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Lot Essay
It was a marriage of love and complete sharing. The Renate and Sidney Shapiro collection is a reflection of the couple's deep love for each other. Married fifty years, Renate and Sidney started to collect as a way to explore New York culture, the arts and world travel, later inspiring their two sons.
Featuring prestigious examples of modern, contemporary and African Art, the Renate and Sidney Shapiro collection is like a journey around the world, and includes examples by artists as various as Pablo Picasso, Alexander Calder, Diego Giacometti and Manuel Rivera.
Passionate collectors, Renate and Sidney Shapiro recognised that selecting the right art required time and careful research. Early on, a simple rule was established for all acquisitions - they both had to agree the art was exceptional, no matter how many steps they had to climb to visit an artist's studio!
For her birthday, Renate would say "Don't buy me jewellery, buy us art". On one occasion, Sidney, a successful home fashion designer and manufacturer, surprised Renate with a silver necklace by Alexander Calder.
Sidney and Renate would meet the artists personally whenever possible before acquiring their work. They travelled to Paris to meet Diego Giacometti before purchasing his L'Autruche and Table Grecque.
Renate and Sidney's interest in contemporary art blossomed in the late 1970's as one of the early supporters and advocates of The New Museum for Contemporary Art. As a result, the Shapiro's added works to the collection by many of the well-known contemporary artists of the period, including examples by William Anastasi, Ann Hamilton, Keith Haring, Anish Kapoor, Robert Longo, Mario Merz, Julian Schnabel and Daisy Youngblood.
Featuring prestigious examples of modern, contemporary and African Art, the Renate and Sidney Shapiro collection is like a journey around the world, and includes examples by artists as various as Pablo Picasso, Alexander Calder, Diego Giacometti and Manuel Rivera.
Passionate collectors, Renate and Sidney Shapiro recognised that selecting the right art required time and careful research. Early on, a simple rule was established for all acquisitions - they both had to agree the art was exceptional, no matter how many steps they had to climb to visit an artist's studio!
For her birthday, Renate would say "Don't buy me jewellery, buy us art". On one occasion, Sidney, a successful home fashion designer and manufacturer, surprised Renate with a silver necklace by Alexander Calder.
Sidney and Renate would meet the artists personally whenever possible before acquiring their work. They travelled to Paris to meet Diego Giacometti before purchasing his L'Autruche and Table Grecque.
Renate and Sidney's interest in contemporary art blossomed in the late 1970's as one of the early supporters and advocates of The New Museum for Contemporary Art. As a result, the Shapiro's added works to the collection by many of the well-known contemporary artists of the period, including examples by William Anastasi, Ann Hamilton, Keith Haring, Anish Kapoor, Robert Longo, Mario Merz, Julian Schnabel and Daisy Youngblood.