Our collector graduated from dorm room posters to commissioning art for his homes in New York City and Fort Lauderdale. Prominent above his desk in his Florida home is a commission of Jeffrey G. Batchelor, Bull Market, which features elements from his family’s involvement in the stock market in New York, from a ticker tape to a pocket watch given to his grandfather at his bar mitzvah in 1909.
Above the sofa in the living room is a painting, Boys on the Beach, by Mark Beard painting as Bruce Sargeant, an imagined English artist. The collector had admired Beard’s paintings and commissioned a piece for his Florida home. He wanted a lighter look for Florida and asked the artist to “pink up” the boys’ flesh a bit. “He resisted me at first,” the collector relates. “But when he was done he said it’s not so bad!”
On the stand is a bronze sculpture, The Clan, 1959, by Roberto Matta (1911-2002). Beneath it, the Glass Bull, 1989, is by Ermanno Nason (1928-2013). Next to it is a ceramic plate, Woman’s Face/ Bullfight Scene, 1959, by Pablo Picasso (1881-1973). On the floor is Nason’s Glass Goat, 1980s. The glass sculpture on the right is Donna Seduta, 1963, by Pablo Picasso/Egidio Costantini.
He had also admired the cast glass female torsos of Latchezar Boyadjiev. He asked Boyadjiev’s dealer, George Billis, if the artist would consider doing a male figure. He did, and the sculpture now glows in the light from a window in his home.
The collector was introduced to contemporary glass by his friend Wissam Elghoul, director of New River Fine Art in Fort Lauderdale. “I’ve always loved glass,” he explains, “its hardness and fragility and the way it sparkles in the light. I started to see all kinds of sculptures I never expected to be in glass.” Although the majority of his glass collection is contemporary, he was attracted to a piece by Émile Gallé (1846-1904) from the Art Nouveau period he particularly admires. “It was in an estate auction,” he says.
On the left is a drawing of a centaur by Pablo Picasso, circa 1960s. The large painting is Boys on the Beach, 2010, by Bruce Sargeant/Mark Beard. On the right is Journey Tracks to Sacred Water Sites, 2013, by Tony Sorby. Beneath the Sorby are a vase from the 1920s by Émile Gallé (1846-1904) and a bronze head of a male, circa 1900-1910, by Auguste Rodin (1840-1917). On the bottom shelf is Blue/Yellow Dove, circa 1970s, glass, by Antonio Da Ros (1936-2012).
On the left is Jennifer JL Jones’ mixed media painting Feadon, 2019. Above the dresser are three etchings from the portfolio Picasso: Els Reventos, 21/23, by Joan Miró (1893-1983). The glass pieces are , from left, Guerriero (Totem Pole), 1996, and Cavallo (Knight), 1996, by Martin Bradley/ Pino Signoretto; a piece by an unknown artist; and Pellicano (Pelican), 1996, by Martin Bradley/ Pino Signoretto.
“I didn’t have any idea of Gallé’s story, but I bid on it and I got. I was blown away by its intricacy and how modern it looks.”
The collection contains several works by the Venetian master Ermanno Nason (1928-2013), that he acquired through Sergio Gnesin’s Seryolux Exclusive Italian Luxury. Nason worked with many of the most prominent artists of his time and created pieces in homage to them. One piece in the collection is Burlesco/Gufo: homage to Picasso, 1959. Picasso is a theme that runs through the collection.
“My stepfather had two ceramic plates by Picasso from the Madoura Pottery editions,” he says.
“I had always known Picasso as a painter but never knew about his ceramics. Picasso was one of the greatest artists. I was obviously not going to acquire a painting, and I found the ceramics and the glass just as interesting. They are, in a way, painterly.
On the left is Amber Male Torso, 2018, cast glass, by Latchezar Boyadjiev. On the table is Steel Wings, 2016, cast glass and steel, by Alex Bernstein. In front of the mirror is Burlesco/Gufo: homage to Picasso, 1959, glass, by Ermanno Nason (1928-2013).
