Lot Essay
This work will be included in Stuart P. Feld's and Kathleen M. Burnside's forthcoming catalogue raisonné of the artist's work.
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PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF LEON AND SYLVIA BALSAM
Leon Balsam was raised on a farm that manufactured dairy products. After graduating from college with a degree in organic chemistry, he accepted a job with a New York company making beer. Once settled in New York, he married his childhood sweetheart, Sylvia.
After a period as a brew master, Mr. Balsam became a founding partner of a New York company providing advertising services to international clients. His skill in mathematics formed a basis for his investment activities which included water companies in Arizona and a resort in Jamaica.
Mr. Balsam had a passion for yachting. As a result, his yacht carried the official photographer, Beken of Cowes, covering the British challenger "Scepter" during the 1958 America's Cup.
Sylvia Balsam graduated college with a degree in art history. Her education laid the groundwork for their collecting and lifelong admiration for the arts. After graduation she became an interior designer and a painter. Her first passion, however, was sculpture. Throughout her life she sculpted and taught sculpting in her home studio.
The Balsams' love of the arts extended to the opera, as well. They frequented the Metropolitan Opera and were acknowledged for their patronage during the Opera's move from Madison Square to Lincoln Center in 1966.
The Balsams enjoyed traveling and saw much of the world together.
Childe Hassam (1859-1935)
Sunlight Brook
Details
Childe Hassam (1859-1935)
Sunlight Brook
signed and dated '1908/Childe Hassam' (lower right)
oil on canvas
19¾ x 24 in. (50.2 x 61 cm.)
Sunlight Brook
signed and dated '1908/Childe Hassam' (lower right)
oil on canvas
19¾ x 24 in. (50.2 x 61 cm.)
Provenance
The artist.
Charles V. Wheeler, Washington, D.C., 1912.
Acquired by the present owner, circa early 1950s.
Charles V. Wheeler, Washington, D.C., 1912.
Acquired by the present owner, circa early 1950s.
Literature
Montross Gallery, Fifty American Pictures, New York, 1911, n.p., no. 223.
C.V. Wheeler, Sketches, Washington, D.C., 1927, p. 119, illustrated (as Sunlit Brook).
C.V. Wheeler, Sketches, Washington, D.C., 1927, p. 119, illustrated (as Sunlit Brook).
Exhibited
New York, Montross Gallery, Exhibition of Pictures by Childe Hassam, December 20-23, 1909, no. 13.
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Carnegie Institute, Museum of Art, Catalogue of the Fourteenth Annual Exhibition at the Carnegie Institute, May 2-June 30, 1910, no. 128.
Detroit, Michigan, Detroit Museum of Art, Special Exhibition of Paintings by Childe Hassam, April 1911, no. 2.
Newark, New Jersey, Newark Art Association, Paintings by Childe Hassam, November 8-30, 1911, no. 2.
Washington, D.C., The Corcoran Gallery of Art, Exhibition of Oil Paintings, Watercolors, Pastels and Drawings by Childe Hassam, December 28, 1911-January 15, 1912, no. 4.
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Carnegie Institute, Museum of Art, Catalogue of the Fourteenth Annual Exhibition at the Carnegie Institute, May 2-June 30, 1910, no. 128.
Detroit, Michigan, Detroit Museum of Art, Special Exhibition of Paintings by Childe Hassam, April 1911, no. 2.
Newark, New Jersey, Newark Art Association, Paintings by Childe Hassam, November 8-30, 1911, no. 2.
Washington, D.C., The Corcoran Gallery of Art, Exhibition of Oil Paintings, Watercolors, Pastels and Drawings by Childe Hassam, December 28, 1911-January 15, 1912, no. 4.
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