“And then I did a box with ten from Leo Castelli for his tenth anniversary. He was really running out of money. And I thought for his tenth anniversary, and the only way I could get all these major artists to really do all of this again would be to do it with him. And we put out this wonderful box together. And I sold it in advance to get some money in for him.” —Rosa Esman
Rosa and Aaron Esman assembled an outstanding collection of Modern, Post-War, and Contemporary art over the course of their seventy-year marriage. The collection’s highlights mirror that of Rosa’s career as a gallerist and print publisher (which Aaron, a psychoanalyst, strongly supported), with interests in Modernism, Dada, Russian Constructivism, and American Pop Art taking center stage. Rosa got her start publishing artists’ print portfolios in the 1960s, including the New York Ten Portfolio, 1965, and Ten for Leo Castelli, 1967, which featured works by rising contemporary artists such as Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, and Robert Rauschenberg, and helped pioneer the field of artist’s editions and multiples. Her eponymous gallery exhibited in Manhattan for over twenty years, and she was a founding partner of Ubu Gallery, which is still in operation today.
When asked about her wide artistic tastes in 2009, Rosa emphasized her love of drawing, “the quintessential bit of the art,” which can be seen across the collection, regardless of genre.
The pair bonded over gallery visits when dating in the early 1950s. While Aaron already had begun collecting by then, the first work they purchased together was a drawing by Miró, early in their marriage. Rosa recalled: ‘sometimes we look at something, and I say, “Oh, isn’t that marvelous?”’ and Aaron would respond, ‘It’s for us.’
Founded on lifelong love, the Collection of Rosa and Aaron Esman gives a unique vision of the art movements of the 20th century that shaped New York’s art scene.
Rosa and Aaron Esman, Madrid, 1963 文學
Universal Limited Art Editions 39 (Johns); Jörg Schellmann 1 (Judd); Mary Lee Corlett 50 (Lichtenstein); Edward Foster 39 (Rauschenberg); Richard Axsom I.B (Stella); Frayda Feldman and Jörg Schellmann 17 (Warhol)
Catalogue Essay
Including: Lee Bontecou, Silkscreen; Jasper Johns, The Critic Sees; Donald Judd, Table Object; Roy Lichtenstein, Fish and Sky; Robert Morris, Model; Larry Poons, Untitled; Robert Rauschenberg, Passport; James Rosenquist, Sketch for Forrest Ranger (two plastic films photographed separately); Frank Stella, Fortin de las Flores; and Andy Warhol, Portraits of the Artists
Rosa及Aaron Esman伉儷收藏
29
《十組來自Leo Castelli畫廊版畫》
1967年作
全套10件作品，包括絲網印刷、石版畫和彩色複製品，各種紙本和材料，附原裝小冊子，全部存於原裝灰色布面盒連標題標籤
盒：25 1/4 x 21 1/4 x 8 3/4 英吋 (64.1 x 54 x 22.2 公分)
款識：簽名、日期（版畫）1/200（版畫、小冊子）
尚有25版A-Y藝術家試作版，由Tanglewood Press為紐約Leo Castelli畫廊十周年出版。
估價
$50,000 - 70,000
成交價$66,040
Editions@phillips.com
212 940 1220
限量版畫及紙本作品
紐約拍賣 2023年4月18至20日
