Katharine Grosse, Ohne titel, 2019. Estimate $30,000 - 40,000. 20th Century and Contemporary Art New York.
The Alexander W. Dreyfoos School of the Arts is a magnet public high school serving the most talented young artists—from all disciplines—in West Palm Beach, Florida. This season, Phillips and the Hall Art Foundation have partnered to support Black students at the school by offering a group of works whose proceeds will be used to implement scholarships for low-income Black students.
Almost twenty high-profile contemporary artists—including Georg Baselitz, Katherine Bradford, Olafur Eliasson, Tracey Emin, Anselm Kiefer, Robert Longo, and Julian Schnabel—have donated works, underscoring the urgency of supporting young artists amid the ongoing systemic racism that permeates the American experience. In advance of the sale, we invited Andy Hall to sit down with Phillips’ Jean-Paul Engelen to discuss how the auction germinated, getting to know the Dreyfoos School, the responsibility to support Black Lives Matter, and the hope of what young artists bring for a better tomorrow.
Jean-Paul Engelen: This is such an incredible idea. Can you talk to us about the origin of this initiative?
Andy Hall: It was really triggered when we were in lockdown in Palm Beach at the time Black Lives Matter took front and center. Perhaps because we were in lockdown, we were more focused on what was going on here. Christine and I just became more and more incensed. There is something seriously wrong. The Black community, throughout the history of America, has experienced institutionalized racism. There are still terrible injustices and that was made even more evident earlier this year by the horrific and highly publicized deaths of Black people at the hands of the police.
We thought we had to do something. A lot of people were raising money for the Black Lives Matter movement and we thought we should contribute to it. But we also thought that charity begins at home so wondered if there was something we could do in the Palm Beach area which would benefit the Black community in a measurable way.
Georg Baselitz, Gestern und heute, 2020. Estimate $600,000 - 700,000. 20th Century and Contemporary Art New York.
JPE: So how did you decide to contribute to the Dreyfoos School?
AH: Christine suggested it. She had visited the Dreyfoos School at the recommendation of a Palm Beach friend of ours. I called him up and said we wanted to do something for the Black community and he immediately recommended Dreyfoos. He said a high proportion of the students there are Black Americans and anything we did there could measurably change someone's life. The same day, we spoke with the people at Dreyfoos and said we would give some money to the school in order to benefit Black students there. We pledged money for two things. The first was to support an adjunct teacher program they have where young artists come to the school to teach the students. We said we would give money specifically to support Black artists being part of that program. The second thing we said we would do was set up a scholarship to benefit a Black student at Dreyfoos who wants to pursue a career in the arts. That would mean a scholarship to go to university or college to take a degree in the performing or visual arts.
Tracey Emin, Saturated In Your Love, 2020. Estimate $70,000 - 100,000. 20th Century and Contemporary Art New York.
JPE: Where did the auction come in?
AH: We wondered what else we could do. We’ve never been in the business of raising money. It’s not something I have any experience in, even though I have given money to different things over the years. It’s just not my skillset. But I thought, maybe once in our lives, we should actually try and do something like that. And maybe we could use our contacts and friendships in the art world to raise more money for Dreyfoos.
I was also encouraged to do it because I had been talking with a number of our artists friends, via Instagram or WhatsApp, about what was going on in America and many of these artists were outraged too. I thought they might be supportive. I also spoke with an art dealer friend. He encouraged me but also warned that artists were being asked to give things all the time as we were in the middle of the pandemic and people were trying to raise money for that. But when we reached out to a little more than 20 of our artist friends, the vast majority of them responded immediately, some within hours. And now we have the 19 works of art given to the Hall Art Foundation, which will be auctioned by you in December to benefit Dreyfoos. It was altogether a very positive response.
Robert Longo, Study of Milwaukee Riot Cops, 2018. Estimate $70,000 - 90,000. 20th Century and Contemporary Art NewYork.
JPE: Could you tell me more about the Palm Beach area?
AH: Palm Beach is, in many ways, a microcosm of America. People think of Palm Beach as being this place where only billionaires go to live. But once you leave Palm Beach Island, cross the Intracoastal Waterway, and go to West Palm Beach and the rest of Palm Beach County, you quickly find underserved communities. I believe the poverty rate in Palm Beach County is actually slightly above the national average for America. And the fact that Palm Beach is the home of our president is another reminder of the challenging conjuncture that we as a country are currently experiencing.
So, it was for all these reasons: Dreyfoos School, Black Lives Matter, Palm Beach, this moment, this time, this place. Hopefully, we will get as much support from our collector friends as we got from our artist friends.
Antony Gormley, SMALL VEER 2 II, 2018. Estimate $200,000 - 300,000. 20th Century and Contemporary Art New York.
JP: Could you tell me more about how artists responded to your request?
AH: One of the artists who has donated to the auction, when I asked him whether he would consider giving an artwork, not only immediately said yes but added that, once COVID is behind us he wanted some of these students to come up to his studio and spend some time with him. He thought Dreyfoos sounded like a great place—which of course it is.
Anselm Kiefer, Erzvater grub, Erzmutter molk das Schicksal nährend für ein ganzes Volk, 2016. Estimate $100,000 - 150,000. 20th Century and Contemporary Art New York.
JPE: That’s a great initiative.
AH: Yes, we think providing a good education for all is the number one responsibility a country and its government has to its population. The fact that we're raising money for an exceptional place of education that is open to everybody, regardless of their means, really resonates for us.
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