Post War and Contemporary Art featuring A Vision in Color: A Curated Session by Emily Friedman

Provenance:

Leo Castelli, New York

BC Holland Inc., Chicago

Mr. Bud C. Holland, Chicago

Thence by descent to Mrs. Claire Holland, Chicago

Thence by descent to the present owner

Lot Essay:

Esteban Vicente (Spanish, 1903-2001) was among the few artists who carried the DNA of European modernism directly into the heart of American Abstract Expressionism. Born in Segovia in 1903 and trained in Madrid, Vicente arrived in New York in the 1930s, bringing with him a nuanced understanding of color, structure and surface. As one of the first-generation New York School painters, he occupied a quieter but no less essential position in the movement.

We are honored to offer two exceptional collage works by Vicente in this sale: Composition (1957), a cool-toned, contemplative jewel of subtle force; and Untitled (1957), its warmer counterpart, buzzing with soft tans, grays, and a touch of delicate blue. Though more modest in scale, each stands as a testament to Vicente’s sophisticated material sensitivity.

In the midst of Abstract Expressionism’s rise, Vicente stood shoulder-to-shoulder with some of its most notable figures. He was a core member of the New York School, counted among colleagues and friends such as Franz Kline, Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko and Barnett Newman. A voting member of The Club and, for a time, a studio-mate of Willem de Kooning, Vicente moved within the center of postwar American art while maintaining a distinct voice.

This individuality is realized in Composition (1957). In contrast to the gestural movement so often associated with Abstract Expressionism, Vicente arranges ripped paper fragments—layered with oil, charcoal and gouache—into a work that feels somewhat calculated and architectural. In a palette of ash, ivory and burnt umber, with a single pulse of deep ultramarine anchoring the lower half, the surface evokes a weathered wall or remembered landscape.

Like Composition, Untitled also created in 1957 shares Vicente’s language of torn planes and quiet balance but with a softened palette, providing a thoughtful counterpoint. A depth of tan dominates the surface, layered with ashen grays and soft blues. Where Composition leans cool, Untitled elicits warmth. Together, the two works operate as tonal variations. As Vicente said himself, “any one of my paintings is part of a sequence, part of a total…Each painting is solved in its own way, yet the continuation, the process, envelops all of them.”1

Untitled, comes from a distinguished American lineage. First handled by Leo Castelli Gallery in New York, it later entered the collection of Chicago dealer and collector Bud C. Holland, passing by descent to the present owner. Its trajectory speaks to the enduring resonance of Vicente’s practice within both private and institutional circles.

Bibliography:

1.      Esteban Vicente, “Painting Should Be Poor,” Location (1964), reprinted in Esteban Vicente, Pinturas y Collages 1925-1985 (Madrid: Fundacion Banco Exterior, 1987), 167.