“I think a good dealer is also a good collector.”
—Rosa Esman
Rosa and Aaron Esman assembled an outstanding collection of Modern, Post-War, and Contemporary art over the course of their seventy-year marriage. The collection’s highlights mirror that of Rosa’s career as a gallerist and print publisher (which Aaron, a psychoanalyst, strongly supported), with interests in Modernism, Dada, Russian Constructivism, and American Pop Art taking center stage. Rosa got her start publishing artists’ print portfolios in the 1960s, including the New York Ten Portfolio, 1965, and Ten for Leo Castelli, 1967, which featured works by rising contemporary artists such as Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, and Robert Rauschenberg, and helped pioneer the field of artist’s editions and multiples. Her eponymous gallery exhibited in Manhattan for over twenty years, and she was a founding partner of Ubu Gallery, which is still in operation today.
When asked about her wide artistic tastes in 2009, Rosa emphasized her love of drawing, “the quintessential bit of the art,” which can be seen across the collection, regardless of genre.
The pair bonded over gallery visits when dating in the early 1950s. While Aaron already had begun collecting by then, the first work they purchased together was a drawing by Miró, early in their marriage. Rosa recalled: ‘sometimes we look at something, and I say, “Oh, isn’t that marvelous?”’ and Aaron would respond, ‘It’s for us.’
Founded on lifelong love, the Collection of Rosa and Aaron Esman gives a unique vision of the art movements of the 20th century that shaped New York’s art scene.
1960; 1965; 1965-66年作 兩件樹脂複製品 手錶零件 釘子 滾珠軸承 一本彩色絲網印刷藝術家書籍,文字由André Verdet撰寫(折疊如出版所示) 一本邀請函連金屬沙丁魚罐頭印刷 《邀請函》:1 1/8 x 1 7/8 x 1 1/2 英吋(2.9 x 4.8 x 3.8 公分) 《分點》:6 x 4 1/8 x 1 英吋(15.2 x 10.5 x 2.5 公分) 《充滿》:1 1/8 x 2 3/8 x 4 1/8 英吋(2.9 x 6 x 10.5 公分) 《邀請函》:尚有2000版獨版1965年5月11日巴黎Lawrence畫廊《阿曼》展覽邀請函。 《分點》款識:簽名、26(版權頁) 尚有400版,由威尼斯Edizioni Del Cavallino出版。 《充滿》款識:簽名、389 尚有500版,由巴黎Iris Clert畫廊出版。