Art in the Estate of Nina Abrams

Today, Phillips de Pury & Company in New York will auction the art collection of Harry and Nina Abrams. 325 works will be sold, with proceeds going to charities the Abrams's supported. Here are a few of my favorites...My goodness! What a collection. Here's a bit of the story. Nina and Harry Abrams married in the early 1930s. Harry worked at Book-of-the-Month-Club in the '30s and went on to found his own publishing company in 1949, specializing in affordable art books. This was a huge success. The couple loved art, which they began collecting in the 1930s. They amassed an impressive collection over their 46 years together. "The Abrams collection is unusual because it has passed through three quite distinct phases... painters of the American social scene as well as the paintings of many individual artists whose work fit no special category... the twentieth-century French masters, Picasso, Matisse, Chagall, Rouault, Modigliani and others... Finally, in the sixties, vanguard American art became the dominating focus of his interests, and in this area his collection has become preeminent." Harry died in 1979, at which time Nina began selling major pieces, with the proceeds going to charities of her choice. Nina Abrams died in 2008, a few days shy of her 98th birthday, and today her estate goes to auction. Please enjoy viewing the auction catalogue here. It's beautiful, and I particularly loved reading about Nina on page nine. Bygone era, people... bygone era.

Please click on the artist's name for more on the above pieces: 1. Adolph Gottlieb, 2. Jules Olitski, 3. Michael Goldberg, 4. Jim Dine, 5. Karel Appel, and 6. Lucebert.