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Property from the Estate of Oscar M. and Zelia P. Ruebhausen
Oscar M. Ruebhausen was born in New York City in 1912, shortly before his parents moved to Washington, Vermont. He graduated summa cum laude from Dartmouth College in 1934 and from Yale Law School in 1937. He then joined the 11-lawyer firm now known as Debevoise & Plimpton LLP. He took leave to go to Washington D.C. during World War II, where he became General Counsel for the Office of Scientific Research and Development, the office that supervised the development of radar and the atomic bomb. He rejoined Debevoise & Plimpton as a partner in 1946, and led the firm as Presiding Partner from 1972 to 1981, retiring in 1987. Among his many public service activities, he was President of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York and chaired the Boards of Bennington College, The Russell Sage Foundation, and the Greenwall Foundation. He also had a long and special relationship with the Yale Law School. (All the sale proceeds of the Ruebhausen collection will go to the Oscar M. Ruebhausen Fund at the Yale Law School.)
Zelia Peet Ruebhausen grew up in Rye, New York. She and her twin brother were the youngest of five children. After graduating from Vassar College in 1937, she worked in New York City and Washington, D.C.. She married Oscar Ruebhausen in 1942, and was a staff member of the League of Women Voters in Washington, D.C. until they moved back to New York in 1946. She served on the National Board of the League of Women Voters, and was the League's official observer at the United Nations. She was a board member of the African American Institute and chaired their affiliated Women's Africa Committee. She was an active member and a life trustee of the Board of International House. From 1972-1977 she was a member of the 12-member Commission that was appointed by the Mayor to revise the Charter of New York City.
In 1950, Nelson Rockefeller, appointed by President Truman to be chair of the International Development Advisory Board, asked Oscar Ruebhausen to be Counsel to the board. This was the beginning of a professional and personal relationship that would continue until Governor Rockefeller's death in 1979. Beginning in the early 1950s, Governor Rockefeller gave the Ruebausens 18 pieces of contemporary art objects as presents. Among them are William Baziotes' painting, Oriental and David Smith's drawing, Ark.
The Ruebhausens began buying contemporary art themselves in the late 1950s. They visited Hans Hofmann in his studio, and bought Pan through his dealer, Sam Kootz in 1961. They also collected ethnic art, on trips to Africa for the African American Institute, as well as from New York and California dealers.
Property from the Estate of Oscar M. and Zelia P. Ruebhausen
William Baziotes (1912-1963)
Oriental
Details
William Baziotes (1912-1963)
Oriental
signed 'Baziotes' (lower right); signed again, titled and dated 'ORIENTAL W. Baziotes 1952' (on the reverse)
oil on canvas
24 x 30 in. (60.9 x 76.2 cm.)
Painted in 1952.
Oriental
signed 'Baziotes' (lower right); signed again, titled and dated 'ORIENTAL W. Baziotes 1952' (on the reverse)
oil on canvas
24 x 30 in. (60.9 x 76.2 cm.)
Painted in 1952.
Provenance
Kootz Gallery, New York
Nelson A. Rockefeller, New York, 1953
Gift of the above to the late owners
Nelson A. Rockefeller, New York, 1953
Gift of the above to the late owners
Exhibited
New York, Kootz Gallery, Baziotes, February-March 1953, no. 9.
Sale room notice
Please note the artist's correct life dates are (1912-1963).