Featuring A Selection of Rare and Important Prints from Wayne Thiebaud and Jasper Johns

Phillips will offer 10 Works from the Family Collection of Harry W. and Mary Margaret Anderson as a single-owner section in the Editions Evening Sale on 19 April at 432 Park Avenue, New York. Comprised of select master prints by Jasper Johns and Wayne Thiebaud, these new-to-auction impressions formed part of Harry W. (Hunk) and Mary Margaret (Moo)’s larger, historical collection of contemporary American prints, paintings, drawings and sculpture acquired during their lifetime in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Kelly Troester and Cary Leibowitz, Worldwide Co-Heads of Editions and Deputy Chairpersons, Americas, said, “We are honored to have been entrusted with the sale of these important prints from the celebrated collection of the Anderson family. Over the many decades Moo and Hunk happily spent together, the Andersons became known for their discerning eye as collectors and tremendous generosity as philanthropists. With their dedication to the cultural landscape around them knowing no bounds, they donated works of art to some of the most important institutions on the West Coast, including the de Young Museum, SFMOMA, the Anderson Collection at Stanford University and the Oakland Museum of California. The prints being offered in our April auction are emblematic of the Andersons’ lifelong devotion to the very best of 20th century art.”

The Andersons began collecting in the late 1960s and were always truly passionate about fine art printmaking, quoted by the couple as being “their first love” - even Moo entered the printing and publishing business in 1978, forming 3EP Ltd. press. This selection of 10 works - in image, technique and printshop - includes some of the best work created by Jasper Johns, Wayne Thiebaud and the collaborating printers and publishers from the 1970s through 2002.

The earliest prints in the selection to be offered in April are Wayne Thiebaud’s 1971 linocut Boston Cremes and lithograph Rabbit from two different series of seven images published by Parasol Press, Ltd., New York were purchased at Albert Smith’s Menlo Park Gallery. The finely etched and colored confection Four Cakes, from Recent Etchings #1 series, 1979, also published by Parasol Press was acquired from the Smith Andersen Gallery. The complimentary pair of drypoint etchings Lipsticks-Black and Eight Lipsticks, 1988, and the color variations of pastoral Hill River and Dark Hill River, 2002 were printed and published by Kathan Brown’s Crown Point Press in San Francisco. The Anderson’s were connected not only with their local galleries, but to the artists themselves. Thiebaud’s two unique monotypes ‘printed drawings’ were purchased directly from the artist in 1978. Freeway Curve and Twin Peaks Downgrade #1 are juicy, lush examples of his urban speedway caricature and San Francisco Street architecture.

Gemini G.E.L. in Los Angeles introduced the Andersons to Jasper Johns's printmaking in the late 1960’s and they were immediately taken by Johns's imagery. The Anderson’s subscribed and acquired all editions by the artist from Gemini G.E.L. and then discovered another key source of Johns's prints: intaglios published by Universal Limited Art Editions (U.L.A.E.) in Long Island, New York. Layers upon layers of marks and symbolism are most evident in his iconic four image series, The Seasons, 1987. Based on deeply personal paintings by the same name, this set of etching and aquatints is intermixed with the artist’s personal artifacts and fragmented imagery from earlier works, while depicting the different studios where each painting was created: Stony Point, New York (Spring), St. Martin in the French West Indies (Summer), Houston Street, New York City (Fall), and East 63rd Street, New York City (Winter).

The warmly engaging and hugely supportive Anderson family created living and breathing personal environments containing the best art-making in America of the past 50 years. The family continues its belief of custodianship and shining bright lights on artists and their craft along the way.

Auction: 19 April 2022

Preview: April 13-19

Location: 432 Park Avenue, New York, NY, 10022

Click here for more information:  https://www.phillips.com/auctions/auction/NY030122   

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