Various Artists - Editions & Works on Paper New York Tuesday, April 18, 2023 | Phillips

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  • “And then I did a box with ten from Leo Castelli for his tenth anniversary. He was really running out of money. And I thought for his tenth anniversary, and the only way I could get all these major artists to really do all of this again would be to do it with him. And we put out this wonderful box together. And I sold it in advance to get some money in for him.” —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.

     

    Rosa and Aaron Esman, Madrid, 1963

     

    • Literature

      Universal Limited Art Editions 39 (Johns); Jörg Schellmann 1 (Judd); Mary Lee Corlett 50 (Lichtenstein); Edward Foster 39 (Rauschenberg); Richard Axsom I.B (Stella); Frayda Feldman and Jörg Schellmann 17 (Warhol)

    • Catalogue Essay

      Including: Lee Bontecou, Silkscreen; Jasper Johns, The Critic Sees; Donald Judd, Table Object; Roy Lichtenstein, Fish and Sky; Robert Morris, Model; Larry Poons, Untitled; Robert Rauschenberg, Passport; James Rosenquist, Sketch for Forrest Ranger (two plastic films photographed separately); Frank Stella, Fortin de las Flores; and Andy Warhol, Portraits of the Artists

Property from the Collection of Rosa and Aaron Esman

29

Ten from Leo Castelli

1967
The complete set of 10 works, including screenprints, lithographs and multiples in colors, on various papers and materials, with the original paper pamphlet, all contained in the original grey fabric-covered case with the title printed on the label.
case 25 1/4 x 21 1/4 x 8 3/4 in. (64.1 x 54 x 22.2 cm)
All signed, some dated and all numbered 1/200 incised and in various media, additionally numbered 1/200 in blue ballpoint pen on the accompanying pamphlet (there were also 25 artist's proofs lettered A-Y), published for the 10th anniversary of Leo Castelli Gallery by Tanglewood Press, Inc., New York.

Full Cataloguing

Estimate
$50,000 - 70,000 

Sold for $66,040

Contact Specialist

Editions@phillips.com
212 940 1220

 

Editions & Works on Paper

New York Auction 18 - 20 April 2023