The Tuttleman Collection: A celebration of art and legacy
An eclectic and discerning collection showcasing an outstanding selection of works by European, American and Latin American modernist masters — to be offered in our May sales in New York
During the course of their marriage, Edna and Stanley Tuttleman built a diverse and expansive collection of art spanning multiple decades, a variety of media and some of the defining movements of the 20th and 21st centuries.
In the Tuttleman Collection, modernist sculptural masterpieces by Henry Moore and Pop works by Roy Lichtenstein lived side by side in an arrangement that underscored the couple’s deep love of art in many forms and traditions.
Edna and Stanley Tuttleman standing in front of Roy Lichtenstein’s 1973 trompe l’oeil masterwork Stretcher Frame Revealed Beneath Painting of a Stretcher Frame
‘Art was fully integrated into the Tuttlemans’ lives,’ says Conor Jordan, Christie’s Deputy Chairman of Impressionist and Modern Art. Their passion was articulated through a salon-style installation that swept through every room of their house, extending well into the surrounding landscape.
The exterior of the Tuttlemans’ Pennsylvania home. Centre: Fernando Botero (b. 1932), Woman with Umbrella & Man with Cane, c. 1977. Bronze. Artist’s proof one of two; edition of six. 90 x 35 x 30 in (228.6 x 88.9 x 76.2 cm). Estimate: $1,000,000-1,500,000. This work is offered in Latin American Art on 24-25 May at Christie’s in New York
The voluptuous sculptures of Fernando Botero and Henry Moore punctuated the grounds of their Pennsylvania home, styled after the Storm King Art Center in the Lower Hudson Valley in New York. Turning to the acoustic and kinetic, Harry Bertoia sculptures and Alexander Calder mobiles from the 1950s through to the 1970s helped create an atmosphere in the Tuttleman home that transcended the conventional and leaned toward the unexpected.
The central highlight is Roy Lichtenstein’s 1973 trompe l’oeil masterwork Stretcher Frame Revealed Beneath Painting of a Stretcher Frame (Estimate: $2,000,000–3,000,000), which hung above the fireplace at the centre of their home, and which is in certain ways the cornerstone of the Tuttleman Collection.
The heart of the Tuttlemans’ home. Centre: Roy Lichtenstein, Stretcher Frame Revealed Beneath Painting of a Stretcher Frame, 1973
The passion and dedication the Tuttlemans put into their collection and philanthropic efforts were a hallmark of their marriage and life together. The Tuttlemans’ philanthropy in the Philadelphia community is widely known, with their commitments extending well beyond art towards such spheres as medicine and education.
The couple funded, among other causes, the Tuttleman Contemporary Art Gallery at the Philadelphia Museum of Art; Franklin Institute’s Tuttleman Omniverse Theater; the Tuttleman Library at Gratz College; the Tuttleman Chapel at Temple Adath Israel; the Tuttleman Center at Penn Medicine Rittenhouse; the Tuttleman Learning Center at Temple University and Philadelphia University; and the Tuttleman Sculpture Gallery at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.
From top: Louise Nevelson, Dawn’s Landscape XXXI, 1975; Henry Moore (1898-1986), Working Model for Reclining Figure: Prop, 1976. Signed and numbered 'Moore 1/9' (on the back of the base). Bronze with green and brown patina. Length: 31½ in (80 cm). Estimate: $1,500,000-2,500,000. This work is offered in the Impressionist and modern Art Evening Sale on 15 May at Christie’s in New York
‘My parents never sold a piece in their lifetime,’ explains the couple's son, Steven Tuttleman. ‘They placed the art and it never moved again.’
A rare opportunity to acquire prime examples of Impressionist and Modern Art, Post-War and Contemporary Art and Latin American Art from this highly personal collection will be offered during the 20th Century Week sales in New York on 15–17 May and the Latin American Art auction on 24 May.