Christie’s New York Announces Bernard Goldberg Fine Arts: The Collection
EXCEPTIONAL AMERICAN PAINTINGS, IMPRESSIONIST AND MODERN ART, AND 20TH CENTURY DECORATIVE ARTS TO HIGHLIGHT CHRISTIE’S MAJOR SPRING SALES IN NEW YORK

New York - This spring, Christie’s is honored to present Bernard Goldberg Fine Arts: The Collection as a highlight of its major sales of Impressionist and Modern Art, American Paintings, and 20th Century Decorative Arts. Featuring over 175 exceptional items from the collections of fine art dealer Bernard Goldberg’s New York gallery, highlights of the sales will include paintings, sculpture and works on paper by Jacques Lipchitz, Edward Steichen, Elie Nadelman, Marsden Hartley, and Guy Péne du Bois, among others, as well as 20th century decorative items by George Washington Maher, Gustav Stickley, Frank Lloyd Wright, and Samuel Yellin.

A private collector of American art for over forty years, Mr. Goldberg established Bernard Goldberg Fine Arts after a successful career as an attorney and real estate developer. As one of the first boutique hoteliers in New York, he pioneered the practice of displaying museum-quality artworks in his hotels’ public spaces and private rooms. In 1998, using his personal collection as inspiration, he launched his retail gallery business, focusing on the leading artists of the Ashcan, Urban Realist, Abstract, Social Realist and Regionalist genres of American Art, as well as superb examples of 20th century design. More than 70 artists are represented, and the gallery has presented focused exhibitions on the work of Charles Burchfield, Oscar Bluemner, John Marin, the Stieglitz circle, and Marguerite and William Zorach, among others.

Eric Widing, Head of American Paintings at Christie’s, comments: “Bernard Goldberg has long been admired as a collector and more recently as a dealer with exceptional taste and a discerning eye. Now, as he prepares to retire from the commercial side of the art business and prepare for the next phase of his career, he has honored Christie’s with the sale of this renowned collection. These auctions are unique opportunities for collectors around the world to acquire a wealth of superb works that have been carefully selected over time and with a connoisseur’s passion for quality and aesthetics.”

Impressionist and Modern Art Highlights Among the highlights of the collection is Spanish Dancer, 1914 (pictured left; estimate: $400,000-600,000), an elegant two-foot tall bronze by the French artist Jacques Lipchitz (1891-1973) that is signed, numbered and marked with the artist’s thumbprint. It has previously been featured in exhibitions at New York’s Jewish Museum, and retrospectives of the artist’s work at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art and the National Galerie in Germany. It will be included in Christie’s Impressionist & Modern Art Evening Sale in New York on May 4. Additional highlights include La Verseuse, 1916 by Robert Delaunay (estimate:$200,000-300,000) and Dozing Woman, by Gustav Klimt, a work on paper in blue chalk executed circa 1898-1900 (estimate: $60,000-80,000), both of which will be featured in Christie’s Impressionist and Modern Art Day Sale on May 5.

Impressionist and Modern Art Highlights Among the highlights of the collection is Spanish Dancer, 1914 (pictured left; estimate: $400,000-600,000), an elegant two-foot tall bronze by the French artist Jacques Lipchitz (1891-1973) that is signed, numbered and marked with the artist’s thumbprint. It has previously been featured in exhibitions at New York’s Jewish Museum, and retrospectives of the artist’s work at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art and the National Galerie in Germany. It will be included in Christie’s Impressionist & Modern Art Evening Sale in New York on May 4. Additional highlights include La Verseuse, 1916 by Robert Delaunay (estimate:$200,000-300,000) and Dozing Woman, by Gustav Klimt, a work on paper in blue chalk executed circa 1898-1900 (estimate: $60,000-80,000), both of which will be featured in Christie’s Impressionist and Modern Art Day Sale on May 5.

With its stylized white roses set against a vibrant red background, Marsden Hartley’s Roses for Seagulls that Lost their Way, 1935-36 (pictured left; estimate: $300,000-500,000), showcases the artist’s extraordinary skill as a colorist. Despite the painting’s bright color palette, its meaning is believed to be derived from a more somber incident. In 1936, while Hartley was staying with his friends, the Masons, in Nova Scotia, the family’s two sons and a cousin drowned during a fierce storm. The tragedy marked Hartley deeply, and the painting, with its delicate white ribbon in the abstracted form of a seagull, is believed to have been painted in elegy to the young victims.

Following the recent record price of $782,500 achieved for a work by Guy Pene du Bois’ (1884-1958) at Christie’s December 2009 sale of Important American Paintings, Drawings, and Sculpture, Christie’s is pleased to offer a selection of five works by this talented figure painter. The lead highlight of the group, Place Massena, Nice, 1930 (pictured right; estimate: $150,000-250,000), depicts the central square of the lavish seaside resort of Nice on uncharacteristically somber, rainy day. Du Bois sparsely populates the foreground of the scene with cosmopolitan figures clutching coats and umbrellas in a pleasing contrast to the verdant palm trees that recede into the foggy distance. The painting is one of only three du Bois created during the brief period he lived in Nice, and of the group, Place Massena presents the most complete view of the city’s striking scenery.

