Lot 27

Property from The Madoo ConservancyThe Madoo Conservancy in Sagaponack, New York, is dedicated to the study, preservation and enhancement of an enchanting, horticulturally diverse garden. Created by Robert Dash, this extraordinary American garden embodies Dash’s life spent as an avid gardener, writer and artist. He developed a strong interest in the Abstract Expressionists, particularly Willem De Kooning, while in college at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. Following his studies, he spent a year living in Italy before returning to New York City to work for Arts and then Art News, while painting at night. Dash's first exhibition of paintings was held in 1960, and he was exhibited at some of the most prominent cultural institutions throughout the country. He was also a noted poet, and his poetry, manuscript and letter archives are held by the Beinecke Library of Yale University. Dash moved to his field near Sagg Pond and was, for half a century, at the very center of the creative geniuses who made their homes in Eastern Long Island. The Madoo Conservancy is a singular garden in the village (just before the graveyard--if you search for it) and today it is a unique living tribute to the artistic imagination of its founder. It is one of the great American small gardens of the late 20th century.--Marc Porter, Chairman, Christie's Americas

Fairfield Porter (1907-1975)

Portrait of Robert Dash

Details

Fairfield Porter (1907-1975)
Portrait of Robert Dash
signed and dated 'Fairfield Porter '60' (lower right)--inscribed 'To Dash' (on the overlap)
oil on canvas
36 x 36 in. (91.4 x 91.4 cm.)
Painted in 1960.

Provenance

The artist.
Robert Dash, the sitter, gift from the above, 1960.
Bequest to the present owner from the above, 1967.

Literature

J.T. Spike, Fairfield Porter: An American Classic, New York, 1992, p. 142, illustrated.
J. Ludman, "Checklist of the Paintings by Fairfield Porter," Fairfield Porter: An American Classic, New York, 1992, p. 290.
J. Ludman, Fairfield Porter: A Catalogue Raisonné of the Paintings, Watercolors, and Pastels, New York, 2001, pp. 171-72, no. L304, illustrated.

Exhibited

New York, Hirschl & Adler Galleries, Inc., Fairfield Porter: Figurative Painting, November 3-December 1, 1979, no. 6.
Boston, Massachusetts, Museum of Fine Arts; Greenville, South Carolina, Greenville County Museum of Art; Cleveland, Ohio, Cleveland Museum of Art; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Carnegie Institute, Museum of Art; New York, Whitney Museum of American Art, Fairfield Porter: Realist Painter in an Age of Abstraction, January 12, 1983-July 22, 1984, p. 103, no. 19.

Présenté par

Annie Rosen

arosen@christies.com + 1 212 636 2140

Descriptif du lot

"Robert Dash [was] a friend and fellow artist of [Fairfield] Porter's--a member of the circle of gestural artists who live and work on the East End of Long Island. The group first met and formed in the 1950s, and Dash and Porter shared a studio in New York for a time in the late fifties." (as quoted in J. Ludman, Fairfield Porter: A Catalogue Raisonné of the Paintings, Watercolors, and Pastels, New York, 2001, p. 142) In the present portrait, Dash poses with his dog, a schnauzer named Madoo, inside Porter's Southampton studio.

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