The Estate of John Githens and Ingeborg ten Haeff

The collection of John Githens and Ingeborg ten Haeff reflects the couple’s presence at the heart of New York’s post-war artistic set for over forty years. Established first during ten Haeff’s marriage to the acclaimed city planner and designer Paul Lester Wiener, the collection was built upon by the couple via acquisitions and gifts from artists throughout their marriage. The eclectic variety of paintings and sculpture displayed in their historic Greenwich Village residence mirrored their shared reverence for creativity and intellectual thought. Githens, a Russophile who held professorial posts at major American universities, and ten Haeff, a noted musician and painter, were fixtures on the New York and East Hampton artistic circuits. Regularly hosting lavish dinner parties for a host of cultural figures, their residence became a veritable archive of correspondence and personally dedicated attributes. Close friends with some of the twentieth century’s most acclaimed artists– including Willem de Kooning, Alexander Calder, and Alfonso Ossorio – the works reflect the couple’s prominent role as bastions of Golden Era New York bohemia for over forty years. Rooted in boundless curiosity and an authoritative eye, the present collection offers a unique and highly personal perspective on the artists and movements of the twentieth century.

John Githens and Ingeborg ten Haeff.