In the kitchen, the paintings are, from left, Trophy, 2014, a New York subway sign with Swarovski crystals, by Darren Wallace; Eyes of Teo, 2012, by David Schluss; and alion’s head ceramic medallion, circa 1960s, by Pablo Picasso (1881-1973). On the island are, from left, The Poet: Homage to Max Ernst, 1960, glass, by Ermanno Nason, and Born of Light, 2004, glass, by Frederick Hart (1943-1999).
“I believe it’s living history,” he continues. “Collecting is a way to look back and hold onto a piece of where we’ve come from, to own a piece of it. The pieces are the way the artist saw the world at a moment in time.”
There are pieces that relate to Picasso as in Nason’s homage and in a suite of etchings by Joan Miró (1893-1983). The most prominent piece is a collaboration between Picasso and Italian glass maker Egidio Costantini (1912–2007), Donna Seduta, 1963. “I saw it at a gallery and I couldn’t take my eyes off it,” he says.
There are a number of pieces in the collection by Martin Bradley who worked with the Murano master Pino Signoretto (1944-2017). In his office, the collector has a piece, Anubis, by Signoretto’s grandson, Martino Naia Signoretto.
The paintings are, from left, Moon Gold Water, 2008, mixed media, by Nancy Lorenz, and Bull Market, 2016, by Jeffrey G. Batchelor. On the glass shelves are, from left, Symbolic Forms of Life, 2016, by Gustavo Torres, and Reflet, 1990s, pate de verre, by Dominique Vial for Daum. On the bottom shelf are, from left, Small Spectrum Cube, 2017, lead crystal, by Jack Storm; Young Men on Beach, 2016, oil on board, by McWillie Chambers; and Night Skies, 2015, hand-turned pine, by Robert Cherry. Another Cherry work is on the floor. Beneath the desk is Face with Black Nose, 1969, ceramic, by Pablo Picasso (1881-1973). On the desk are, from left, Tall Green Forest, 2015, cast glass and steel by Alex Bernstein; bronze Bird on Cup, circa 1980, by Diego Giacometti (1902-1985); Young Men on Beach, 1985, oil on board by McWillie Chambers; a cut crystal box, circa 1920s, by Baccarat; and Athlete’s Fountain, 1986, glass, by Ermanno Nason (1928-2013). On the right is Anubis, 2019, glass, by Martino Naia Signoretto.
On the left is Mykonos Harbor, 2013, by Leon Zanella. Above the chair is Faceless Man #19, 2014, by Marcus Jansen. On the right is Jennifer JL Jones’ mixed media Nexus, 2019.
On the left is Une Autre Jour Splendide, 2015, by Ted CoConis. The sculpture is Estella, 2013, by Gustavo Torres. On the right is Last Man Standing, 1980s, by Purvis Young (1943-2010).
Rarely does the collector need to be convinced to buy a work of art. Purvis Young (1943-2010) was a Miami artist who survived the world of hard knocks and a stint in prison to become a prominent outsider artist. The collector was introduced to his work by Elghoul. “I never liked outsider art,” he admits, “but Wissam twisted my arm. Young’s story is moving. The piece I now own, Last Man Standing, is reminiscent of Picasso’s Don Quixote figures.”
Another major piece in the collection came through Elghoul, The Clan, by Roberto Matta (1911-2002). “I went to an exhibition of Matta’s work but wasn’t comfortable with his paintings,” he says. “Wissam asked, ‘What about his sculptures?’ The Clan is so unusual and far outside my usual comfort zone. The more I thought about it I decided ‘I’m going to go for it!’ I needed to stretch my boundaries.”
On the left is an original poster from the 1911 Exposition International in Turin, Italy. The sculptures are, from left, Space Venus, circa 1960s, attributed to Salvador Dalí (1904-1989), and Amber Male Torso, 2018, cast glass, by Latchezar Boyadjiev.
The light through the windows of his apartment bounces off the white floors and animates all the art, especially the glass. “Every day I’m blown away by its beauty,” he says. “Now during quarantine I can focus on it more closely.
I do online yoga in front of JL Jones’ painting Nexus. I wrote her a note to tell her I just get lost in the painting.”
He is also thinking of the future. “I’ll bequeath certain pieces to friends who have showed interest,” he explains, “others to my niece and nephew. I’d like to find an institution that would like to have the collection and would show it. I’d rather it be seen and appreciated.” —
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