Sir Anthony Caro, O.M, R.A. - 20th Century & Contemporary Art Day Sale, Morning Session New York Wednesday, November 16, 2022 | Phillips

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  • "I saw the piece and I loved it; I kept going back to it, back and forth, and Jack did too."
    —Helen Bershad referring to Louise Nevelson, Dawn's Landscape XXIX, 1975

    Property from the Estate of Jack R. Bershad


    Over nearly six decades, Philadelphia lawyer Jack R. Bershad and his wife, artist Helen Bershad, amassed an impressive collection of art and ceramics. Phillips is thrilled to be offering a selection of the American and Post-War masterworks in our 20th Century & Contemporary Art Day Sale this season. Most of these works were acquired soon after they were made, making this a rare chance to acquire works that have remained in the same collection for more than 30 years. An artist in her own right, Helen Bershad was inspired by many of the artists in hers and Jack’s collection, citing Helen Frankenthaler as one of her heroes. Of choosing the painting Brown Bird from 1959, she said, “I had to have something that she did. It was very important to me. A lot of people didn’t like her work at that time, but I did, and I was right...” Such persistence defines the collection, as Jack and Helen went searching in galleries and auctions throughout the 1970s and 1980s for the best examples of 20th century art. This included one of Louise Nevelson’s Dawn’s Landscape works from 1975, which Helen considered “a part of our marriage, of how we talk, how we discuss things.” Two impressive sculptures by Anthony Caro and exceptional American works on paper by John Marin and Max Weber fill out the collection, alongside one of Helen’s own large-scale paintings from 1980—a beautiful and expressive field of blues and pinks coalescing on canvas. Together, this selection of works acquired by Helen and Jack demonstrates their passion for collecting, and for each other. As Helen aptly states, “[they just] wanted to be surrounded by good music and good art.”

     

    • Provenance

      André Emmerich Gallery, New York
      Acquired from the above by the present owner in 1986

    • Literature

      Jürgen Schilling, "Anthony Caro - Versuch Einer Bestimmung" in Anthony Caro: Table and Related Sculptures 1966-1978, exh. cat., Kunstverein Braunschweig, 1979, no. 261, pp. 11-18, 109, 214 (illustrated, pp. 109, 214)
      Dieter Blume, Anthony Caro: Catalogue Raisonné Vol. I, Paris, 1981, no. 261, p. 214 (illustrated)

The Estate of Jack R. Bershad

200

Table Piece CCLXI

rusted and varnished steel
23 x 57 x 24 in. (58.4 x 144.8 x 61 cm)
Executed in 1975.

Full Cataloguing

Estimate
$30,000 - 40,000 

Sold for $40,320

Contact Specialist

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

20th Century & Contemporary Art Day Sale, Morning Session

New York Auction 16 November 2022