Seller Story
A Josef Albers Painting from the Paul Chidlaw Estate
EBTH Art Cataloguer Sarah Miller was sorting through a pile of artwork from artist Paul Chidlaw’s estate when one piece caught her eye. The collection was a vast one — left to the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital by Chidlaw’s wife, Madge Smith, in honor of the doctors who treated him for macular degeneration. Through a partnership with EBTH the estate, which includes thousands of works on paper, marker sketches, and oil paintings, is gradually being auctioned off to benefit the hospital. Miller was sorting through one such pile when she noticed a small oil painting composition of concentric squares. “I recognized that it looked like an iconic Albers piece,” she recalls, “But it was only signed with a little “A.”
A consult with the Josef and Anni Albers Foundation revealed that the work was a part of one of Albers’ most famous series: “Study for Homage to the Square.” Thanks to Miller’s eye, the work — previously unknown to the estate — has been added to the the artist’s catalogue raisonné.
The composition — one Albers painted over and over — was for him an exercise in the interaction of color. “He would try to make shapes and color recede and come forward and vibrate against each other,” explains Miller, of the square series. “Because he wanted that pure color — he didn’t mix them – he’d use paint straight from the tube. And he wouldn’t layer. He started with a center square, and then painted a square around it, so that the colors never overlapped. He did the same composition but changed the colors to study how they could interact.”
EBTH Cincinnati - Blue Ash
1950s West Germany Floral Brooch and Earrings Set Including Rhinestones
EBTH Cincinnati - Blue Ash
Christian Dior Top Handle Boston Bag in Brown Trotter Canvas
EBTH Cincinnati - Blue Ash
Maritime Oil Painting of Seascape with Ships, 20th Century
EBTH Cincinnati - Blue Ash
Louis Vuitton Porte-Monnaie Billets Trésor Wallet in Monogram Canvas
EBTH Cincinnati - Blue Ash
BVLGARI Luky Cat Silk Scarf with Box
EBTH Cincinnati - Blue Ash
Sally Rosenbaum Floral Still Life Oil Painting, 21st Century
EBTH Cincinnati - Blue Ash
C. Liton Copy Oil Painting After Cornelis Springer of Dutch Street Scene
EBTH Columbus - Hilliard
Block Langenthal Transition Interaction China Luncheon Set
EBTH Cincinnati - Blue Ash
Pair of Danish Modern Teak and Custom-Upholstered Side Chairs, Mid-20th Century
EBTH Cincinnati - Blue Ash
Block "Wyndham" Crystal Biscuit Barrels with Godinger and Other Biscuit Barrels
EBTH Columbus - Hilliard
Gregorio Prestopino Watercolor and Ink Wash Painting "Little Grandma"
EBTH Cincinnati - Blue Ash
L. Hils Hafele Desert Landscape Acrylic Painting, 1989
EBTH Columbus - Hilliard
Alexander Calder Color Lithograph from Derrière le Miroir, 1976
EBTH Cincinnati - Blue Ash
Oil Painting Portrait of a Nude Figure
EBTH Cincinnati - Blue Ash
Sterling Citrine Necklace
EBTH Cincinnati - Blue Ash
Lithograph After Robert Hoppe "Nocturne"
EBTH Columbus - Hilliard
Bernard Gantner Limited Edition Color Lithograph "Étang sous la Pluie"
EBTH Cincinnati - Blue Ash
Model Train Locomotives, Cars, Track, Transformer, Buildings and More, Vintage
EBTH Cincinnati - Blue Ash
Enamel Leopard Pendant
EBTH Cincinnati - Blue Ash
Leif Janek Abstract Acrylic Painting, 21st Century
An influential modernist painter, German-born Albers taught at the Bauhaus, where he developed extensive theories on color theory. When the Nazis closed the institution, he emigrated to the United States and toured the country teaching, including posts at Yale and the Black Mountain Folk School. “He spent a semester teaching at the Art Academy of Cincinnati in 1949, which is where he met Chidlaw,” explains Miller, “He was kind of a catalyst between the old ways of working in art and the new Modernism of the mid-20th century. Chidlaw, the Cincinnati native who was then known for romantic, realist paintings, was interested in Modernism, which hadn’t yet taken hold in the region. “He was excited to meet Albers,” notes Miller, “It was right around the time the Cincinnati Art Museum acquired one of his works.” Albers brought with him new teaching methods. “He was interested in more expressionistic study: breaking down the elements of art individually instead of trying to recreate landscapes,” says Miller. “He influenced many notable artists after him, including Jim Dine, whose work is also in this sale.”“
Other pieces in this sale that are part of Chidlaw’s collection include Cincinnati artists T.C. Lindsey, Edward Pothast, Anni Albers (Josef’s wife), and Martin Rettig.