ADJA YUNKERS '57 Abstract Expressionism Pastel on Paper ROSE FRIED GALLERY

Description: Amazing & RARE ORIGINAL 1957 abstract expressionism pastel painting on paper depicting a Florentine Landscape by Adja Yunkers. This fabulous piece was part of the ROSE FRIED GALLERY collection in Manhattan, NY in 1957 which displayed many of Adja's pieces. The abstract muted colors are beautiful and indicative of the abstract expressionistic artistic period and movement encouraged and promoted by Rose Fried. The subtle, and simple lines flow together with such emotion. It is presumed to be an ADJA YUNKERS following much research done, however, there is NO COA. This magnificent piece is signed at bottom left and also on the cardboard backing by the artist along with 3-22-57 Florentine Landscape. Additionally, a portion of the ROSE FRIED gallery sticker is affixed - rear, center top with Adja's name still partially readable. Measurements: Framed 27.75" wide X 18" tallVisible Art 21.5" wide X 11.75" About the artist Adja Yunkers (1900-1983): Adja was born Adolf Junkers in Riga, Russion (now Latvia). He studied art in Petrograd (now St Petersburg). His education was interrupted by a 1917-1919 military service in the Russian Army. He left Russia and traveled extensively for 20+ years. He was active in political and artistic movements with his political involvement surpassing his artistic involvements at times. In 1936, he moved to Spain to fight in its civil war. Following the end of the war, he moved to Stockholm and began to focus on making art again where he became involved and associated with the Swedish Surrealists and published 3 journals devoted to art and politics showing a strong interest in printmaking. In 1947, he moved to New York and began to teach at the New School for Social Research. His fifth wife Dore Ashton became an art critic for the New York Times in 1955 and introduced him to artists who would later become known as the Abstract Expressionists. Yunkers then began drawing with pastels with an emphasis on the materiality of color with his later works making extensive use of negative space, collage, and monochrome. Adja founded the Rio Grande Workshop in New Mexico where he also taught; created an entirely handmade art magazine called Prints in the Desert; and illustrated a limited-edition book by the poet Octavio Paz. Adja and Octavio became good friends and collaborated on a number of illustrated books in the following years. He also produced two large public works on commission: A Human Condition (1966); a mural for Syracuse University; and a tapestry produced for Stony Brook University/NY. His many works are displayed in many galleries and are highly desireable creations! Yunkers died on December 24, 1983 in New York. About Rose Fried & Rose Fried Gallery: Excerpts from “Remembering Rose Fried” ~Written by her niece, fine artist, Joan Fine Modern tradition implies that art enter our lives via the intermediaries – the dealers and directors of our art institutions. It is these “tastemakers” who, in essence, determine what art we are to see and how we are to see it. Their very choices serve to validate the new art which we eventually will learn to accept and consume. Some of these tastemakers function as responsible and effective pioneers, recognizing authenticity and innovation on the basis of their own intuition and good taste. Often, we cannot properly evaluate their contributions until after they are gone and sufficient time has passed. One of these rare pioneers was my aunt Rose Fried, who opened her first gallery on 57th Street in 1932. Her story deserves telling, for in the thirty-eight years during which she managed her gallery, she often stood in the shadows of the artists whose work she championed. Rose was, in fact, a history-maker herself, for she helped to inaugurate and establish the modern art movement in America, introducing and launching artists such as Mondrian, Arp, Klee, Leger, Kandinsky, Balla, Ernst and Duchamp, and giving Schwitters, Sonia Delauney and Torres-Garcia their first New York exhibitions. Rose earned a reputation, during her many years as a gallery director, for high standards and innovation. She is remembered for a total commitment to an “advanced” art, and to the need to communicate this belief to an unitiated, but receptive public. She was, in effect, an educator, and it is in this capacity that she is most vividly and consistently remembered. Rose Fried was born in 1896, the first of ten children of Sally and Leo Fried, orthodox Jews who had earlier emigrated from Czechoslovakia and Hungary, and settled in Bethlehem Pennsylvania. As a very young girl, Rose displayed an alarming propensity toward expensive things – wanting fine silks for the family clothes that her mother sewed. Leo Fried, a cantor and a dreamer, would soon welcome the financial assistance of his eldest daughter in supporting his struggling, growing family. At eighteen, Rose’s desire for excitement and opportunity lead her to New York. Rose began to meet young artists, poets and assorted bohemians with whom she felt a growing affinity. During the summers, she studied painting – at one time with Hans Hoffman, who found her work overly emotional. She soon abandoned her own painting for an aesthetic approach to the painting of others. In 1932, Rose opened the Pinacotheca on West 58th Street. Previously owned by Dan Harris, a painter, it was one of the few galleries, then in existence, dedicated to the art of the avante-garde. During those early summers Rose was often to be seen on the left bank of Paris; her growing importance even then acknowledged by the artists with whom she circulated. In these first years, Rose became firmly committed to presenting to New York a “modern art” which deliberately excluded “ash-can” and social commentary schools then in the lead. Silvia Pizitz, one of Rose’s first and best known private collectors, remembers the early years at the unique Pinacotheca. “Rose’s 1947 Exhibition entitled ‘The White Plane’, provided adventurous art lovers with their first look at the great pioneers of abstract art. It was almost a religious revelation.” For many, this show afforded the New York public their initial glimpses of artists such as Albers, Arp, Bolotowsky, Diller, Gabo, Glarner, Kandinsky, Klee, Leger, Lizzitsky, Malevich and Maholy-Nagy. By 1947, Rose was appointed to the Board of the Societe Anonyme, whose responsibility it was to help build the prestigious collection of the Yale University Art Gallery. In the early fifties, the gallery had become, officially, the Rose Fried Gallery, and was eventually located on Madison and 68th Street. In 1956, Rose held an International Collage Exhibition bringing 85 pioneering works of early masters to the public’s attention for the first time. Throughout the years, her reputation as a dealer of consummate taste and dedication continued to grow. Many of her artists and collectors remember her as one of the most creative dealers in the city, who felt it was her mission bring high quality art to a hungry public. Rose continued to add new artists to her gallery, including Etrog, Adja Yunkers, Knox Marting, Stanley Boxer, Xceron, Louise Bourgeois, Lewiton and John Ferren. She worked tirelessly for artists under her wing, frequently lowering prices to get their works into “important” collections and museums. She was particularly proud of her role in introducing to the United States the works of the Latin American painter Torres-Garcia. Rose’s gallery represents an era long vanished. For Rose’s artists, she was the kind of dealer who offered support and encouragement. Her mission was to present work that was original, genuine, and often, unpopular. She is remembered for her unique personality and vision – and for the courageous efforts she made, on behalf of so many of the artists who continue to enrich our lives. Rose Fried Gallery – Art gallery; New York, N.Y. Founded in the 1940s by Rose Fried, who took over the Pinacotheca Gallery from Dan Harris, later changing the name of the gallery to reflect her ownership. Fried showed abstract art and was instrumental in introducing the American public to many abstract painters, including Mondrian and Kandinsky. This amazing pastel art is behind glass and in nice VINTAGE 70 year old condition. The frame has age/use/movement appropriate wear including gold paint loss, built in canvas matte discoloration, and scrapes/chips. Additionally, the backing is gone and the metal wire hanger on the back is detached on one side. Please see all photos and reach out if you have any questions PRIOR to purchasing.

Price: 12500 USD

Location: Port Charlotte, Florida

End Time: 2024-11-30T01:57:30.000Z

Shipping Cost: 0 USD