The Opulent Modernity of Nelson & Happy Rockefeller’s Collection

Love. Passion. Ecstasy. These are the words that Nelson Rockefeller reached for when he talked about collecting art. Rockefeller was unstoppable. He was an activist who commissioned major works from artists of several generations, and a globalist who explored the art of many different times and places. Nothing was too new, too unexpected, or too difficult for Nelson Rockefeller. Even as he was collecting established modern masters, he was turning his attention to contemporary artists. The works that he and Happy shared offer precious glimpses of the man's indefatigable spirit. Nelson Rockefeller was the third of six children born to John D. Rockefeller Jr., whose father had co-founded Standard Oil, and Abby Aldrich Rockefeller, who was herself a great collector and a founder of the Museum of Modern Art. Nelson Rockefeller was a visionary for his time. In the late 1930s, he commissioned the most avant-garde designer of the period, Jean-Michel Franck, to design a spectacular interior that would create the stage to bring all of these different areas of Nelson Rockefeller's collecting together. This was not a commission in a very traditional sense. This was really a true collaboration and partnership between two great minds. The result was one of the greatest timeless interiors ever created. In particular, Franck felt that Giacometti's designs, both the furniture and the lighting, were something that really bridged antiquity and the contemporary art of the period. All of the furniture and lighting designed by Giacometti was executed with very radiant gilt surfaces that very much spoke to the opulence and the modernity that Nelson was seeking to achieve. One of the most exciting offerings in the November sale are the pair of consoles designed expressly for the Rockefeller interior. The two consoles are unique and were exquisitely executed in gold leaf that was applied over plaster and a wood frame. There are almost fantastical winged leaves that are emerging from the ground. These sculptural consoles were ideally suited for the Rockefeller apartment. In fact, there are letters between Franck and Rockefeller where Franck is suggesting to Nelson that these consoles are the perfect vehicle to harmonize and bring together so many diverse areas of his collection. I remember the first time when I walked into a room and saw them. I just was completely awestruck by them. They're just drop-dead gorgeous. Another really exciting highlight from the sale are the pair of andirons from the living room. Both of the andirons were designed to be presented in concert with these extraordinary monumental murals that were executed by Leger and Matisse. The provenance around the Giacometti furniture does not get better. It's impeccable. Nelson Rockefeller admired the particular kinds of energy that creative spirits brought to their work and shared that passion with Happy, his siblings, and his children. Nelson savored visits to artist studios and didn't hesitate to buy works when the paint was still wet. In the 30s in particular, he built wonderful relationships with modern masters, people like Leger, people like Miro, and then later on after the war, Dubuffet, Stella, Warhol. We have a work in the sale by Leger in oil that is specifically dedicated from the artist to Nelson. It was given to him as a gift in 1938. Around the time that the war broke out, Leger actually sought Nelson's help in seeking shelter here in the United States and Nelson, given his political connections, was able to secure that. The Warhol, a monumental portrait, was also an original commission from Nelson to the artist. He actually commissioned four portraits of the same size, three of which are now in institutions, so this is the only one that is available for the market. I love the Miro. The Miro is a collage that the artist did in 1933. At this time, Miro was engaged in a struggle for artistic identity. He was trying to pursue what he called anti-painting, so not just working with oil on canvas, but exploring other mediums, exploring radical ways of image making, and this series in which he pastes postcards onto sandpaper and then mounts it to canvas is the perfect encapsulation of this struggle. Of course, Nelson gave some of the best works of art in his collection to museums around the country, but the works that we have the privilege to offer here at Sotheby's were some of the most treasured he and Happy lived with until the end of both their lives, and in many ways this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for collectors to acquire a piece of Nelson's legacy as one of the greatest modern art collectors of the 20th century.