Lot Essay
*This lot may be exempt from sales tax as set forth in the Sales Tax Notice in the back of the catalogue.
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Property formerly in the Collection of Janice Levin, Sold to benefit the Philip and Janice Levin Foundation
For Philip and Janice Levin, it was always about collaboration. They built a real estate empire together. They built a world-renowned art collection together. They built a beautiful life together. He was the creator. She was the manager. As she was fond of saying, "I was warmed by the glow of his shadow."
On August 3, 1971, he died.
My mother could easily have continued to live under the glow and protection of my father's shadow for the rest of her life. She could have been a caretaker. However, she opted to come out into her own sunlight and become a creator and empire builder in her own right.
Over the next thirty years, she built a reputation as a tough, fair, and brilliant businesswoman. She used their resources to build on his philanthropic endeavors and went far beyond his vision. She even exceeded her own expectations. When she gave, she never simply wrote a check and then sat in the background. She demanded to participate in the planning and the implementation of the projects she supported. She was "value-added" all the way. She became both the quarterback and the cheerleader. And she never gave anonymously. Her philosophy was simple: "If you want me to do it and I decide to do it, never forget that I did it and make damn sure the world knows about it!"
She was committed to the collaborative effort as a vehicle for the enhancement of understanding and achievement of individual potential. She worked tirelessly to bring people out from under the shadows of prejudice and obscurity into the light of positive interaction and the glory of individual accomplishment.
It wasn't all sunlight for my mother, however. She struggled continuously with her own clouds. She lost three husbands, two children, and one grandchild--way more than one person should have to bear in a lifetime. But she dealt with misfortune in her characteristically ebullient style. As she would say time and again, "Sadness is to be born alone, but joy is to be shared." And joyously share she did.
As a result of her hands-on generosity, thousands of worthy students received the necessary financial assistance to graduate from the School of Law and Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University. Tens of thousands of Jewish and Arab children have studied and performed together at the Philip and Janice Levin Music Center in Tel Aviv-Haifa and throughout the world. Millions have experienced the extraordinary talents of the musicians, dancers, and actors of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. Tens of millions of art lovers have swooned to some of the greatest works of Impressionism at The Metropolitan Museum of Art and the National Gallery of Art. Over one hundred million viewers have been exposed to the timeless productions of WNET and the Public Broadcasting System.
In the spirit of Monet's breathtakingly beautiful garden at Argenteuil, she worked with the Central Park Conservancy to transform a simple field into the lovely playground it is today, where thousands of children from around the world come to play with their peers. Collaborating with the Friends of Art and Preservation in Embassies, she turned a lawn at Winfield House, the official residence of the United States Ambassador to the Court of St. James's, into a splendid sculpture garden.
My mother had a continuing love affair with her art. She loved the process of collecting and building the profile of her collection. Some days, she would simply float about her home staring at each painting, thankful that she had the good fortune to acquire such treasures and the opportunity to experience such beauty alone, as well as the option to share her joy with the world.
Janice Levin had a great deal in common with her paintings: she was elegant and graceful, a study in color, different from every perspective, and her personality was something to be experienced at least once in a lifetime and was clearly unforgettable. As many of her beneficiaries readily attest, an hour with her could certainly change your life, or at least give you a new viewpoint.
Adam K. Levin
Director and President,
The Philip and Janice Levin Foundation
Property formerly in the Collection of Janice Levin, Sold to benefit the Philip and Janice Levin Foundation
(fig. 1) Photograph of Janice Levin, September 1994. BARCODE 23662247
Edgar Degas (1834-1917)
Danseuse mettant son bras
Details
Edgar Degas (1834-1917)
Danseuse mettant son bras
stamped with signature and foundry mark and numbered 'Degas A.A. HEBRARD CIRE PERDUE 29/G' (on the top of the base)
bronze with brown patina
Height: 18¼ in. (46.4 cm.)
Original wax model executed circa 1896-1911 and cast in an edition of twenty-two, numbered A to T plus two casts reserved for the Degas heirs and the founder Hébrard; marked 'HER' and 'HER.D' respectively
Danseuse mettant son bras
stamped with signature and foundry mark and numbered 'Degas A.A. HEBRARD CIRE PERDUE 29/G' (on the top of the base)
bronze with brown patina
Height: 18¼ in. (46.4 cm.)
Original wax model executed circa 1896-1911 and cast in an edition of twenty-two, numbered A to T plus two casts reserved for the Degas heirs and the founder Hébrard; marked 'HER' and 'HER.D' respectively
Provenance
(possibly) Gaston Bernheim de Villiers, Paris.
Sam Salz, Inc., New York.
Janice Levin, New York (acquired from the above on 23 April 1968).
Gift from the above to the present owner, 2001.
Sam Salz, Inc., New York.
Janice Levin, New York (acquired from the above on 23 April 1968).
Gift from the above to the present owner, 2001.
Literature
J. Rewald, Degas Works in Sculpture, A Complete Catalogue, New York, 1944, p. 26, no. LVI (another cast illustrated, p. 121).
J. Rewald, Degas Sculpture: The Complete Works, New York, 1956, p. 154, no. 56 (another cast illustrated, pl. 74).
C. W. Millard, The Sculpture of Edgar Degas, Princeton, 1976, no. 104 (another cast illustrated).
J. Rewald, Degas's Complete Sculpture, Catalogue Raisonné, New Edition, San Francisco, 1990, p. 150, no. LVI (original wax model illustrated; another cast illustrated, p. 151).
A. Pingeot, Degas: Sculptures, Paris, 1991, pp. 158-159, no. 14G (another cast illustrated).
S. Campbell, "Degas: The Sculptures, A Catalogue Raisonné", Apollo, August 1995, p. 25, no. 29 (another cast illustrated).
J. S. Czestochowski and A. Pingeot, Degas Sculpture, Catalogue Raisonné of the Bronzes, Memphis, 2002, p. 179, no. 29 (another cast illustrated).
J. DeVonyar and R. Kendall, Degas and the Dance, New York, 2002, p. 247, no. 282 (another cast illustrated).
J. Rewald, Degas Sculpture: The Complete Works, New York, 1956, p. 154, no. 56 (another cast illustrated, pl. 74).
C. W. Millard, The Sculpture of Edgar Degas, Princeton, 1976, no. 104 (another cast illustrated).
J. Rewald, Degas's Complete Sculpture, Catalogue Raisonné, New Edition, San Francisco, 1990, p. 150, no. LVI (original wax model illustrated; another cast illustrated, p. 151).
A. Pingeot, Degas: Sculptures, Paris, 1991, pp. 158-159, no. 14G (another cast illustrated).
S. Campbell, "Degas: The Sculptures, A Catalogue Raisonné", Apollo, August 1995, p. 25, no. 29 (another cast illustrated).
J. S. Czestochowski and A. Pingeot, Degas Sculpture, Catalogue Raisonné of the Bronzes, Memphis, 2002, p. 179, no. 29 (another cast illustrated).
J. DeVonyar and R. Kendall, Degas and the Dance, New York, 2002, p. 247, no. 282 (another cast illustrated).
Exhibited
New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, A Very Private Collection: Janice H. Levin's Impressionist Pictures, November 2002-February 2003, p. 44, no. 11 (illustrated in color, p. 45).
The Birmingham Museum of Art and elsewhere, An Impressionist Eye: Painting and Sculpture from the Philip and Janice Levin Foundation, February 2004-January 2005.
The Birmingham Museum of Art and elsewhere, An Impressionist Eye: Painting and Sculpture from the Philip and Janice Levin Foundation, February 2004-January 2005.