Rosa and Aaron Esman with Arman.
Phillips is pleased to present Property from the Collection of Rosa and Aaron Esman, a collection of works from their Manhattan residence representing the breadth of the collection, to be offered in upcoming New York 20th Century & Contemporary Art sales.
Rosa and Aaron Esman assembled an outstanding array of Modern, Post-War, and Contemporary art over the course of their seventy-year marriage. Dr. Esman began collecting art as a reflection of his passion for all of the arts. A voracious reader, as well as a frequent concert and theater goer (Dr. Esman held particular enthusiasm for Mozart, Schubert, and jazz performances), his collecting grew out of an insatiable curiosity for the world and appetite for the creative achievements that enriched it. Those interests guided his collecting activity throughout his life. Rosa was a pioneering publisher of editions, in addition to being a successful gallerist. The collection they built over the decades, rich in Modernism, Dada, Russian Constructivism, and American Pop Art, reflects both Mrs. Esman’s career as a gallerist and print publisher and Dr. Esman’s voluminous writings on art, creativity, and the mind during his career as a psychiatrist.
Joan Miró, Femmes devant le soleil (Woman in Front of the Sun), 1942. 20th Century & Contemporary Art Day Sale, Morning Session.
Scenes from an Art Family Life
Between gallery visits, lifelong friendships with artists, and an intuitive sense for brilliant works, Rosa and Aaron Esman assembled a collection that reflected their intrinsic love of art, and their home was at the center of it all. Read the final installment of the series and discover how this environment cultivated the lives of their daughters, whose appreciation continues their parents' influential legacy.
Robert Rauschenberg, Bath, 1964. 20th Century & Contemporary Art Evening Sale.
The Esman family gathered on a quiet evening, c. early 2000s.
All for Love of Art
There are three sides to every story, and the first begins with the Esman daughters. To Susanna, Marjorie, and Abigail, they were Mom and Dad. But there was no denying even from the very beginning that their parents were not like the others. They put art at the very center of their lives. And their legacy is astonishing. Read about Rosa and Aaron's remarkable collecting prescience through the memories of their children, for whom many of the 20th century's greatest artists were fixtures in the home.
Rosa and Aaron Esman, Madrid, 1963.
Click the links below for more information on each respective auction:
20th Century & Contemporary Art Day Sale, Morning Session, 16 May 2023 10am EDT
20th Century & Contemporary Art Evening Sale New York Auction, 17 May 5pm EDT