/2 x 18 1/2 in.

$1,500–2,500

8

GYÖRGY KEPES

(American, 1906–2001)

Untitled 1956, oil and sand on canvas signed and dated G. Kepes 1956 verso 24 x 24 in. frame: 24 3/4 x 24 3/4 in.

$2,000–4,000

WALTER TANDY MURCH (American,

1907–1967)

Clock Face oil on canvas board signed Walter Murch upper right 23 1/2 x 19 1/2 in., frame: 24 1/2 x 20 1/2 in. $3,000–5,000

Provenance: Betty Parsons Gallery, New York (label verso); The Estate of a Massachusetts Lady.

10

JENNIE

Haddad

(American, 1906–1996)

Untitled oil on canvas signed Jennie Haddad verso 50 x 35 1/3 in., frame: 52 1/4 x 37 1/4 in. $5,000–8,000

Provenance: Estate of the Artist; Collection of Pat Houseman, Dallas, TX; Private Texas Collection.

11

GERALD COARDING (American, 1911–1986)

Untitled 1954, oil on canvas signed and dated Coarding 54 upper right 55 1/2 x 35 in., frame: 56 3/4 x 36 in.

$5,000–8,000

12

CHARLES GREEN SHAW (American, 1892–1974)

The House in the Woods 1950, oil on board signed Shaw lower right 22 x 30 in., frame: 26 3/4 x 34 3/4 in.

$5,000–8,000

JOAQUIN TORRES–GARCIA (Uruguayan, 1874–1949) Untitled (Abstract Figure) 1947, gouache and watercolor signed JTG lower left dated 47 lower right sheet: 7 x 5 in. frame: 9 1/2 x 7 1/2 in $2,000–4,000

Provenance: Katherine Urquhart Warren (1897–1976); by descent to the current owner. Katherine Warren, of New York City and Newport, RI, was an avid art collector who was elected a trustee of the Museum of Modern Art (New York) in 1943.

Other Notes: Rose Fried Gallery (New York) label verso.

14

OSCAR FLORIANUS BLUEMNER (American, 1867–1938) Stack graphite on paper initialed OFB lower left sheet: 4 1/2 x 5 5/8 in. frame: 10 1/2 x 9 1/2 in.

$1,000–1,500

Provenance: The Collection of John Davis Hatch; Sid Deutsch Gallery (New York), 1987; The Collection of a Newport, Rhode Island Lady.

15

PETER ALEXANDER (American, 1939–2020) Venice 1 1989, monoprint 39 x 45 5/8 in., frame: 34 x 45 3/4 in.

$5,000–7,000

Provenance: Property of a Private Maine Collection.

Other Notes: Works Gallery (Long Beach, California) label verso.

Morris Graves

(American, 1910–2001)

A Collection of Drawings and Watercolors ca. 1930s, comprising: A sketchbook (11 3/4 x 8 3/4 in) with: - pencil sketches of birds on the interior cover - watercolor flower studies; the verso a watercolor of a flicker and a pileated woodpecker, with extensive color notes - double sided pencil studies of geese - pencil and watercolor studies of ducks; a watercolor landscape with a sketch of a duck with color notes

- a watercolor of a trout with sketches of ducks with color notes; pencil sketches of ducks, a house, and a seated girl - watercolor and pencil sketches of ducks on the interior back cover One framed watercolor of a bird, painted on wallpaper 19 loose sheets (each approx. 11 7/8 x 8 7/8 in.), most double sided, with watercolor and pencil sketches of birds, horses, bulls, goats, and plants, and five paper fragments with watercolor and pencil studies of birds

$8,000–12,000

Provenance: Sotheby's New York, American Paintings, Drawings, and Sculpture, September 16, 2005, Lot 5; The Collection of an Oregon Gentleman.

17

LYONEL

Feininger

(American, 1871–1956)

Dunes, Rain 1944, watercolor signed Feininger lower left dated 27.8.44 lower right sheet: 12 1/4 x 19 in. frame: 20 1/2 x 25 1/2 in.

$10,000–20,000

Provenance: The collection of Mr. and Mrs. G. Holmes Perkins, Philadelphia; by descent within the family to the current owner.

Exhibitions: Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia Collects 20th Century, October 3–November 17, 1963 (exhibition label verso).

Achim Moeller, Managing Principal of The Lyonel Feininger Project LLC, New York–Berlin has confirmed the authenticity of this work, which is registered under no. 1804–07–27–22. A certificate of authenticity accompanies the work.

Gertrude Abercrombie

(American, 1909–1977)

Slaughterhouse 1937, oil on canvas signed and dated Abercrombie 37 lower center 28 3/4 x 40 in., frame: 30 3/4 x 42 in.

$15,000–25,000

Gertrude Abercrombie’s illusory landscapes reflect her involvement in Chicago’s Hyde Park arts scene as well as the influence of the European movement of Surrealism. Her strong American and female voice was celebrated within the otherwise European and male-dominated Surrealist genre. The artist famously said, “It is always myself that I paint” and in many ways her entire oeuvre can be seen as a collection of self-portraits. Her eerily desolate landscapes often include self-portraits and other recurring personal objects such as cats, brooms, ladders and hats which Abercrombie identifies with herself. In this way, her practice is rooted in both realism and dream. As she remarked, “Surrealism is meant for me because I am a pretty realistic person but don’t like all I see. So I dream that it is changed. Then I change it to the way I want it. It is almost always pretty real. Only mystery and fantasy have been added. All foolishness has been taken out. It becomes my own dream.” After completing her undergraduate studies in romance languages in 1929, Abercrombie studied figure drawing at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. By 1932, she had focused her efforts on painting, and exhibited her work with independent Chicago galleries in the first half of the decade.

Slaughterhouse was painted in 1937, while Abercrombie was employed as a Works Progress Administration artist (1934-1940), a significant period during which she found new creative and financial freedom. This work is a key example of her early style, for which she won prizes in 1936 and 1938 at the Art Institute of Chicago’s Annual Exhibition of Works by Artists of Chicago and Vicinity, and it relates closely to the 20 x 24 in. view of the same subject, now in the collection of the Smithsonian. Both works depict the same slaughterhouse ruins in Aledo, Illinois, a small town where Abercrombie lived as a child. Though it is much larger in scale than the miniscule works typical of her mature period, Slaughterhouse’s desolate motif and muted color palette can be understood as direct precursors to these later works. The newly re-discovered work has been in the collection of a friend and fellow artist of Abercrombie’s since soon after it was painted.

19

WOLF KAHN (American, 1927–2020) Untitled (Landscape) 1988, oil on canvas signed W Kahn lower left 22 x 28 in., frame: 24 x 30 in.

$5,000–8,000

Provenance: The Collection of a Brookline, Massachusetts Couple.