Artist's Resale Right ("Droit de Suite"). Artist's… Read more

PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF JOAN A. MENDELLJoan Armour Mendell spent a lifetime embracing the joys of fine art, culture, and giving back to her community. Gracious, intelligent, and imbued with a tremendous generosity of spirit, she saw each day as an opportunity to learn, and to help others.While studying at Connecticut College, she met Robert Armour, whom she married in 1951; the couple would go on to be devoted parents to their four children. It was with Bob that she first developed her love of art collecting. Their home and sculpture garden in Scarsdale, New York was considered at the time to be ultra-modern; they were well-travelled and intellectually curious. It was a personal museum where they displayed their works by artists such as Mark Rothko, David Smith, Alexander Calder, Jules Olitsky, Arnaldo Pomodoro and Victor Vasarely, among many others. After the death of Bob Armour in 1991, Joan married Ira “Tubby” Mendell and set out to make an impact in her new home of Sarasota, Florida. In Sarasota, she became an active patron of institutions such as the Sarasota Orchestra, the Ringling College of Art and Design, Sarasota Memorial Hospital, the Glass/Schoenbaum Human Services Center and, notably, the Asolo Repertory Theatre. Through significant financial contributions and her signature joie de vivre, Mendell became a prominent, treasured figure at Asolo. A longtime board member and faithful attendee at each opening night, she underwrote the Joan Amour Mendell Scenic Studio. Completed in 2012, the scenic studio was a transformative gift that has greatly enriched Asolo, the wider state of Florida, and the many original productions that can now travel across the nation.While married to Tubby, Mendell took the art collection in a different direction, reverently thinking backward to early 20th century masters of European art, while simultaneously looking forward to iconic American artists like Helen Frankenthaler. She was particularly fanatical about Picasso Ceramics, and set out to assemble the most complete collection possible of this oeuvre, always paying close attention to condition.Throughout her life, Joan Armour Mendell held a true passion for art and culture, aspects of the human experience she saw as vital toward both personal happiness and the betterment of communities. “If your life is enriched, if you smile, if you laugh,” she declared of the arts, “you’ve helped the health of your life.” It was a philosophy embodied by Mendell, as she surrounded herself with a striking private collection of fine art that included works by artists such as Picasso, Frankenthaler and Pomodoro. In her later years, Mendell began to write and publish volumes of original poetry, reflecting on subjects high and low as a means of understanding the world. Proceeds from the sale of her books were gifted to the many organizations she held dear. She was also a proud bridge champion.After her death in 2018, Mendell’s presence continues to be felt in Florida and beyond. In her outstanding collection of fine art, Joan Armour Mendell demonstrated the passion and vibrancy for which she was known - a spirited legacy worthy of celebration, a poetry all her own.

Lynn Chadwick, R.A. (1914-2003)

Walking Cloaked Figures VI

Details

Lynn Chadwick, R.A. (1914-2003)
Walking Cloaked Figures VI
numbered and dated '5/9 793 1980' (inside the cloaks) and stamped with the Morris Singer Foundry mark (on the underside of the cloaks)
bronze with a black and polished patina
10½ in. (26.7 cm.) high
Conceived in 1980.

Provenance

Burleighfield Foundry, High Wycombe, by whom acquired from the artist in 1985.
with Alwyn Gallery, London, by whom acquired from the above.
Private collection, Chicago, Illinois.
Anonymous sale; Sotheby's, New York, 9 May 2007, lot 319, where purchased by the present owner.

Literature

D. Farr and E. Chadwick, Lynn Chadwick: Sculptor, With A Complete Illustrated Catalogue 1947-2003, Farnham, 2014, p. 342, no. 793S, another cast illustrated.

Special Notice

Artist's Resale Right ("Droit de Suite"). Artist's Resale Right Regulations 2006 apply to this lot, the buyer agrees to pay us an amount equal to the resale royalty provided for in those Regulations, and we undertake to the buyer to pay such amount to the artist's collection agent. These lots have been imported from outside the EU for sale using a Temporary Import regime. Import VAT is payable (at 5%) on the Hammer price. VAT is also payable (at 20%) on the buyer’s Premium on a VAT inclusive basis. When a buyer of such a lot has registered an EU address but wishes to export the lot or complete the import into another EU country, he must advise Christie's immediately after the auction.

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