A Connoisseur's Collection
Post-War American art was emerging as a popular collecting field at the time Detroit collectors Irwin and Bethea Green were putting together their collection over 25 years ago. Throughout the country, and, particularly in cities like Detroit with a superb museum, The Detroit Institute of the Arts, an innovative art school, Cranbrook Acadamy in suburban Bloomfield Hills, and active local dealers, collectors were exposed to some of the best art of the 20th century. The Greens traveled extensively, visiting exhibitions, collections, and dealers worldwide, and attended auctions in New York and London. While many of their fellow collectors were drawn to European artists, the Greens concentrated on the New York School and the generation which followed.
In a May 1970 New York sale, the famous old masters collector Norton Simon consigned Willem de Kooning's 1949 painting, Two Women Standing. An acknowledged masterpiece from de Kooning's early woman series, this painting was as rare to find on the market then as it is today. Dealers and collectors crowded the room and in hushed silence saw the painting sell to a private collector unknown to many New Yorkers. The name of Irwin Green, a Detroit collector, quickly circulated around the room as the one who had the taste and staying power to outbid strong competition and capture the prize of the auction.
Only six months earlier, the Greens had acquired Rothko's large radiant red painting, Untitled from 1961. With these two masterpieces as the cornerstones of their collection, they continued to buy selectively major works by the artists they admired.
In 1971, they bought what many believe to be Morris Louis's finest work, Floral of 1959, consigned by Nelson A. Rockefeller. With a Louis stripe already in their collection, this became the second of three Louis paintings they eventually owned. Fine examples of paintings by Noland and Olitski rounded out their Color Field collection.
Hans Hofmann's beautiful 1965 Paling Moon, painted at the peak of his career, and Motherwell's 1965 Elegy to a Spanish Republic CIII, a particularly striking example of this normally somber series with its bright reds, yellows and blues, bear further testimony to the Greens ability to choose artists at their very best. The Greens added Contemporary sculpture to their collection with a careful and discerning eye, including David Smith's, Puritan Landscape, 1946, and Alexander Calder's red hanging mobile from 1961.
As a complement to the Contemporary art collection, the Greens assembled an impressive and important collection of African art, highlighted by the intricately carved and painted Yoruba palace door by Olowe of Ise, probably the only remaining one in private hands.
With the recent decision to sell their Detroit house which had been designed and built to accomodate these collections, the Greens have decided to sell their collection of Contemporary Art, an integral part of the house. Christie's is honored to have the opportunity of offering this carefully chosen, personal collection which, in every sense of the word, is a connoisseur's collection.
(figure 1): Interior view of the Green's house, left to right: Morris Louis, Gothic (1958) (to be sold at Christie's in May 1998); Mark Rothko, Untitled (1961); David Smith, Puritan Landscape (1946); Tony Smith, Spitball (1961); Fernand Leger, Composition sur Fond Rouge (1939) (to be sold at Christie's on November 12, 1997 as lot 403); Jean Dubuffet, Le Lampeur (1965), and Morris Louis, I-77 (1962)
(figure 2): View of living room: Morris Louis, Floral (1959) and the impressive Yoruba palace door by Olowe of Ise
Kenneth Noland (b. 1924)
Untitled
Details
Kenneth Noland (b. 1924)
Untitled
signed and dated 'Kenneth Noland 1959' on the reverse
acrylic on canvas
36 x 36in. (91.4 x 91.4cm.) (15)
Untitled
signed and dated 'Kenneth Noland 1959' on the reverse
acrylic on canvas
36 x 36in. (91.4 x 91.4cm.) (15)
Provenance
ACA Galleries, New York.
Allan Stone Gallery, New York.
Allan Stone Gallery, New York.
Sale room notice
Notice to Prospective Buyers: Please note that payment to Christie's will be due on January 2, 1998.