Christo - 20th Century & Contemporary Art Day Sale, Morning Session New York Tuesday, May 16, 2023 | Phillips
  • “I think a good dealer is also a 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 edition publisher with the strong support of Aaron, a psychoanalyst and passionate collector, with interests in Modernism, Dada, Russian Constructivism, and American Pop Art taking center stage. Rosa began publishing portfolios of prints by contemporary artists in the 1960s. Editions such as the New York Ten Portfolio, 1965, and Ten from 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 Esman collection, regardless of genre.


    Art was one of several passions that Rosa and Aaron shared, even when they began dating in the early 1950s. In 1952, they bought their first artwork together, a drawing by Miró, initiating their shared pursuit of inspired collecting that would continue for the rest of their lives. Rosa recalled: “sometimes we look at something, and I say, ‘Oh, isn’t that marvelous?’ and Aaron would respond, ‘It’s for us.’”i Founded in 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.

     

    i Rosa Esman, interviewed by James McElhinney, "Oral History Interview with Rosa Esman," Archives of American Art, June 9–16, 2009, online.

    • Provenance

      Rosa and Aaron Esman (acquired directly from the artist in 1972)
      Thence by descent to the present owners

    • Exhibited

      Easton, The Gallery, Morris R. Williams Center for the Arts, Lafayette College, The Esman Collection: Paintings, sculpture and prints from the 1960s, ‘70s, March 21–April 15, 1984, n.p.

Property from the Collection of Rosa and Aaron Esman

191

Valley Curtain (Project for Colorado) Grand Hogback, 7 Miles North from Rifle

signed, titled, inscribed and dated "VALLEY CURTAIN (PROJECT FOR COLORADO) GRAND HOGBACK, 7 miles NORTH FROM RIFLE; HEIGHT 180'0" (CENTER) 365'0" (MAIN SUPPORT) WIDTH: 1250'0" (SPAN) 1368'0" Christo 1972" lower center
pencil, fabric, wax crayon, technical drawing, tape and staples on paper, in artist's Plexiglas box frame
28 x 22 in. (71.1 x 55.9 cm)
Executed in 1972.

Full Cataloguing

Estimate
$60,000 - 80,000 

Sold for $107,950

Contact Specialist

Annie Dolan

Specialist, Head of Sale, Morning Session
+1 212 940 1288
adolan@phillips.com

20th Century & Contemporary Art Day Sale, Morning Session

New York Auction 16 May 2023