The Estate of Melvin S. Rosenthal
16 November 2022 | New York
We are honored to offer The Estate of Melvin S. Rosenthal, a private collection featuring exceptional examples by some of the leading artists of the 20th Century, on 16 November in New York.
Melvin S. Rosenthal
Mr. Rosenthal's collection is testament to his astute and discerning eye for art and design. From his early career as a fabric salesman to his role as the Executive Vice President of Brentwood Originals, the largest decorative pillow company in North America, he sought pieces that reflected his Los Angeles home and represent the finest examples of late Modern painting and sculpture.
Bonhams is proud to present The Estate of Melvin S. Rosenthal for sale on 16 November 2022 in New York.
Over the past 30 years, Mr. Rosenthal amassed a collection of Contemporary art by artists such as Ed Ruscha, Robert Motherwell, Frederick Eversley, and Frank Stella. He built and designed his homes in Malibu and Los Angeles around his art collection. Each masterpiece curated to echo the vistas and passages of sea and sky, complementing the views of the Pacific Ocean and Hollywood sign.
Jean Dubuffet, Site Avec 8 Personnages (E39), 1981. Estimate: $150,000 - 250,000
Jean Dubuffet, Site Avec 8 Personnages (E39), 1981. Estimate: $150,000 - 250,000
Adolph Gottlieb, Loop, 1970. Estimate: $50,000 - 70,000
Adolph Gottlieb, Loop, 1970. Estimate: $50,000 - 70,000
"It's a collection of the most impeccable quality and clearly a result of Mr. Rosenthal's disposition – from his lifestyle and outlook on life to his keen sense of design and style. This equipped him with the confidence to make bold decisions in his art collecting."
- Ralph Taylor, Global Head of Post-War & Contemporary Art
Leading Mr. Rosenthal’s collection is a striking masterpiece by Hans Hofmann entitled Let There Be Light (And the Sun Beautiful as She Was and Pregnant – Scattered Her Colours All over the Earth) (1955-1961). The painting, made over the course of several years, reveals the confident gestures of an artist revelling in his later years, producing masterpieces of the highest order. Through impasto passages of red and flutters of blue and yellow, it is a painting of immense beauty, and one that has been included in institutional exhibitions over the course of its life, including the Tate in London, in 1988.
In another standout painting, Robert Motherwell’s Untitled (Elegy) from circa 1962, the poetic and powerful strokes of the artists iconic Elegy to the Spanish Republic series, produced between 1948 and 1967, are instantly recognisable. This Elegy is executed over an elegant scale with the precision and energy of a calligraphic virtuoso. Motherwell’s black and white paintings are amongst the most significant works of the twentieth century canon, and the present work boasts a composition of superb form and impact.
Ed Ruscha’s The Eighties is a bold and dramatic example by the beloved artist, who will be celebrated with a major career retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, opening in 2023. A contemporary American master, Ruscha’s painting captures a fiery sunset across which the years of the eighties are painted in a delicate script, arcing across the expansive canvas. Exuberant works by Jean Dubuffet, Frank Stella, Frederick Eversley, Donald Sultan, Adolph Gottlieb, and Jean Metzinger round out the auction.
Robert Motherwell, Untitled (Elegy), circa 1962. Estimate: $1,000,000 - 1,500,000
Robert Motherwell, Untitled (Elegy), circa 1962. Estimate: $1,000,000 - 1,500,000
Ed Ruscha, The Eighties, 1980. Estimate: $800,000 - 1,200,000
Ed Ruscha, The Eighties, 1980. Estimate: $800,000 - 1,200,000
Frederick Eversley, Untitled, 1992-1994. Estimate: $120,000 - 180,000
Frederick Eversley, Untitled, 1992-1994. Estimate: $120,000 - 180,000
Built with Shorthand