PROPERTY FROM AN IMPORTANT CALIFORNIA COLLECTION
Lot 44W
JOHN HARRISON LEVEE
(1924-2017)
March II
1961
1961
12 May 2021, 13:00 EDT
New YorkSold for US$62,812.50 inc. premium
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JOHN HARRISON LEVEE (1924-2017)
March II
1961
signed and dated 61; signed, titled and dated 1961 on the reverse
oil and graphite on canvas
76 1/2 by 76 3/4 in.
194.3 by 194.9 cm.
1961
signed and dated 61; signed, titled and dated 1961 on the reverse
oil and graphite on canvas
76 1/2 by 76 3/4 in.
194.3 by 194.9 cm.
Footnotes
Provenance
The Collection of David E. Bright and Dolly Bright, Los Angeles
Thence by descent to the present owner
The present lot comes to auction by descent from the extraordinary collection of David E. Bright and Dolly Bright. Well-known philanthropists and art collectors who championed emerging artists in the United Stated and Europe, the Brights amassed a large and important collection. Generous donations from their holdings expanded and enriched the permanent collections of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art as well as the Museum of Modern Art in New York. In collaboration with UCLA, David E. Bright also established the David E. Bright Foundation which focused on charitable work with civic, cultural, and educational institutions in Los Angeles and abroad, including the David E. Bright prize and sponsorship of the Venice Biennale.
Los Angeles native John Harrison Levee was educated at UCLA, Art Center, and the Académie Julian in Paris. After early successes exhibiting in France, Levee gained the attention of international museums and galleries. Exhibitions included the Museum of Modern Art in New York as early as 1957 and continued in 1958, as well as at the Whitney Museum in New York in 1957, 1959 and 1965; the Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, in 1958; the Museum of Modern Art Jerusalem in 1963; the Phoenix Museum of Art in 1964, the Museum of Tel Aviv in 1969, and the Palm Springs Museum in 1977. Levee was represented by Andre Emmerich Gallery in New York and in London by Gimpel Fils. Related to Abstract Expressionists like Franz Kline, Jackson Pollock, and Mark Rothko, Levee's spontaneous style and brilliant coloration is clear in the present lot. This painting is a superior example of his most celebrated artistic exploration.
Levee's paintings and drawings are in the permanent collections of international museums including Kunstmuseum Basel; Museum of Modern Art, New York; Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; and the Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris.