FEATURES ARCHIVE

Overview
On November 10, 2009 Christie’s will pay tribute to two of the most influential American artists of the 20th century in its Post-War & Contemporary Art Evening Sale offering Property from the Collection of John Cage and Merce Cunningham Sold to Benefit the Merce Cunningham Trust. The sale will present collectors the opportunity to acquire six significant works by the great Post-War masters Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg and Phillip Guston The six works from the Collection are expected to realize in the region of $5 million.  Twenty-seven lots including works but Merce Cunningham, Louise Nevelson, Jasper Johns, Morris Graves, Sonja Sekula, and Robert Rauschenberg will also be offered in the Post-War & Contemporary Art Morning Session on November 11.

Laura Paulson, Deputy Chairman of Christie’s commented: “We are privileged to have been entrusted with the sale of this Collection, and for its proceeds to benefit the Merce Cunningham Trust. A sale of this grouping is unprecedented at auction and the works’ supreme freshness to the market and esteemed provenance will make them highly sought after by collectors from around the world. They represent a true time capsule of a watershed moment in the development of Post-War art, music, and performance.”

“These works of art that have shared space with John Cage and Merce Cunningham for so many years will now help the Merce Cunningham Trust fulfill its mission to preserve and promote the legacy of Cunningham,” said Laura Kuhn, a Trustee of the Merce Cunningham Trust. “It is my hope that each and every one of these pieces finds a new home as hospitable to the arts and artists as that of Cage/Cunningham.”

Merce Cunningham and John Cage
Merce Cunningham and John Cage were undeniably two of the most important figures in the arts to emerge in the American post-war era. Cunningham, the most celebrated choreographer of the second half of the twentieth century, and Cage, the most influential composer of that period, had a profound and wide-ranging impact not only on their own respective fields of dance and music, but also on visual and performance art. Their shared investment in moving the American avant-garde forward, whether by exploring the incorporation of chance procedures or advocating innovative forms of collaboration between artists, dancers and musicians, forever changed the landscape of contemporary art. The works in their collection are an eloquent testament to some of the many friendships and creative partnerships they forged with artists ­ such as Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg, Philip Guston, Morris Graves, William Anastasi and Dove Bradshaw.

Cunningham and Cage first met at the Cornish School in Seattle 1937-38, where both studied with the legendary choreographer Bonnie Baird. It was a creative environment where artists such as Mark Tobey and Morris Graves were also working and exploring notions of Northwestern mysticism. After pursuing independent paths for the next few years, Cunningham and Cage met again in New York City in 1942, and became both collaborators and partners.

Cunningham, who had distinguished himself as a dancer, was urged by Cage to explore choreography, presenting in 1944 their first collaboration Credo in Us; a performance of solo dance works accompanied with music by Cage that he would later consider his formative work as a choreographer. In the Spring of 1948, Merce Cunningham and John Cage first visited Black Mountain College. The Black Mountain College Bulletin, May 1948, described their visit, and ended with the quote: "the current of creative energy since their visit has illuminated the college both in creation and in response." They were invited back for the summer session of 1948, along with Willem de Kooning, Buckminster Fuller, Peter Grippe, and Beaumont Newhall, among others. Again, they were credited with energizing the school that summer, and even Josef Albers acknowledged their impact, with uncharacteristic enthusiasm, and wrote to both of them with praise:

Dear Merce,

We are all terribly proud and grateful for your having been with us and having worked here this summer. God bless you,

Yours,

Josef Albers

In 1952 Cage and Cunningham were invited back to Black Mountain College by composer Lou Harrison. In 1953, The Merce Cunningham Dance Company gave its first performance at Black Mountain College. There, Cage and Cunningham met the young artist Robert Rauschenberg, who soon became an important collaborator, serving as artistic advisor for the dance company. Together, these three artists became compelling exponents for the autonomy of theater arts. Each of them developed his part of their collaborations independently, often only revealing the costumes, stage sets and music to dancers at the dress rehearsal or even on the night of the first performance. They also collaborated on other notable projects, such as Rauschenberg’s famous Automobile Tire Print of 1953, for which Cage drove his Model A across an expanse of paper. Both Cage and Cunningham experimented with using chance as a constitutive element in their compositions, embracing I Ching (the Chinese “book of changes” that one is meant to consult after tossing a set of coins) as a means of freeing their work from the constraints of predictability. They also shared a broad interest in Eastern philosophy, in particular Zen Buddhism, which at times manifested itself in their work in a sense of detachment or acceptance in the face of conflicting forces. It was through Rauschenberg that Cage and Cunningham met Jasper Johns in 1954. They would in turn forge lasting bonds as well, mutually influencing each other. Johns would also serve as artistic advisor to Merce Cunningham Dance Company from 1967 to 1980. It was in honor of this important partnership that Johns created his celebrated Dancers on a Plane series, including this painting of the subject that he gave to Merce Cunningham as a gift.

Although Cage died in 1992, he continued to have a lasting influence on Cunningham, who created innovative works up until his death in July 2009. During the five decades they spent together, Cunningham and Cage developed a creative bond that was truly legendary, spurring each other on and inspiring successive generations of artists in diverse ways.