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

Provenance:

The Wheel of Art at the Fishermen's Fair, Ashawagh Hall, East Hampton, New York

Acquired from the above game of chance by Mr. Kazon, New York

Thence by descent to present owner

Lot note:

It’s a de Kooning, yes—but its chance arrival into the Kazon collection only deepens its intrigue. The work was acquired at the Fishermen’s Fair in East Hampton, New York—an annual summer gathering beloved by artists, dealers, and families alike. Days were spent at Georgica Beach, nicknamed “the artists’ beach,” and nights unwound in the easy rhythm of Hamptons life.

At the time, many artists—including de Kooning—lived and worked in the area, and often donated pieces to the fair to help raise money for local schools.

In a New York Times article published on August 6, 1972, “Fair Day in Springs Means Just That,” writer Theodore Strongin captures the spirit of the event and highlights its main draw: the “wheel of art,” where Mr. Kazon’s luck won him a Willem de Kooning:

Anyone here will solemnly swear that the weather is always hot and sunny on the day of the annual Fishermen’s Fair… The fair is one of the big seasonal events here, as is an associated art show. Again, anyone here will admit, without being pressed at all, that America’s ‘50 greatest living artists’ reside in or near The Springs, at least in the summer.

The late, great Jackson Pollock started the invasion in the mid-forties, and a procession of artists whose names are household ones in the art world have gradually followed. Some now live here year-round. Before 1947 and ‘The Great Artist Influx,’ the fair was small and local… It had various names: ‘The Springs Fair,’ ‘The Springs Village Improvement Society Fair,’ or just ‘The Fair.’ According to Mrs. Egbert King, a native of The Springs, ‘The name, “Fishermen’s Fair,” was tacked on by the artists because they liked the sound of it better.’

Art, in fact, is really the mainstay of the fair and the cause of its success… The gross has been as much as $6,000 in some years, according to Mrs. Jean Levi [artist Julian Levi’s wife]. In addition to the straight art show, there is ‘the wheel of art,’ a very special form of roulette in which a winner might walk off with a work donated by, say, Willem de Kooning, John Little, Jim Brooks, Esteban Vicente, Saul Steinberg or [Julian] Levi, among other known artists. The take from this ‘raffle’ has varied from $800 to $1,700, according to Mrs. Little.

It's not every day you win a de Kooning like a goldfish at the state fair.