178

Willem de Kooning

The Man and the Big Blonde

Estimate
$5,000 - 7,000
$22,860
Lot Details
Offset lithograph in colors, on wove paper, with full margins.
1982
I. 21 1/4 x 26 7/8 in. (54 x 68.3 cm)
S. 25 1/2 x 30 1/4 in. (64.8 x 76.8 cm)
Signed and numbered 98/150 in pencil (there were also 15 artist's proofs and an unsigned edition of 150 in Roman numerals), published by The Rainbow Art Foundation, New York (with their blindstamp), framed.

Further Details

First united by their love of editions, Carole and Alex Rosenberg cultivated an outstanding New York collection of graphic art, a reflection of their decades-long engagement with the art world and living artists. In 1969, Alex began to publish artists’ prints under the name Transworld Art, pivoting to the art world after selling the telephone answering service he co-owned, Anserphone. Carole Halsband soon joined the venture as an Associate Editor in 1973, after the two became acquainted at her Upper West Side gallery; her first exhibition featured Salvador Dalí’s Memories of Surrealism, the first print portfolio that Alex published. From 1968 to 1988, Transworld Art published more than 700 editions by over 60 artists, many of whom the couple also represented as partners at Alex Rosenberg Gallery. Married in 1977, Carole and Alex Rosenberg’s collection of prints and multiples reifies their personal and professional relationships with great names in modern and contemporary art, including Alexander Calder, Romare Bearden, Salvador Dalí, and Willem de Kooning.  




Alex and Carole Rosenberg




Alex, who developed a reputation as an expert in the field of prints, passionately worked as a lauded art appraiser from 1986 until the day he died, passing away at the mighty age of 103 in 2022. His over 60-year career across art and business was ripe with great honors and accomplishments – serving as a pilot in World War II, advancing a plethora of progressive political and social causes, and serving as president of the Appraisers Association of America, to name a few. In the context of these many impressive feats, publishing editions through Transworld Art still stood out to Alex as one of his greatest and most meaningful. “I can’t avoid a feeling of extreme nostalgia over my chance of having been able to work with so many gifted artists,” he recounted. “That was perhaps the greatest privilege of my life.”

Willem de Kooning

American | B. 1904 D. 1997Browse Artist