Beatrice Mandelman

(American, 1912-1998)

Stripes (Green Spot), c. 1960s

oil on canvas

signed Mandelman (lower right)

20 x 30 inches.

Provenance:

The Artist

The Estate of Beatrice Mandelman

203 Fine Art, Taos, New Mexico

This work is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity issued by the Mandelman-Ribak Collection

Lot essay:

I am a believer in the poetry of the subconscious moving into the realm of abstraction. My work could be called ‘subjective abstractions.’ I have the freedom of choice today to let my space flow. I make room in my painting for the observer to dream.

-Beatrice Mandelman, Mandelman Shows in Taos, 1977, Santa Fe New Mexican

A prolific painter throughout her life, Beatrice Mandelman, or “Bea,” knew she wanted to be a painter from an early age. Born in Newark, New Jersey in 1912, Mandelman was introduced at an early age to Russian Constructivism and other avant-garde movements by Louis Lozowick, an artist and family friend. She began taking classes at the age of 12 at the Newark School of Fine and Industrial Art and eventually studied at both Rutgers University and the New York Art Student’s League. From 1935 to 1942, Mandelman was employed by the Works Project Administration in New York, where she became associated with numerous New York School artists including Louis Lozowick, Willem de Kooning, Arshile Gorky, Jackson Pollock, and Stuart Davis. Although Mandelman’s style was to evolve over time, she remained committed to modernism and abstraction throughout her career.

In 1944, Mandelman and her husband, Louis Ribak, settled in Taos, New Mexico. She and Ribak became a part of the group of artists known as the Taos Moderns, which included Ed Corbett, Agnes Martin, Oli Sihvonen, and Clay Spohn. Far from the strictures of the New York art scene, Mandelman found the freedom to develop a style that was distinctly her own. Inspired by the light, the local color, the landscape and the confluence of diverse cultures in Taos, her work flourished. The artist moved away from her previous, Ashcan, social-inspired scenes of the WPA period and adopted a bright, expressive version of Abstract Expressionism.

Collage was a frequent technique in Mandelman’s oeuvre beginning in the 1950s. Her ability to form captivating compositions through shifting blocks of color, whether with paper or oil on canvas, can be seen in such works as Stripes (Green Spot), c. 1960s.

There is slight surface dirt and dust; diagonal hairline cracks in upper left and right and lower left corners; vertical cracking with an isolated area of craquelure towards the center of the canvas in the green vertical stripe to the left of the central orange vertical band; otherwise this work appears to be in overall basic good and stable condition.

Framed: 21 x 31 inches.

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As the head of Hindman’s Fine Art Department, Mr. Stanfield is instrumental in bringing in major consignments from private collectors, estates, dealers and institutions. He has led the department to dozens of auction records, with a particular focus on Chicago Modernism. Mr. Stanfield has played an integral role in the development of the American & European and Post War & Contemporary Art categories, with the most successful year for the department in company history coming in 2021. He also oversaw a house record for total sales for a week of Fine Art auctions in May 2022. Mr. Stanfield is also the lead auctioneer for the Fine Art sales at Hindman. Prior to returning to Hindman in 2019, he was at Toomey & Co. for eight years, where he oversaw important collections including the estate of Candice B. Groot, the collection of Governor Jim Thompson, and the estate of Robert E. Beck. Mr. Stanfield earned a BA from the University of Kansas where he studied Art History.

Zack Wirsum

SVP, Head of Department, Post War and Contemporary Art

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Mr. Wirsum joined the firm in 2007 as a Fine Art registrar and became a department specialist in 2013, with a focus on Post War and Contemporary art. Through his vision, the department has achieved record breaking prices. Mr. Wirsum evaluates and appraises well over 5,000 works of art each year, collaborating with leading international committees and experts on authentication. Prior to joining Freeman's, Mr. Wirsum served as an assistant director and conservator at the Chicago Conservation Center. He received a BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and is a practicing painter with gallery representation.

Monica Brown

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Ms. Brown rejoined the firm in 2019 as a senior specialist in the Fine Art department, where she has been the resident expert and Head of Sale for Prints and Multiples. She has over 17 years of art-market experience, most recently as founder of Monica Brown Fine Art. In addition to working for renowned auction houses, she has extensive knowledge in over five centuries of works on paper from her tenure at the Newberry Library in Chicago, and eight years of experience with one of London’s leading dealers of Pop Art editions.

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Post War & Contemporary Art

Stripes (Green Spot), c. 1960s

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