Considered the leader of the Regionalist artist movement, Thomas Hart Benton (1889-1975) is best known for his fluid, almost sculpted paintings of rural life in the Midwest, where his family had its roots. For nearly all his adult life, however, Benton summered on Martha’s Vineyard, a small island off the coast of Massachusetts. A delicate oil on tin, entitled Martha’s Vineyard (pictured left; estimate: $100,000-150,000), beautifully captures the rich colors and textures of the island’s natural setting and foreshadows Benton’s transition to nature as his primary subject matter, one that would occupy him for the last two decades of his life. The upcoming sales mark the first time the painting will appear at auction.

Among the numerous sculptural treasures in Mr. Goldberg’s collection, a stand-out is Duck, a marble sculpture by Elie Nadelman (1882-1946) executed in 1932-36 (pictured left; estimate: $180,000-240,000). Purging the sculpture of nearly all surface detail, Nadelman reduced the duck’s body to a closed, sinuous form with the stylized contortion of the animal’s elongated neck forming a graceful echo to its arched back. Of similar stylized design is Mountain Goat Fire Screen (estimate: $150,000-250,000) by William Hunt Diederich (1884-1953), whose fascination with animals and their fluid movements engendered a range of exquisite artworks in paper and wrought iron.

Additional highlights from the May 20 sale include several works by Oscar Bluemner (1867-1938), including A New Hampshire Town, a tempera on board painted in 1929 (estimate: $200,000-300,000), a group of works on paper by Charles Ephraim Burchfield (1893-1967), featuring February Dusk, 1918, a watercolor on paper (estimate: $60,000-80,000), and a selection of four exceptional paintings by Marguerite Thompson Zorach (1887-1968) led by Night Still Life, from circa 1940 (estimate:$50,000-70,000), a vibrant floral still life that showcases a broad array of artistic devices and influences, from folk to trompe l’oeil realism.

20th Century Decorative Arts HighlightsAs a highlight of its June sale of Important 20th Century Decorative Art & Design, Christie’s is pleased to present a dozen carefully-curated works from the Bernard Goldberg Collection, including designs by prominent American designers Gustav Stickley (1858-1942) and George Washington Maher (1864 -1926). An excellent example of Stickley’s minimal, rectilinear design aesthetic is Hanging Chandelier, model no. 291, from 1904 (pictured right; estimate: $60,000-80,000). Made from copper and mica, the earthy brown and red materials Stickley selected are meant to gently complement his furniture rather than compete for attention. The chandelier remains in excellent condition and features all of the original components.

Known for blending the traditional with the Arts and Crafts style, Maher was a leading practitioner of the Prairie School style of architecture. Through the application of his motif-rhythm theory, first conceived in 1897, Maher strove to create simple yet harmonious interiors through the exclusive use of a single recurring theme that links interior decorative elements with exterior structural forms. His chosen motifs survive today in lighting fixtures, furniture, and woodwork, as well as elaborate pieces of art glass. The upcoming sales will feature two exciting examples of Maher’s designs: his Poppy leaded glass windows, 1905-06 (estimate: $40,000-60,000), and Rockledge Floor Lamp, with original leaded glass shade (estimate: $60,000-90,000). The latter was designed for and originally installed at Rockledge, the summer home of Ernest L. King and his wife Grace Watkins King that became Maher’s most famous architectural commission.

The property to be sold in the Impressionist and Modern Art Evening and Day sales will be exhibited from April 30 to May 4. The majority of the collection will be exhibited together in Gallery VI at Christie’s Rockefeller Center Galleries from May 15 through 19, 2010. In addition, highlights from the collection will be previewed at Christie’s Los Angeles March 23-25 and Christie’s Chicago March 30-April 1, 2010.

Auctions:
Impressionist and Modern Art Evening Sale May 4, 2010
Impressionist and Modern Art Day Sale May 5, 2010
Important American Paintings, Drawings and Sculpture May 20, 2010
Important 20th Century Decorative Art and Design June 17, 2010
Fine American Paintings, Drawings and Sculpture September 28, 2010
Important American Furniture and Folk Art September 29, 2010

About ChristieŠs
Christie’s, the world’s leading art business had global auction and private sales in 2009 that totaled £2.1 billion/$3.3 billion. Christie’s is a name and place that speaks of extraordinary art, unparalleled service and expertise, as well as international glamour. Founded in 1766 by James Christie, Christie’s conducted the greatest auctions of the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries, and today remains a popular showcase for the unique and the beautiful. Christie’s offers over 450 sales annually in over 80 categories, including all areas of fine and decorative arts, jewellery, photographs, collectibles, wine, and more. Prices range from $200 to over $80 million. Christie’s has 53 offices in 30 countries and 10 salerooms around the world including in London, New York, Paris, Geneva, Milan, Amsterdam, Dubai and Hong Kong. More recently, Christie’s has led the market with expanded initiatives in emerging and new markets such as Russia, China, India and the United Arab Emirates, with successful sales and exhibitions in Beijing, Mumbai and Dubai.

Estimates do not include buyer’s premium