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Introduction
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Selected Pictures
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Berry-Hill Galleries is pleased to announce our current exhibition High Notes of American Modernism: Selections from the Tommy and Gill LiPuma Collection. This outstanding collection of early 20th Century American paintings and watercolors was begun over 30 years ago with a concentration on four artists; Alfred Maurer, Arnold Friedman, Marsden Hartley, and John Marin. The collection also includes single works by Arthur Dove, John Graham, Walt Kuhn and Joseph Stella. Our exhibition, highlighting 40 pieces, is accompanied by a fully illustrated scholarly publication with an introduction by William C. Agee, Professor of Art History at Hunter College of the City University of New York and former Director of The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and one of the foremost authorities on American Modernism and an interview of Tommy LiPuma by Bruce Weber, Director of Research and Exhibitions at Berry-Hill. In particular, the LiPuma Collection is notable for its extensive holdings of paintings by Alfred Maurer (1868-1932), one of America's pioneering modernists who holds a preeminent, if little understood, place in our history. With 22 pictures on view, the exhibition forms what amounts to a mini-retrospective of Maurer's career. With the benefit of new research, William Agee has re-evaluated the career of an artist who in the past has been something of a puzzle to historians and critics. Maurer, born in New York, was a member of the National Academy of Design. He left for Paris in 1897 and studied briefly at the Academie Julian. By 1905, he was exposed to the international avant-garde at the famous salon of Gertrude Stein. Between that year and 1907 Maurer looked to Paul Cézanne, Henri Matisse and the Fauves for inspiration, and began to create landscapes and still lifes in which he emphasized simplified geometric shapes and bold and exaggerated colors. The LiPuma collection has also provided the opportunity to study the work of Arnold Friedman (1874-1946), whose paintings are important in the history of modern American art but some of the least known and rarely seen in museums. With 11 paintings, one of the largest groups of the artist's work in any private collection, it has allowed us to view him in depth. He was born in 1874 to Hungarian Jewish parents in New York City, educated in public schools and employed by the post office. He did not begin his formal training as an artist until 1905 at the age of 32, when he studied at the Art Students League with the legendary teacher Robert Henri, mentor to an entire generation of gifted artists, including George Bellows and Edward Hopper. With 24 gold and platinum records to his credit, 30 Grammy nominations, and two Grammy Awards, Tommy LiPuma is one of the most respected producers and executives in the music industry. The roster of musicians he has produced includes Miles Davis, Barbra Streisand, George Benson, Al Jarreau, Bill Evans, Natalie Cole, Anita Baker, and more recently, Diana Krall. LiPuma is currently chairman of The Verve Music Group.
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