Art from Collection of Senator William Benton Will Be Auctioned May 7 at Treadway-Toomey Galleries Reginald Marsh’s “Gypsy Rose Lee, The Star and Garter,” a painting from the collection of Senator William Benton that drew fire in the McCarthyism era, is among the works that will be auctioned.
landscapes reflected the moods of nature. His work is in the collections of the Whitney Museum and the Museum of Modern Art. Provenance: The collection of Senator William Benton. Estimated at $3000-5000.
Lot No. 611. Darrel Austin (American, 1907-1994), “Cub in a Green Landscape,” c.1960; oil/canvas, 8.25” x 10.25”, signed; Perls Gallery (NY) label verso.
Provenance: The collection of Senator William Benton. Estimated at $1000-2000.
Lot No. 612. Darrel Austin (American, 1907-1994), “Cub in a Blue Landscape”, c.1960; oil/canvas, 8.25” x 10.25”, signed and dated; Perls Gallery (NY) label on verso. Austin studied at the University of Oregon. He is in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Detroit Institute of Art and the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. Provenance: The collection of Senator William Benton. Estimated at $1000-2000.
Lot No. 613. William Thon (American, 1906-2000), “Spanish Spring,” c. 1960; oil/board, 22” x 36”, signed. Born in New York City, Thon received the Prix de Rome in 1947, followed by a Fellowship from the American Academy in Rome where he later served as Artist in Residence. He was a member of The American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters, as well as the National Academy of Design. His work was awarded innumerable prizes and is in over 60 museum collections, including The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Brooklyn Museum, The Hirshhorn Museum, The Butler Institute of American Art, The Columbus Museum of Art, and in Maine, The Farnsworth Art Museum, The Portland Museum of Art, and The Ogunquit Museum of Art. Provenance: The collection of Senator William Benton. Estimated at $1000-2000.
Lot No. 614. Ethel Magafan (American, 1916-1993), “Distant Place,” c. 1960; egg tempera/masonite, 11” x 13”, signed; label verso from John Heller Gallery, NY. Magafan and her twin sister, Jenne, both studied at the Colorado Springs Fine Art Center. They met Doris Lee and Arnold Blanch who suggested they paint at the artist colony in Woodstock, NY, so they did. Ethel painted WPA or American Scene style western landscapes, although her style became increasingly abstracted throughout her career. Provenance: The collection of Senator William Benton. Estimated at $2000-3000.
Lot No. 615. Abraham Rattner (American, 1895-1978), “Storm Composition #4,” c. 1955; oil/masonite, 36” x 48”, signed and dated; titled verso. One of America’s leading Expressionist painters. He studied at George Washington University, Corcoran School of Art, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, and in Paris. In 1935, he had his first one-man-show at the Galerie Bonjean, Paris, at which time the French government purchased “Card Party” for the Louvre Museum collection. In 1940, he toured the United States with Henry Miller, resulting in an iconoclastic travelogue, The “Air-conditioned Nightmare,” with text by Miller and drawings by Rattner. He experimented with mosaic, tapestry and stained glass. His stained glass designs were highly celebrated and respected. His most famous stained glass piece was the window for the Chicago Loop Synagogue. He taught at the New School for Social Research and The Art Students League. His work is in the collections
