Roy Lichtenstein - Editions & Works on Paper New York Wednesday, June 21, 2023 | Phillips

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  • “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, Seven Objects In A Box, 1966, and Ten from Leo Castelli, 1968, which featured works by rising contemporary artists such as Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Claes Oldenburg, and Robert Rauschenberg, pioneered the field of artist’s editions. 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.’” 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.

    Rosa and Aaron Esman, Madrid, 1963

     

    • Literature

      Mary Lee Corlett 46

Property from the Collection of Rosa and Aaron Esman

89

Modern Sculpture with Apertures (C. 46)

1967
Screenprinted enamel in colors, on interlocking Plexiglas with silver Mylar.
16 1/2 x 5 3/4 x 7 1/2 in. (41.9 x 14.6 x 19.1 cm)
Signed and numbered 179/200 in black ink on the base (there were also approximately 15 proofs), published by the artist for Artists for Scholarship, Education, and Defense Fund for Racial Equality, New York.

Full Cataloguing

Estimate
$4,000 - 6,000 

Sold for $6,985

Contact Specialist

Editions@phillips.com
212 940 1220

Editions & Works on Paper

New York Auction 21 June 2023