This May, Sotheby’s will present works from the collection of Saul and Ellyn Dennison, two collectors whose lives were shaped by a sustained commitment to contemporary art. Assembled over forty years, the collection brings together paintings, works on paper, and conceptual objects spanning the latter half of the twentieth century alongside acquisitions from the early 2000s.
The Dennisons began collecting in earnest after a 1980 trip to London, acquiring many works from emerging-talent shows at the Guggenheim Museum and building relationships with dealers including Marianne Boesky, Mary Boone, Barbara Gladstone, Curt Marcus, Andrea Rosen, Jack Shainman, and Donald Young. Among the artists who drew them earliest were Ross Bleckner, Francesco Clemente, Jenny Holzer, and David Salle, figures now associated with the Downtown New York scene of the 1980s.
Central to their lives was a long-standing relationship with the New Museum in New York, first with founding director Marcia Tucker and later with Lisa Phillips. Saul Dennison joined the Board of Trustees in 1990 and later served as President, Chairman, and Chairman Emeritus, helping guide the museum through a period of growth that included the opening of its Bowery building in 2007. Over time, the couple’s home in Bernardsville, New Jersey, expanded to accommodate the growing collection, including outdoor sculpture.
Highlights include Richard Serra’s Walking the Dog (1997, est. $500,000 to $700,000), a work in paintstick on paper from the artist’s Rounds series; Mark Tansey’s Study for “ Forward Retreat” (1986, est. $250,000 to $350,000), a preparatory work for the monumental painting now in the collection of The Broad, Los Angeles; and Félix Gonzáles-Torres’s Untitled (1989, est. $100,000 to $150,000), a rare example from the artist’s celebrated puzzle works.
The collection also includes works by Nick Cave, Jenny Holzer, Robert Mapplethorpe, David Salle, and others. The highlights will go on view at Sotheby’s during its second season at The Breuer on May 2, ahead of the New York Sales, which run May 14 to 20.
(Press Release)
